The auditor-general of SA is one of two national audit offices in the world enjoying “very high independence” to carry out its duties without fear or favour, a report from the World Bank shows.
The chapter 9 institution, which has been cracking the whip by exposing corruption, maladministration and malfeasance in the public service, was one of only two (the other being Seychelles) of 118 countries assessed to have very high independence from any undue political interference.
The World Bank said its “Supreme Audit Institutions Independence Index: 2021 Global Synthesis” report, which studied 118 supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in the world, is aimed at informing and better equipping the international bank task teams and developmental partners to support the strengthening of SAIs in client countries.
In the report, the World Bank said independence is a critical foundation for the effective functioning of the SAI. “Truly independent SAIs can fulfil their mandate to reduce waste and the abuse of public resources so public resources can be better channelled for programmes that fight poverty, which is a focus of the international development community and the core mission of the World Bank Group.”
SA’s counterparts in the Brics bloc — Brazil, Russia, India and China — were among 17 countries assessed to have “high” independence, with India falling into the list of 33 countries with “substantial” independence.
In the report, Africa’s last absolute monarchy of Eswatini was in the “moderate” independence category, while Belarus — infamously known as Europe’s last dictatorship — was in the “low” independence category, together with African countries such as Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Gambia, and SA’s neighbour Lesotho.
In a statement on Thursday, auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke said the positive announcement is a “credit to our country’s constitution, which jealously protects the independence of our office to carry out its work without any due interference”.
She said the findings “clearly demonstrate how our country has allowed the National Audit Office to support our democracy”.
“The support and trust in our work is evidenced by the various political parties’ unanimous endorsement of the amendments to the Public Audit Act, which we, as the National Audit Office, continue to implement without fear, favour or prejudice,” Maluleke said.
“Equally, the unwavering support we continue to receive from the citizenry, civil society organisations and the media, bolster our resolve to work even harder in supporting the drive towards wholesale good governance in our public sector to ensure that all citizens receive the service delivery they deserve.”
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