The standing committee on the auditor-general met to consider a legal opinion from parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Services Office on how to proceed with a complaint lodged by a former staffer against auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke.
The complaint, originally submitted in August 2022, alleged misconduct by Maluleke in relation to financial transactions involving her predecessor, the late Thembekile Kimi Makwetu.
Mlungisi Mabaso, a former chief people officer claims Maluleke, while serving as deputy auditor-general, improperly authorised an R860,000 advance on deferred compensation to Makwetu and a R575,000 payment for bond transfer costs. He also questioned a subsequent interest payment to Makwetu’s widow.
The auditor-general’s office denied wrongdoing and commissioned an external legal opinion by advocate Werner Krill and an investigation by Bowmans, both of whom found no evidence to support the allegations. According to a statement from the auditor-general in 2022, Mabaso was dismissed after an independent disciplinary process for gross misconduct, among other charges.
The matter was brought to the attention of the sixth parliament’s committee, which held closed and open sessions in August and September 2022. However, no formal resolution was adopted and no communication was sent to the complainant. In February 2025, Mabaso resubmitted the complaint to the committee alleging it had been improperly handled and requesting it be formally investigated.
Presenting the legal opinion, Fatima Ebrahim of the Constitutional and Legal Services Office said while the previous committee had engaged with the matter, the absence of a formal outcome had contributed to perceptions of a lack of transparency.
“Unfortunately, there’s no report or resolution regarding the findings or conclusion of the previous committee on the matter,” she said. Ebrahim recommended that the committee apply its mind to the matter and reach a resolution, either to reopen the investigation or to conclude it based on the available evidence.
The legal opinion emphasised the constitutional status of the auditor-general as a Chapter 9 institution and the importance of safeguarding its independence, impartiality and dignity.
“The AG must be assisted and protected by other organs of state to ensure their independence, impartiality, dignity, and effectiveness,” Ebrahim said.
Members of the committee supported the recommendation to review all documentation, including the affidavit submitted by Mabaso, the Krill legal opinion and the Bowmans investigation report. The ANC’s Ntando Maduna said parliament’s handling of the matter had been unsatisfactory, citing a lack of transparency, failure to communicate with the complainant and the absence of a clear resolution.
“Let’s review the evidence. Let those that must account, account. Let’s determine whether it’s a fallacy or if it’s true, and then we move forward,” Maduna said.
Sanele Gregory Mwali (MK Party) said the matter’s re-emergence in the seventh parliament indicated it had not been properly concluded. “If the independency must be tested or issues around this office must be tested, let us go through the process of testing the issues that have been raised by the complainant against the AG,” he said.
The committee resolved to review the relevant documents and reconvene in the next term to deliberate on whether to reopen the matter or conclude it. The chair confirmed that the complainant would be formally updated on the status of the complaint. “We will write to Mabaso and update him,” he said.
The committee also agreed to schedule a separate meeting to receive an update from the auditor-general’s office on progress made in tackling governance and control weaknesses identified in the legal opinion. The chair emphasised that this oversight would continue regardless of the outcome of the complaint.
This resolution marks the first formal step by parliament’s committee to address the complaint and bring the matter to a close through a transparent and procedurally sound process.
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