Auditor General must get independent funding
The oversight role of the Office of the Auditor General (AG) is being undermined by its dependence on fees from the various government entities which it is responsible for auditing and the administrative load of collecting debt from these entities.
I will be writing to Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, to request that the Auditor General receives a direct budget allocation from Treasury.
The AG's total forecasted income from audit fees for 2012 is R2.04 billion. Should the AG thus be fully funded by Treasury, it would add only roughly 0.19% to the national budget, some of which could be recuperated from national, provincial and local government allocations.
In its Strategic Plan and Budget for 2012-2015, the AG notes that debt collection remains its "main financial challenge" and that measures have been put in place to instil discipline with auditees to provide for and pay audit fees. Yet, even with this initiative, the debtors ageing report seems to indicate that in 2012-13, the AG has had to resign itself to collecting less than 50% of their debt in certain provinces within a 30 day period. Even in the case of national government departments, the AG does not expect to collect more than 80% of its debt within the 30 day period.
Whilst the AG does not currently operate at a loss, it does note in its strategic plan that its capacity to invest in capital projects and human resources to strengthen its operation is curtailed by its limited surplus funds.
The AG is one of the institutions supporting democracy as provided for in Chapter 9 of the Constitution. The AG's vision is to "strengthen our country's democracy by enabling oversight, accountability and governance in the public sector through auditing, thereby building public confidence".
We believe that this institution must be allowed to operate as independently as possible, and that the AGs independence and efficiency will be enhanced if it is not dependent on reluctant government debtors for its income.
Statement issued by Dr Dion George MP, DA Spokesperson on the Standing Committee on the Auditor General, October 29 2012
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
