Address by President Jacob Zuma to the Gala Dinner celebrating the Centenary of the Office of the Auditor General of South Africa, Gallagher Estate, Midrand, November 24 2011

Auditor General, Terence Nombembe, 
Minister of Finance, 
Honourable Pravin Gordhan; 
Heads of Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 institutions; 
Members of the media;

It is an honour for me to be part of this occasion, marking the Centenary of the Auditor-General, as the Supreme Audit Institution in South Africa.

The Auditor-General's office was established on May 12 1911, the same year in which the Exchequer and Audit Act was passed as the first legislative measures on the long road to where we are today in a democratic dispensation.

There is an interesting, historical coincidence in the fact that we are marking 100 Years of the Auditor-General on the eve of the Centenary of the liberation movement that led the struggle against apartheid, the African National Congress.

The South Africa of 1911 and 1912 is obviously totally different from the inclusive, non-racist, non-sexist, prosperous country that we began building in 1994.

The institutions of the State at that time were geared towards serving minority interests in a country and the world in which the levels of transparency we cherish today were unheard of.

In 1994, as part of the transitional process, the democratic government incorporated the most appropriate elements of public auditing from that past into the new dispensation.

The democratic environment has enabled the institution to thrive, given the transparency that has characterised our government and society over the past 17 years.

It is that culture of openness that has enabled the Auditor-General's office to be able to uncover wastage, fruitless expenditure, underspending, overspending and other serious shortcomings in the handling of public finances.

Indeed, since 1994, our country's Supreme Audit Institution has grown into a respected pillar of our democratic architecture.

Due its outstanding work, the Office of the Auditor-General is respected by ordinary South Africans, Parliament, government departments, other entities and the international community.

The Constitution calls for an Auditor-General who will audit and report on the accounts, financial statements and financial management of all national and provincial state departments and administrations, municipalities and other institutions.

Chapter 9 of our Constitution positions the Auditor-General alongside institutions tasked with enhancing our democracy.

The partner institutions are:

• the Public Protector,
• the South African Human Rights Commission,
• the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities,
• the Commission for Gender Equality, and
• the Independent Electoral Commission.

The Constitution states that these institutions are independent, and subject only to the Constitution and the law.

They must be impartial and must exercise their powers and perform their functions without fear, favour or prejudice.

The Constitution also reminds us as follows;

"Other organs of state, through legislative and other measures, must assist and protect these institutions to ensure the independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness of these institutions.  No person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of these institutions''.
 
It is with pride that as a democratic government, we have witnessed the increased effectiveness of this network of oversight established by our model Constitution.

As an Executive mandated with overwhelming electoral support, we appreciate the value of oversight and the pre-emption of any possible abuses of our popular mandate.

Our Chapter 9 institutions are there to ensure that we remain on the course set for us by the Constitution.

At times we get a sense that the work of Chapter 9 institutions is misunderstood.

It is of concern that when they do their work diligently as they do, some in society want to give an impression that the institutions exist to attack government which is not the case.

The institutions play a very important monitoring role which assists government in its work.

They complement the work that government is doing in monitoring itself, as we are doing lately with the new functions of performance monitoring and evaluation.

Supported by the Chapter 9 institutions, we are able to improve the work we do and to increase our efficiency and effectiveness using the resources entrusted to us by citizens.

It is our firm belief that the Chapter 9 institutions such as the Office of the Auditor-General exist to encourage excellence, the best possible service, and the best possible use of the fairly limited resources we have to address a complex set of challenges.

Their commitment should be supplemented with an underlying sense of positive expectation from the public service instead of fear.

We have heard that some underlying reasons behind under-spending in some departments are that officials fear making mistakes!

As government, we would not want public servants to be so over-cautious as to fear taking any action or to work at all as that would affect service delivery. What we need is improved awareness and training on how to handle public finances.

To invest in the future, we urge the Office of the Auditor-General to help government to promote accounting and auditing as professions amongst the youth so that we can build this capacity especially within the public service.

From the basic education to higher education levels, our schools and institutions of higher learning should encourage children to look towards this profession.

The fear of mathematics and accounting should gradually become a thing of the past, and the Office of the Auditor-General can be a good partner in this regard.

We also need to inculcate the values of integrity and honesty in all public servants as a preventative measure against corruption.

On the corrective side, we are doing our best to rid government of wastage of public resources and corruption.
 
We have issued proclamations allowing high-level investigators to probe suspected wrongdoing in various entities.

We have also used powers ascribed to the President by the Constitution to intervene in provinces or departments where we have felt things ought to be done much better.

We have taken this action because of our commitment to clean, ethical administration, a goal we share with all arms of the State as well as Chapter 9 institutions.

In the spirit of our national call to action - Working Together, We Can Do More - we look forward as the Executive to complementing the efforts of our highly valued Chapter 9 institutions to enrich our democracy.

We also commend the efforts that these institutions take to interact with all government spheres to share knowledge, establish common understanding and raise

Public concerns.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We also acknowledge the recognition the institution has received internationally.

Last year, as you would be aware, South Africa hosted the 20th International Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions - at the same time that we were hosting the FIFA World Cup.

The congress was an indication of the esteem in which our national audit institution is held.

More importantly, during that congress, the office of the Auditor-General of South Africa received the prestigious Jörg Kandutsch Award, which is presented by the International Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions.

The Award recognises important achievements or contributions in the field of Auditing by Supreme Audit Institutions.

This was the first time this award was presented to an African country.

Also, the fact that our Auditor General, Mr Terence Nombembe, was, at the same congress, inaugurated as the new Chairperson of the International Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions, is a firm recognition of not only of the institution but the country as well.

As a government born of a century-old liberation movement, we are sincerely heartened by this growth in stature of the office of the Auditor-General of South Africa.

On behalf of Government and the people, we extend our congratulations and best wishes to the Office of the Auditor-General on reaching this milestone.

May the institution grow from strength to strength and continue serving our people diligently, independently and without fear or favour.

I thank you.

Issued by The Presidency, November 24 2011

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