Media Release: House Chairperson Frolick Urges the AG to Work without Fear or Favour

Parliament, Thursday 24 November 2022 - National Assembly House Chairperson for Committees, Oversight and ICT, Mr Cedric Frolick, has urged the Auditor General, Ms Tsakani Maluleke, to continue performing her work without fear, favour or prejudice.

Ms Maluleke met with the Joint Committee of Chairpersons of the NA and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) yesterday to present the national and provincial government's audit outcomes for the financial year ended 31st March 2022 and the status of the material irregularities as at 30 September 2022.

Mr Frolick, who co-chairs the joint committee with NCOP House Chairperson for Committees Mr Jomo Nyambi, said Parliament appreciates the professionalism and integrity of the Auditor General and her entire office.

"We are very impressed with her work ethic and the senior management staff and auditors involved in the process. We would like the Auditor General to continue performing her work without fear, favour or prejudice.And anyone who questions that will be frowned upon by Parliament," said Mr Frolick.

Ms Maluleke told the Chairpersons that there has to be much more focus and energy put into the planning processes of government so that they are comprehensive, aligned to mandates of the mid-term strategic framework (MTSF), to the National Development Plan, and that performance is also beingtracked on an ongoing basis.

Ms Maluleke said in the new year they will be working with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation to identify what can be done to help government departments to close the performance gaps.

"We've got to be unrelenting in insisting that performance becomes the norm. We've got to make sure that those people who are appointed to run public institutions set about creating a culture of robust financial management, whether it's just about making sure that they collect revenue effectively or prevent financial loss and wastage; (that) they recover quickly when things go wrong and they apply consequences when things go wrong. All of those things are provided for in the public finance management," said Ms Maluleke, adding that "it cannot be overstated (that) in order to build a culture where accountability becomes the norm performance and integrity are an ongoing companion."

Mr Frolick said the chairpersons have taken note of the project management issues and related deficiencies in performance as outlined by the Auditor General.

"The chairpersons will intensify their oversight activities and increase the frequency of the department's reports on specific government programmes to ensure that they do not get feedback about progress at the tail end of the financial year when not much can be done to prevent or remedy situation," said Mr Frolick.

He said Committees will use the department's individual performance reports from the Auditor General to tighten their control measures in their monitoring and oversight and not wait for year end to get involved.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

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