Parliament is to be commended for finally realising the auditor-general needs real powers if the fight against corruption is to have any chance of succeeding. What does need to be lamented is that it took so long.This week political parties in the national assembly unanimously passed the Public Audit Amendment Bill to give the auditor-general the power to refer adverse findings in reports to law-enforcement agencies. It will also give it the power to recover from accounting officers funds lost due to the failure to adhere to the relevant statutes, including the Public Finance Management Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act. The national council of provinces must now give its approval.These new powers for the auditor-general’s office have always been the missing element. Year in and year out, the auditor-general has documented ever-increasing wasteful and irregular expenditure, with no consequence for the culprits. Last week the office reported a 75% jump in irregular expend...
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