In his report, tabled before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Standing Committee on Appropriations (SCA), the Auditor-General (AG) Kimi Makwetu outlined that the lack of improvement in audit outcomes across the country is concerning, especially with irregular expenditures on the rise. He noted that among the root cause of a lack of improvement in these provinces and others, is the lack of urgency by managers and oversight bodies in responding to red flags raised by the AG.

Makwetu further added that the North West is amongst the provinces where there needs to be “greater effort and focus in order to shift the audit outcomes”. The province, placed under administration by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year, has also recorded the highest number of outstanding audits.

Web: Makwetu said there is a great need for preventative controls and strong consequence management in these provinces and the rest of the country. He has highlighted that the 2018/19 audit outcome of government departments and state-owned enterprises indicated an increased irregular expenditure of over R61 billion.

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