On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Public Audit Amendment Act which gives the Auditor General(AG) of South Africa powers to act against irregular spending by the state.
The Act came just a day before Auditor General Kimi Makwetu tabled the 2017/2018 national and provincial audit results for government departments and public entities in which the AG says fruitless and wasteful spending had an increase of 200% compared to the previous financial year.
Unauthorised expenditure increased by 38% to R2.1 billion, 86% of which was a result of overspending.
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure increased by over 200% to R2.5 billion and irregular expenditure continued to remain high at R51 billion.
Speaking on Morning Live, Wits School of Governance Dr Thanti Mthanti says it is important to find out what is driving these negative audit outcomes.
He says by having the new Bill, municipalities will feel the pressure to comply with the developmental outcomes.
He also says it will be interesting to see whether this pressure will result in positive outcomes.
Meanwhile, Member of the Standing Committee on the Auditor General Vincent Smith says the AG has always lamented that their recommendations where never taken seriously.
He says with the new Bill, consequence management will be a reality.
“The Bill has very clear guidelines as to what everyone can expect from the AG. The AG can either ask the Public Protector to investigate, the Hawks can also investigate and they can also try to recoup the money,” says Smith.
Watch full interview below
