Eastern Cape Provincial Planning and Treasury has capacitated 7 officials to be Certified Fraud Examiners and this qualification is in line with international standards. The certificate is provided by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), which is an international body.
The certificate is also accredited by SAQA as an NQF level 6 qualifications. The ACFE has emerged as the gold standard in the area of fraud. The ACFE aims to regulate and advance the interest of Forensic auditors. South Africa is said to have less than 200 CFE in both the public and private sectors, with the Eastern Cape government having 25 members, of which 7 are in Provincial Planning and Treasury. All Eastern Cape Departments now have accredited CFE as part of fighting the scourge of fraud in the province.
Benefits of having CFE in the province are the following:
- To facilitate and assess the turnaround within departments;
- It will help to increase the quality of fraud investigation;
- Practitioners will have access to the latest developments in forensics and also unlimited networking opportunities internationally.
- Departments will be capacitated to manage and investigate their forensic audit matters in a professional manner, and
- It will also improve levels of standardization and consistency in the province.
The privilege of obtaining the qualification is to be recognised and respected worldwide as fraud is a global issue and CFE credentials are accepted worldwide as the standard of professional excellence. CFE is also a marketable credential.
The Provincial Planning and Treasury sees this milestone as an effective step towards efficient public finance management which will also ensure that this province is supported by sound financial and resource management planning as envisioned.
