The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, Ms. Maropene Ramakgopa, welcomes the latest Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) report that shows an overall improvement in national and provincial audit outcomes during the 2022/2023 financial year.
The AGSA under the leadership of the Auditor-General (AG) Ms. Tsakani Maluleke, tabled the 2022/2023 financial year general report in Parliament this week for national and provincial departments, state-owned entities, and legislatures. The AGSA reported that the net improvement was 37 auditees (9%) – the biggest upswing over the past four years.
The provincial government departments showed a net improvement of 44 (27%) while the national government recorded a net improvement of 34 (15%). Furthermore, it was reported that the number of clean audits continues to increase annually due to significant effort and commitment by the executive, officials, and governance structures of these institutions. In addition, the AG Ms. Maluleke reported that the improved outcomes demonstrate an overall improvement over the 6th administration. Despite improvements across national and provincial spheres of government, there are still concerns including the late submission of financial statements and the lack of consistency in the implementation of recommendations made by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) based on reviews of performance plans.
Minister Maropene Ramakgopa welcomes the improved audit outcomes as a step towards the building of a capable and ethical state that prioritizes service delivery. She agrees with the sentiments of the AG that the DPME should redouble efforts to monitor the mitigation mechanisms for the government to ratify their mistakes. “We commend the improved performance of auditees and acknowledge the improvement of clean audit outcomes from 126 auditees in the 2020/2021 financial year, to 147 auditees in the 2022/2023 financial year. However, we remain equally worried about the concerns flagged by the AG. Therefore, as a Department, we will improve and enhance our capacity to respond and assist by repurposing the DPME with the requisite skills and technology to make it responsive, timely, and proactive,” Minister Ramokgopa commented.
The Minister in the Presidency further emphasized, “The DPME and the AGSA continue to build institutional working relations through collaboration and engagement to ensure the improvement in the quality of the plans of government departments. This is a critical input to the efforts to augment the performance of departments and state-owned entities.”
The DPME is confident that the continued partnership with the AGSA and other stakeholders will result in additional clean audits, more improved audit outcomes for departments and state-owned entities, and ultimately, better service delivery for the people of South Africa.
Media enquiries:
Ms. Keitumetse Fatimata Moutloatse
Cell: 073 532 6161
E-mail: Keitumetse@dpme.gov.za
Mr. Lawrence Ngoveni
Cell: 082 824 3060
E-mail: Lawrence.Ngoveni@dpme.gov.za
