Chairperson, colleagues, it is my singular honour and pleasure to present this report on the visit we undertook as the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General to the headquarters of the Auditor-General in Pretoria and a follow-up visit the following day to one of its provincial offices, namely the Gauteng office, which is situated in Houghton in Johannesburg.
The purpose of the visit was twofold. The first was to exercise our oversight function, as prescribed under the Public Audit Act, PAA, and, of course, acting on behalf of this House, on the institution of the Auditor- General, which, in terms of the Constitution, also reports to this House.
The second purpose was to afford members the opportunity to go through an orientation session and familiarise themselves with both the faces behind the different units within the executive and top management of the Auditor- General's office and their different operations. They had the opportunity to see how they conduct their work and were also taken through some of the challenges and difficulties they encounter.
Let me indicate at the outset that as the chairperson of this committee, I sleep like a baby at night. I sleep in the comfort of being confident that if ever there were concerns about interference with the independence of the Auditor-General in this country, it is something of the past - if it ever existed.
I interact regularly with the Auditor-General and his deputy. At no stage have I come across any inkling to suggest any discomfort on their part at anyone from the executive, or elsewhere, putting them under any form of pressure. I really would like to compliment all three spheres of government on upholding their constitutional obligation to ensure the independence of the Auditor-General's office, so that the staff are able to perform their audits without fear, favour or prejudice.
I would also like to express appreciation to the institution of the Auditor- General, which turned 100 in May this year, for making a significant contribution towards skills development. Skills development is one of the priority policy areas in the country, as outlined by the President, starting from this year.
Historically, this country, like many other countries in the world, has been short of auditors, whose jobs are regarded as a rare skill. Historically, the face of an auditor in South Africa was that of a grey- haired, white male. Based on the evidence and the visits that we have conducted, I am proud to say today that we met young, handsome and beautiful African ladies and gentlemen below the age of 30 who were already qualified as auditors. We take pride in this office's contribution towards a transformation in skills development in this country, which is in line with the ANC's proclaimed national democratic revolution to deracialise society and make sure that women participate.
On that note, I also want to specifically alert the House to the fact that the Trainee Auditor Scheme, which the Auditor-General is currently conducting to produce new auditors, has the largest number of auditor trainees in the country, amounting to close to 1 000 at present. Of those auditor trainees, 53% are women. In general, 97% of those trainees are black, 88% of whom are actually Africans. So, the current Auditor-General is really making strides to ensure that the objectives of the Constitution and the policy objectives of this country - to transform society with regard to skills distribution - are achieved.
He has gone further and lifted the rate of professionalisation. It is generally known that if you put trainees into a training scheme, you are likely to end up with only 5% to 8% of them eventually becoming auditors. The current Auditor-General has lifted that percentage and today we have a performance rate of over 30%. In other words, in terms of the scheme that they have devised, the prospects of success have been increased significantly. I think that is a major achievement in terms of our objective of skills development, especially in the area of rare and significant skills, and the contribution that that institution is making.
The one concern I need to convey relates to the financial sustainability of the institution, especially in relation to a default in the payment of fees. As you are aware, auditees pay for the services rendered by the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General does generally not receive a budget from Treasury. It is critical that, upon performance of audit work, auditees actually pay their fees.
About 43% of the outstanding debt in unpaid audit fees come from municipalities. There are a number of challenges, of course, which we acknowledge in the report. You will notice that we address that in the findings and recommendations we were making. It is critical that Treasury, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cogta, and other relevant authorities look at other ways of assisting those municipalities that genuinely find it difficult to fulfil their obligations.
Let me also just say that one of the laudable interventions that the Auditor-General has made is to actually go down to the auditees to try and understand what it is that contributes to the perpetuation of disclaimers. He tried to engage with leadership at all levels to ensure that these issues are zoomed into, that advice is given, without compromising the independence that the Auditor-General must maintain, so that he does not become the player and referee at the same time.
I think it is late in the day. Let me pause at this juncture and commend the report of the committee to the House. [Applause.]
Chairperson O move:
That the report be adopted.
Agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.