Hon House Chairperson, the Office of the Auditor- General in South Africa has a long and proud history. It has served this country with distinction in different administrations for over one hundred years. One of the reasons the Auditor-General's office has been so successful is because it always maintain its independence.
When I first suggested to the Auditor-General, Mr Kimi Makwetu, that his office needed more teeth so that his work would not be under threat of, at the time, becoming nearly in vain, it was because I was concerned about the fact that most auditors merely ignored the Auditor- General's suggestions and negative findings which repeated themselves year after year due to a lack of consequence.
The Auditor-General agreed and so too did the committee. After a protracted process required for the amendment of legislation, the Public Audit Amendment Act was passed into law late last year.