Chair, Minister, I can just see you behind the podium so I can see you haven't run away yet. Thank you for your answers. Minister you pointing to the first line of defence being the councils and the local government but those have failed quite clearly; otherwise you wouldn't be getting these reports that we keep on getting. I would like to draw your attention; you spoke
about the Constitution, and let's look at section 216(2) of the Constitution that says;
"The National Treasury must enforce compliance with the measures established by subsection 1"
It generally talks about recognising the accounting practices, uniform expenditure classification, etc. So, you have constitutional obligations to enforce these things. I understand that you need the law enforcement agencies to assist you on that but ultimately, you Minister and your department, are tasked in terms of the Constitution with giving effect to that.
Now the Auditor-General has recently been empowered through enhanced legislation, specifically the Public Audit Amendment Act that was passed last year, to take action when irregularities have been discovered through the audit processes.
Now my question to you Minister is that, you are a responsible Minister and it is a new Act, and I understand that you won't give me the exact figure but to the nearest 10 or so, can you tell us if there has been any arrest or dismissal as a result of the Auditor- General's improved powers?