17 February 2004
Madam Speaker,
The African National Congress's support for this bill indicates the degree of importance that we attach to matters of prudent financial management, good governance and the elimination of corruption and wastage within government and the private sector. Two weeks ago President Mbeki challenged the national, provincial and local legislatures to answer the question whether they have passed the acid test of the legitimacy of,
Are we, by passing this bill, contributing towards the creation of a people-centred society?
Are we, by passing this bill, contributing towards the expansion of the frontiers of human fulfillment?
Are we, by passing this bill, contributing towards the continuous extension of the frontiers of freedom?
In our humble view the answer to all the above questions is yes and therefore by extension we believe that we are well on track towards passing the acid test alluded to by President Mandela a decade ago.
Madam Speaker, the African National Congress's 2004 manifesto informs South African's that, "systems have been put in place to expose and punish corruption both in government and in the private sector. The manifesto goes on to say that 80% of corruption cases in government reported in the media are actually first uncovered by government itself. In the private sector, laws have been introduced to prevent corruption being swept under the carpet". The Public Audit Bill before this house for adoption today, is yet another step towards realizing the African National Congress's vision of creating a better life for all by decisively dealing with crime, corruption and financial mismanagement. At our National Policy Conference in May 1992 we adopted the "READY TO GOVERN" policy guidelines. Already at that stage, even before assuming political power we were in agreement, as the ANC and the Alliance, that "the public service must be based on the principles of representivity, impartiality and accountability." At that conference Madam Speaker, we resolved that, "New institutions will be developed to improve efficiency, transparency and accountability in government spending" One such institution is the office of the Auditor General. Informed by that resolution, the African National Congress government, in consciously pursuing the policy of further strengthening the operations of this office, is in total support of this bill being adopted by the house. The Public Audit Bill is not an end in itself, but rather a means towards addressing the problem of "those in the public service who see themselves as pen-pushers and guardians of rubber stamps, thieves intent on self-enrichment, bureaucrats who think they have the right to ignore the vision of Batho Pele, who come to work as late as possible, work as little as possible and knock off as early as possible" as articulated in the State of the Nation address two weeks ago.
In the RDP document of 1994, the people of South Africa again reiterated that improving the efficiency of government expenditure must be an important pillar on which the African National Congress government must build. This bill in seeking to streamline the functioning of the supreme office of Audit in our country will go a long way in ensuring that the will of the people, as articulated in the RDP document is respected. Indeed the people are governing. At our Stellenbosch conference in 2002 we resolved, "That the ANC undertakes a comprehensive assessment of institutions enhancing democracy and transformation, with regard to their mandates, resources and functioning in order that their capacity is maximised. We further resolved to create public awareness of the objectives of these institutions so that they are optimally utilized. It is with this background that we applied our minds when considering the additional powers given to the Auditor General within this bill. The primary objective of the Auditor General, as we see it, is to expose corruption and mismanagement of public resources by subjecting state funded institutions and departments to annual audits. Powers such as search and seizure not normally catered for in the ordinary course of the auditing function is now being addressed in section 15 of this bill. This bill also obliges parliament to finalize the establishment of an oversight mechanism for the Auditor General in line with section 181(5) of our constitution. The establishment and finalization of an appropriate oversight mechanism will see our Stellenboch resolution that states that Parliament, all Legislatures and Municipalities must improve their capacity to exercise their constitutional oversight role translated from mere theory into practice.
Our commitment to continuously improving accountability and oversight as stated in the January 8 statement of 2003 instructs that, "We must ensure that the state machinery functions properly and carries out its tasks effectively and efficiently. We must also intensify our offensive against corruption within the public sector". The introduction and final adoption of the Public Audit Bill seeks to do just that.
In the 1980's the Exchequer and Audit Act governed the Auditor General, and the functions of his office. In 1989 the Auditor-General Act was adopted, however the AG was still an employee of the department of State Expenditure and therefore the concept of the independence of that office was non-existent. The Audit Arrangements Act of 1992 brought with it improvements both of quality of audit work and transparency but more still needed to be done.
Madam Speaker, if we are to do an honest review today of how far we have traveled in terms of improving good governance and eliminating corruption, we will without any fear of contradiction be able to say, that without the necessary independence, the AG historically was a "nice to have", today the same cannot be said of the office of the AG. The general public historically was never certain as to how public funds were being spent because the AG's ability to express an opinion on whether the Executive exercised prudent financial management and good governance practices was severely hampered by the lack of independence of the AG from the very executive that he was meant to audit. Today with the introduction of this bill we seek not only to right the wrongs of the past but also to strengthen and protect the office of the AG and thereby safe-guard our democracy.
Madam Speaker as the African National Congress, we support the adoption of the Public Audit Bill.
Thank You.