The National Assembly has passed the Public Audit Amendment Bill, giving the AG's office greater clout.
The Public Audit Amendment Bill was unanimously passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday 29 May, and will now be referred to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. Jackson Mthembu, ANC chief whip, has said the bill will go a long way towards fighting corruption and holding officials tasked with oversight of government spending accountable.
Indeed, the bill will give the Auditor-General the power to refer adverse findings in its reports to investigative bodies, as well as recover from accounting officers funds lost because of the failure to adhere to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The bill follows last week’s publishing of the latest local government audit findings report, which revealed that only 33 of the country’s 257 municipalities received a clean audit in 2016-17.