Consolidated general report on national and provincial audit outcomes
This report is meant to enable public accountability and empower citizens by informing them about how the national and provincial governments are managing public finances. It also provides an update on how key service delivery departments have spent their budgets and performed in the year under review.
Audit outcomes
The improvement in audit outcomes that we reported last year continued, with 48 auditees (11%) seeing a net improvement over the three years of the current administration.
The 115 auditees (48 departments and 67 public entities) with a clean audit status represent 19% of the R1,9 trillion expenditure budget managed by national and provincial government.
The improvement in audit outcomes that we reported last year continued, with 48 auditees (11%) seeing a net improvement over the three years of the current administration.
The 115 auditees (48 departments and 67 public entities) with a clean audit status represent 19% of the R1,9 trillion expenditure budget managed by national and provincial government.
Key service delivery departments
Key service delivery departments within health, education, public works and human settlements are responsible for almost a third of the expenditure budget. They play an instrumental role in managing infrastructure and delivering essential services that directly affect the lives of citizens, so they must be able to properly manage and credibly account for their performance.
Auditing covid initiatives
In May 2020, we began a real-time audit of 16 of the key covid-19 initiatives introduced by government and of the management of the funds made available for these initiatives. Overall, R218,54 billion (44%) of the R500 billion fiscal relief package had been used by 31 March 2021.
State-owned enterprises
Many audits were not completed because their financial statements were not submitted for auditing. State-owned enterprises are in serious financial difficulty and continued to ask for – and received – funding from government, diverting funds intended for primary service delivery.
Audit of information technology
Government departments and entities use information systems to process critical business transactions and report on operational and financial performance.
Provincial Overview
Unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure
Government cannot afford to lose money because of poor decision-making, neglect or inefficiencies. However, high levels of unauthorised, irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure caused government to lose R171,76 billion in 2020-21.
Material Irregularities
By 15 October 2021, we were dealing with 121 material irregularities at various stages in the process. We estimate the financial loss of these material irregularities at R11,9 billion.
These material irregularities emerged in areas that were not complex, but where the basic disciplines and processes were not in place.
Recommendations
We trust that the recommendations included in this report will be of value. Working within our new mandate, we strive to strengthen financial and performance management, emphasising the need for accountability and getting the basics right so that citizens can thrive and our nation can prosper.
Need to know
Our need to know page provides information on the audit concepts and processes that appear in this report.
Detailed annexures that provide the key results per department and public entity is available on our website