Date: 13/04/2005
Source: The Presidency
Title: Mbeki: Inauguration of Afrosai-E
Address of the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, on the occasion of the Inauguration of Afrosai-E, at the Old Assembly Chamber, Parliament, Cape Town
Programme Director
Auditor-General of South Africa, Shauket Fakie and the distinguished visiting Auditors-General
President of AFROSAI
Honourable Ministers
Our Parliamentary Presiding Officers
Honourable Members of Parliament and Public Accounts Committee members from across Africa
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished delegates
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you on the occasion of the inauguration of the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions. On behalf of the Government and people of South Africa, I extend a warm welcome to all delegates.
I wish to congratulate the members of the new organisation for the spirit of unity and commitment to a common purpose that they have displayed in taking the bold step to form this organisation.
The merging of regional organisations, which have the same or similar aims, is an important development within the broader vision of our renaissance, as Africans - a vision that finds expression in the African Union and its programme the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
I am indeed happy that AFROSAI-E brings together the Heads of twenty-three Supreme Audit Institutions on the continent and seeks to translate their ideals and aspirations into action on the regional, national and international levels.
I am told that you have an important programme of capacity building through which no fewer than 65 training interventions have been organised in the region since 1998 with 1,521 auditors having benefited from this initiative.
Clearly, it is most praiseworthy that you are consolidating and strengthening your regional structure because this will make it easier to ensure better co-operation with other professional bodies and academic institutions, as well as public institutions such as the Pan African Parliament.
All of us agree with your vision focused on promoting accountability, transparency and honesty in government operations, as well as the proper use and management of public resources because this will give us the possibility to accelerate the process of socio-economic development in all our countries.
Indeed, it is our collective duty to ensure that public resources are properly, efficiently and effectively utilised so that we can defeat the high levels of poverty and underdevelopment in our countries. Among other things, it is the responsibility of the supreme audit institutions to ensure that we use public resources in a proper way and in the process help to promote and entrench accountability and good governance.
I trust that this constructive initiative for co-operation by public sector auditors will be an inspiration for your counterparts in the private sector, so that they also organise themselves to contribute towards more transparent and accountable audit systems within the private sector, so as to avoid a repeat of the collapse of companies as has happened in the recent past.
We all know that if we have supreme audit institutions that are underperforming or are sloppy and negligent, our programmes for economic development and social upliftment will suffer. Accordingly, I am convinced that a regional organisation such as AFROSAI-E must play an important role in our efforts to regenerate our continent.
We fully support the concept of building a collective support base to help your members reach the highest levels of audit performance so that they can discharge their responsibilities with diligence and efficiency.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Supreme audit institutions are dependent on their Parliaments and Public Accounts Committees to help optimise their performance. It is clear therefore, that the leadership on the African continent should give all the necessary support to our Supreme Audit Institutions.
In this regard, it is imperative that there should be good working relations between the Public Accounts Committees and the Auditors-General. In fact it is fitting, chairperson, that we hold this ceremony to inaugurate AFROSAI-E in a chamber of Parliament and that, in addition to the Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions, we have with us a good mix of guests including parliamentarians, ministers and Public Accounts Committee members from a number of African countries.
I am confident that many of us here who are not members of AFROSAI-E will agree that we have to do more to ensure that collectively, with the assistance of the Supreme Audit institutions, we improve the use of and accounting for our public resources. Accordingly, we must regard audit organisations such as the AFROSAI-E as our allies in our work to develop our countries.
Indeed, if we fail to recognise the fact that the Supreme Audit institutions are our allies and that they are acting on our behalf to ensure proper use of public resources, then we will be doing an injustice to the masses of the people of our countries who entrusted these resources to us in the first place.
Undoubtedly, our Supreme Audit institutions would have reduced impact if our Public Accounts Committees are ineffective. We therefore need effective financial oversight by parliament, which would have access to fair and objective reports produced by Supreme Audit Institutions that are professionally competent and unfettered in their freedom to make their judgements.
We in South Africa have just emerged from our first 10 years of democracy and, although we have done much to improve the quality of life of the majority of our citizens, we still have many challenges ahead of us. These challenges include the fact that we inherited one of the most unequal societies in the world.
Because of skewed resource allocations, dictated by colonialism and apartheid, many black areas lacked and still lack basic services. Accordingly, one of the main challenges facing government is to direct resources to poor rural and urban areas, to build infrastructure and provide the necessary services.
In this regard, the role of the Audit Institutions is very critical so as to avoid wastage, negligence and fraud. This is particularly important given the reality that we have very limited resources relative to the pressing developmental challenges our country faces. This means that we cannot afford to waste these resources and must therefore ensure that we maximise the beneficial outcomes that we seek.
This work should be done not because we want to merely fulfil some election promises, but rather, as a commitment to the people that they should receive services that are due to them as well as the basic human rights that are central to our democracy.
As we know, there are instances where governments give contracts to the private sector to provide certain services or build infrastructure. At times, we also enter into partnerships with the private sector so as to utilise their capacities to help government to provide better services. In situations where private firms are contracted to provide services on behalf of government entities, it becomes critical for government managers to have their ears to the ground, to react expeditiously to reports of tardy services.
In these kinds of situations we have to address questions such as: Who is accountable to whom? Where do the auditors come in? How do they audit the accountability cycle? Do they have a role to play in helping to ensure proper service delivery? Perhaps our esteemed Auditors-General could look into these and other questions to help our governments the better to manage public-private partnerships.
Further, we know that in all these processes there are instances where fraud and corruption take place. Of course we know that auditors are not police officers and that it is not their main responsibility to investigate cases of corruption.
However, if auditors are not vigilant and are unable to help us to stamp out corruption whenever and wherever it occurs, it will take us a long period of time before our countries are ready and able to come out of the debilitating state of economic stagnation and social decay that afflict many of our countries.
I was very happy to learn that AFROSAI-E has designed and presented a course on the detection of irregularities, wrongdoing and fraud. We may want to consider whether it is not better that all auditors in the public and private sectors should be further trained in forensic auditing so as to ensure that we have the enhanced capacity to uncover irregularities faster and more effectively.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As you know, the African Union, through its programme, NEPAD, has adopted the voluntary process called the African Peer Review Mechanism. As more countries accede to this Mechanism and ask to be reviewed with the objective that we, as Africans, should identify weaknesses in our governance systems and assist one another, the role of the Auditors-General will become crucial in helping to ensure the effectiveness of the Peer Review Mechanism. I trust that our continental auditors will always be ready to lend a hand so that collectively we can take the critical issue of good governance to higher levels.
The South African Auditor-General has explained to me one of the reasons we have constituted AFROSAI-E is to take into account the reality of the differences in auditing methods and approaches among our so-called Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries.
I would like to suggest that even though we may have different organisations based on the reasons advanced, as Africans we should continue to collaborate among ourselves because even though there are some differences affecting the technical parts of your work, the challenges you face as African auditors are similar.
I would therefore urge that we continue to share experiences and new methods of helping to entrench in all our countries the ethos of good governance, better accountability and efficient and effective utilisation of public resources for the benefit of our people.
We should do this because the poverty and underdevelopment that characterise our continent do not make a distinction between those who were colonised by Britain, France, Portugal or Spain. In any case, we share a common destiny and therefore have no choice but to act in solidarity with one another.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you, including our own Auditor-General, for organising this important conference.
As you know, the Pan African Parliament has just concluded its more recent sitting, during which it discussed the various challenges facing our continent. On Monday of this week, the first General Assembly of the Association of African Ombudspersons opened its conference in Johannesburg, also focussing on what its members need to do to ensure that our countries respect the rights of all our people.
Your meeting is similarly engaging the important matters that are central to the strengthening of our democracies, namely, good governance and efficient utilisation of public resources.
I am certain that all these engagements among us as Africans will make an important contribution to our continuing struggle to defeat poverty and underdevelopment on our continent, and ensure the dignity of the masses of our people. They will contribute to a continent that is developed and prosperous, an Africa in which – to borrow the words of the liberation movement in this country – The People Shall Govern!
I am honoured to wish you success in your deliberations and thank you for your kind attention.
Issued by: The Presidency
13 April 2005
Source: The Presidency
Title: Mbeki: Inauguration of Afrosai-E
Address of the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, on the occasion of the Inauguration of Afrosai-E, at the Old Assembly Chamber, Parliament, Cape Town
Programme Director
Auditor-General of South Africa, Shauket Fakie and the distinguished visiting Auditors-General
President of AFROSAI
Honourable Ministers
Our Parliamentary Presiding Officers
Honourable Members of Parliament and Public Accounts Committee members from across Africa
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished delegates
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you on the occasion of the inauguration of the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions. On behalf of the Government and people of South Africa, I extend a warm welcome to all delegates.
I wish to congratulate the members of the new organisation for the spirit of unity and commitment to a common purpose that they have displayed in taking the bold step to form this organisation.
The merging of regional organisations, which have the same or similar aims, is an important development within the broader vision of our renaissance, as Africans - a vision that finds expression in the African Union and its programme the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
I am indeed happy that AFROSAI-E brings together the Heads of twenty-three Supreme Audit Institutions on the continent and seeks to translate their ideals and aspirations into action on the regional, national and international levels.
I am told that you have an important programme of capacity building through which no fewer than 65 training interventions have been organised in the region since 1998 with 1,521 auditors having benefited from this initiative.
Clearly, it is most praiseworthy that you are consolidating and strengthening your regional structure because this will make it easier to ensure better co-operation with other professional bodies and academic institutions, as well as public institutions such as the Pan African Parliament.
All of us agree with your vision focused on promoting accountability, transparency and honesty in government operations, as well as the proper use and management of public resources because this will give us the possibility to accelerate the process of socio-economic development in all our countries.
Indeed, it is our collective duty to ensure that public resources are properly, efficiently and effectively utilised so that we can defeat the high levels of poverty and underdevelopment in our countries. Among other things, it is the responsibility of the supreme audit institutions to ensure that we use public resources in a proper way and in the process help to promote and entrench accountability and good governance.
I trust that this constructive initiative for co-operation by public sector auditors will be an inspiration for your counterparts in the private sector, so that they also organise themselves to contribute towards more transparent and accountable audit systems within the private sector, so as to avoid a repeat of the collapse of companies as has happened in the recent past.
We all know that if we have supreme audit institutions that are underperforming or are sloppy and negligent, our programmes for economic development and social upliftment will suffer. Accordingly, I am convinced that a regional organisation such as AFROSAI-E must play an important role in our efforts to regenerate our continent.
We fully support the concept of building a collective support base to help your members reach the highest levels of audit performance so that they can discharge their responsibilities with diligence and efficiency.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Supreme audit institutions are dependent on their Parliaments and Public Accounts Committees to help optimise their performance. It is clear therefore, that the leadership on the African continent should give all the necessary support to our Supreme Audit Institutions.
In this regard, it is imperative that there should be good working relations between the Public Accounts Committees and the Auditors-General. In fact it is fitting, chairperson, that we hold this ceremony to inaugurate AFROSAI-E in a chamber of Parliament and that, in addition to the Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions, we have with us a good mix of guests including parliamentarians, ministers and Public Accounts Committee members from a number of African countries.
I am confident that many of us here who are not members of AFROSAI-E will agree that we have to do more to ensure that collectively, with the assistance of the Supreme Audit institutions, we improve the use of and accounting for our public resources. Accordingly, we must regard audit organisations such as the AFROSAI-E as our allies in our work to develop our countries.
Indeed, if we fail to recognise the fact that the Supreme Audit institutions are our allies and that they are acting on our behalf to ensure proper use of public resources, then we will be doing an injustice to the masses of the people of our countries who entrusted these resources to us in the first place.
Undoubtedly, our Supreme Audit institutions would have reduced impact if our Public Accounts Committees are ineffective. We therefore need effective financial oversight by parliament, which would have access to fair and objective reports produced by Supreme Audit Institutions that are professionally competent and unfettered in their freedom to make their judgements.
We in South Africa have just emerged from our first 10 years of democracy and, although we have done much to improve the quality of life of the majority of our citizens, we still have many challenges ahead of us. These challenges include the fact that we inherited one of the most unequal societies in the world.
Because of skewed resource allocations, dictated by colonialism and apartheid, many black areas lacked and still lack basic services. Accordingly, one of the main challenges facing government is to direct resources to poor rural and urban areas, to build infrastructure and provide the necessary services.
In this regard, the role of the Audit Institutions is very critical so as to avoid wastage, negligence and fraud. This is particularly important given the reality that we have very limited resources relative to the pressing developmental challenges our country faces. This means that we cannot afford to waste these resources and must therefore ensure that we maximise the beneficial outcomes that we seek.
This work should be done not because we want to merely fulfil some election promises, but rather, as a commitment to the people that they should receive services that are due to them as well as the basic human rights that are central to our democracy.
As we know, there are instances where governments give contracts to the private sector to provide certain services or build infrastructure. At times, we also enter into partnerships with the private sector so as to utilise their capacities to help government to provide better services. In situations where private firms are contracted to provide services on behalf of government entities, it becomes critical for government managers to have their ears to the ground, to react expeditiously to reports of tardy services.
In these kinds of situations we have to address questions such as: Who is accountable to whom? Where do the auditors come in? How do they audit the accountability cycle? Do they have a role to play in helping to ensure proper service delivery? Perhaps our esteemed Auditors-General could look into these and other questions to help our governments the better to manage public-private partnerships.
Further, we know that in all these processes there are instances where fraud and corruption take place. Of course we know that auditors are not police officers and that it is not their main responsibility to investigate cases of corruption.
However, if auditors are not vigilant and are unable to help us to stamp out corruption whenever and wherever it occurs, it will take us a long period of time before our countries are ready and able to come out of the debilitating state of economic stagnation and social decay that afflict many of our countries.
I was very happy to learn that AFROSAI-E has designed and presented a course on the detection of irregularities, wrongdoing and fraud. We may want to consider whether it is not better that all auditors in the public and private sectors should be further trained in forensic auditing so as to ensure that we have the enhanced capacity to uncover irregularities faster and more effectively.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As you know, the African Union, through its programme, NEPAD, has adopted the voluntary process called the African Peer Review Mechanism. As more countries accede to this Mechanism and ask to be reviewed with the objective that we, as Africans, should identify weaknesses in our governance systems and assist one another, the role of the Auditors-General will become crucial in helping to ensure the effectiveness of the Peer Review Mechanism. I trust that our continental auditors will always be ready to lend a hand so that collectively we can take the critical issue of good governance to higher levels.
The South African Auditor-General has explained to me one of the reasons we have constituted AFROSAI-E is to take into account the reality of the differences in auditing methods and approaches among our so-called Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries.
I would like to suggest that even though we may have different organisations based on the reasons advanced, as Africans we should continue to collaborate among ourselves because even though there are some differences affecting the technical parts of your work, the challenges you face as African auditors are similar.
I would therefore urge that we continue to share experiences and new methods of helping to entrench in all our countries the ethos of good governance, better accountability and efficient and effective utilisation of public resources for the benefit of our people.
We should do this because the poverty and underdevelopment that characterise our continent do not make a distinction between those who were colonised by Britain, France, Portugal or Spain. In any case, we share a common destiny and therefore have no choice but to act in solidarity with one another.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you, including our own Auditor-General, for organising this important conference.
As you know, the Pan African Parliament has just concluded its more recent sitting, during which it discussed the various challenges facing our continent. On Monday of this week, the first General Assembly of the Association of African Ombudspersons opened its conference in Johannesburg, also focussing on what its members need to do to ensure that our countries respect the rights of all our people.
Your meeting is similarly engaging the important matters that are central to the strengthening of our democracies, namely, good governance and efficient utilisation of public resources.
I am certain that all these engagements among us as Africans will make an important contribution to our continuing struggle to defeat poverty and underdevelopment on our continent, and ensure the dignity of the masses of our people. They will contribute to a continent that is developed and prosperous, an Africa in which – to borrow the words of the liberation movement in this country – The People Shall Govern!
I am honoured to wish you success in your deliberations and thank you for your kind attention.
Issued by: The Presidency
13 April 2005
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