It’s enough to make one’s blood boil. Politicians fell over each other last week to sing the praises of Kimi Makwetu, the hugely respected auditor-general, after he died of lung cancer. Makwetu deserved every bit of praise he received. He was that rarest of civil servants: dedicated, hard-working, committed to excellence and as straight as an arrow.
Yet when the man was alive these politicians ignored virtually everything he said. Year in and year out, Makwetu exposed the rampant corruption of the state and its entities. Year in and year out, it was business as usual. A few words of concern would be said in parliament, but nothing was done.
All the people Makwetu and his teams have identified as being responsible for the collapse of municipalities across the country are still drawing salaries. In the 2018/2019 financial year only 20, or 8%, of SA’s 257 municipalities managed to get clean audits (unqualified with no findings). The audit outcomes showed that 13% of the municipalities (33) received a disclaimer — the worst possible audit outcome, up from 31 a year earlier. The year before that? Only 18 of the 257 municipalities managed to obtain clean audits. That was a decline from the 33 municipalities which received a clean audit in 2016/2017. The year before, 48 municipalities had received a clean audit.
A year ago Makwetu issued a report titled “Act now on accountability”. He said the failure to improve audit outcomes was because those charged with governance were slow to implement or totally disregarded audit recommendations made by his office.
“Our recommendations did not require more than what accounting officers and authorities were legally obligated to do by existing laws, such as the Public Finance Management Act.
“We simply re-emphasised basic accountability measures, such as proper planning and budgeting; establishing internal controls; effectively dealing with transgressions; keeping proper records; as well as credibly reporting on finances and performance,” he said.
He was being polite, of course. These people are not doing their jobs. Anywhere else in the world they would be fired.
Ask yourself why our state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are such a mess. Well, it was all foretold in successive auditor-general’s reports. In his 2018/19 report Makwetu said three of the 14 major SOEs that his office audits failed to submit their financials. Who are those, you may ask? They are the same SAA that you have given R10.5bn to this year, the SA Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority.
The SAA case is interesting. It just ignored the auditor-general. It was the second time it had flatly refused to submit financials. There were no consequences.
Releasing his 2016/17 municipal audit findings Makwetu said his office had been warning municipalities about their administrative lapses since 2013.
“It is now five years later and we are still faced with the same accountability and governance challenges we had flagged throughout these years. There has been no significant positive change towards credible results: instead we are witnessing a reversal in audit outcomes,” Makwetu said.
And so it goes.
There have been calls to honour Makwetu. One suggestion was that the amended Public Audit Act be referred to as the “Kimi Law”. It would be a great tribute.
We must stop naming things, erecting statues and renaming buildings after our heroes while acting in a manner that is absolutely contrary to what they would have wanted or the way they would have acted themselves.
Yet we must stop naming things, erecting statues and renaming buildings after our heroes while acting in a manner that is absolutely contrary to what they would have wanted or the way they would have acted themselves.
The statue recently unveiled at OR Tambo Airport, costing at least R13m, is one example of this kind of two-facedness. Has anyone seen the unemployment numbers? More than half of people able and willing to work are sitting at home, jobless. If one wanted to honour Tambo one would see more energetic moves towards achieving his dreams: jobs for all, health for all, water for all, education for all. This is what Tambo fought for, was exiled for and wanted to see in his lifetime. He did not struggle to have a statue erected in his honour. It’s nice, of course, but it is not what he fought for.
People such as Makwetu fight for a better, more just world. They fight for a world where they see their work tilt power away from the haves to the have-nots. Makwetu railed against those corrupt municipalities and their leaders not because he wanted clean books. A crooked accountant can give you clean books. Makwetu wanted clean books that meant that money allocated to the betterment of the poor was used for exactly that.
So let’s stop with the fine words and the crocodile tears. It’s disgusting. Do what Makwetu begged you to do — your jobs. And punish those who fail to do so.
Anything less is a betrayal of the man and his legacy.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.