While acknowledging that challenges still remain, Cabinet says the outcomes of the 2022\/23 national and provincial government audits “dispel” claims that state capacity is in total collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCabinet was briefed by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) on the outcomes of the 2022\/23 financial year national and provincial audits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe AGSA pointed out an encouraging trend of continuous improved performance, which indicates overall improvement in accountability, transparency, adequacy and effectiveness of controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe departments and institutions that have achieved unqualified audits with no findings (clean audits) have increased from 94 during the 2018\/2019 to 147 during 2022\/2023, reporting a year-on-year improvement,\u201d said Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, at a Post-Cabinet media briefing on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AG\u2019s report also showed that the departments and institutions that have achieved unqualified audits with findings are 162, which represents 39% of the audited institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AG noted that the institutions and departments with disclaimed findings have decreased from 25 during the 2018\/2019 reporting period to five during the 2022\/2023 reporting period, which represents only 1% of audited institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough the Auditor-General reports an estimated R14 billion in financial losses<\/strong>, measures to address material irregularities also show an improvement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough challenges still remain, the outcomes of the 2022\/23 national and provincial government audits dispel claims that State capacity is in total collapse, with independent and objective assessment by institutions such as the AGSA indicating a very strong and continuous improvement trajectory,\u201d Ntshavheni said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n State collapse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ntshavheni’s comments follow the release of a two-year study by developmental experts and researchers at Harvard, which pointed to failed ANC policies and poor governance at the heart of state capacity collapse in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers found that South Africa has failed to create enough jobs to grow the economy and now faces extreme levels of unemployment and inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ANC government’s policies have gridlocked the economy and crippled decision-making in addressing failures in electricity and infrastructure, while the party’s cadre deployment has cut out desperately-needed skills while bolstering political patronage and corruption, the study found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “After 15 years, attempts to stimulate the economy through fiscal policy and to address exclusion through social grants have failed to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInstead, they have sacrificed the country\u2019s investment grade, increasing the cost of capital to the whole economy, with little social progress to show for it,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThree decades after the end of apartheid, the economy is defined by stagnation and exclusion, and current strategies are not achieving inclusion and empowerment in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n