Reaction to AG's Covid-19 audit report

The Auditor-general (AG), Kimi Makwetu, released findings of the Covid-19 funds audit revealing that, unsurprisingly, the multi-billion rand Covid-19 relief package landed in an environment with many control weakneness, like tossing a vat of beer into a room full of alcoholics…After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in South Africa, the government announced a R500billion package for the health response and the relief of social and economic distress caused by the drastic measures that had to be taken to contain the spread of the virus. The fiscal relief package is funded by reprioritising the 2020-21 budgets and securing loans. On request of the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, Makwetu’s office has undertaken a real-time audit of 16 of the key Covid-19 initiatives introduced by the government and the management of R147,4 billion of the funds made available for these initiatives. This report represents the first in a series of reports that will deal with the financial management of the government’s Covid-19 initiatives, covering R68,9 billion (47%) of the R147,4 billion spending.Michael Avery spoke to OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage about the findings.