Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The study focused on financial reporting in the public sector with the view to understanding the impact of the present financial management system in South Africa is adding value to the measurable outcomes-based objective process as required by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The study determines the role of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in financial reporting, in relation to the business plan (strategy) and measurable outcomes and results of the Department of Community Safety. The primary objective of this study was to perform an assessment of financial reporting and its effectiveness in terms of the PFMA as the legislative framework and the MTEF as a financial management tool. The secondary objectives were to: (1) to provide a theoretical perspective of public financial management and reporting in government; (2) to provide an verview of policies, legislation and strategies; (3) to record and develop a case study of financial reporting in the Western Cape Provincial Government within the Department of Community Safety (WCPG); (4) to present the research findings on financial management, and (5), to apply the theoretical framework to the case study in order to develop findings. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / That South African municipalities, in vast majority, are experiencing serious financial problems is well-known to anyone with an interest in local government sector. Given that, the study considers the role of the Auditor-General (AG) in promoting sound financial management in municipalities. The disciplinary perspectives from which the inquiry is considered are law and public administration. The context for this consideration is the North West, a province which is inundated by poorly performing municipalities that are literally on the brink of financial and operational collapse. The study proceeds from the premise that efficient financial management practices are essential to the long-term sustainability of municipalities. The role of the AG is key in this regard in that the latter is a watchdog over state coffers and the pivot of the oversight mechanism over the management of public finances. Furthermore, the AG strives to institutionalise and promote a culture of good governance, accountability and transparency in municipalities. It achieves this through routine auditing and provision of audit recommendations that seek to improve municipalities’ internal controls. However, this purpose gets undermined, and eventually defeated, in the instance where audit recommendations are being ignored. Of concern is that the non-implementation of audit recommendations has become a norm in most municipalities in the North West. The study has considerable breadth in its analysis of this problem by looking closely into three municipalities: Mahikeng, Ditsobotla and Tswaing. It is not immediately clear why this trend is emerging or has emerged. In that note, a resolve to embark on this study was impelled by a sense of commitment to try to understand the real issue behind this trend and to see how best it can be countered. This brings the study to then ask: How can the AG’s recommendations be better and adequately given effect in the North West municipalities? In response, it will be argued that this issue cannot be solved by the AG alone. What is needed, instead, is the development of an action plan, policy and institutional framework that will guide and facilitate the multi-agency approach and inter-institutional collaborations towards addressing the problem. Further argument will be advanced to say that the efforts undertaken to reconstitute and strengthen the legal framework governing the AG through the 2018 amendments to the Public Audit Act do not constitute a magic bullet solution to the dismal downward trajectory across the North West municipalities, as contemporary narratives seek to suggest.

Magister Legum - LLM / The majority of South Africa’s 257 municipalities are in a dire state as evidenced by the recent reports of the Auditor-General (AG). 1 The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs revealed that only 7 percent of the country’s 257 municipalities are classified as wellfunctioning insofar as they are capable of carrying out their tasks adequately.2 From the remaining municipalities, the Minister pointed out that 87 municipalities (31 percent) are ‘frankly dysfunctional’ meaning that service delivery in these municipalities is poor or at times non-existent because of poor governance, inadequate financial management, and poor accountability mechanisms.

Public performance auditing is a type of auditing government departments’ use to review three specific aspects (efficiency, effectiveness and economy) of a sector, department or project. Upon completion of a public performance audit, the relevant supreme audit institution releases a performance audit report. The purpose of this study is to determine the level content compliance in these public performance audit reports with the international performance audit standards ISSAI 3000-3001. This study compares the level of content compliance in South Africa, a developing countries against Australia, a developed country. A type of text analysis was used to collate the levels of content compliance in a total of fifty reports, twenty-five reports published by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) and twenty-five reports published by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), during the period 2006 – 2013. The finding revealed that public performance audit reports published in Australia have a greater level of content compliance than reports published in South Africa. The results of the report further detail the content shortcomings in the reports reviewed. This study will assist both the AGSA and ANAO in highlighting content concerns in these performance audit report, which is the first step towards improvement.

The objective of this thesis is to describe and examine the current state of research and knowledge on performance auditing and performance reporting, and how these two components of performance management can be applied in the public sector in South Africa, and, at the same time, be in line with the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act. The roles and responsibilities and supporting mechanisms available for implementation are reflected on and the application in national departments in South Africa is analysed. The analysis demonstrates that limited performance audits are conducted and reported on in the annual report. Although there has been a continuous improvement in performance reporting major shortcomings identified by the Auditor-General SA include the lack of sufficient supporting evidence and non-alignment between the planning, budgeting and actual reporting information. Accounting officers made reference to performance information in their reports but the content differed and audit committees also adopt various practices. Challenges include the lack of standards, support and incentives or sanctions for poor reporting. The study concludes with recommendations and suggestion for future research. / Auditing / M. Com. (Auditing)

Proper records management plays a significant role in the auditing process, risk management and wider corporate governance. Despite this role, in South Africa, many governmental bodies are issued with disclaimer reports every year by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) due to a lack of supporting documentation. This problem is exacerbated by the exclusion of records management from the criteria for a sound financial management infrastructure in many governmental bodies. The other dilemma is that some records such as financial records, personnel records and electronic records usually fall outside the jurisdiction of the organisation’s records manager. Utilising the King Report III as a framework, this study sought to develop a framework to embed records management practices into the auditing process in the public sector of South Africa, with a view to entrench a culture of clean audits. The study relied on mixed methods research (MMR), with the quantitative study conducted first through informetrics analysis of audit reports, while the qualitative paradigm was used to substantiate numerical data. Data collection adopted a multi-approach with four key sources of data: a questionnaire, interviews, literature review and publicly available data from the consolidated general reports of AGSA. The study revealed that most governmental bodies have established internal audit units, audit committees and records management units, which did not work in unison. In most governmental bodies records management did not form part of the audit scope and records management professionals were not part of the audit committees. As a result, most governmental bodies continued to receive negative audit opinions from AGSA. The study recommends that records management community should utilise auditing and risk management as a springboard to propel records management to the new heights. A further empirical study on the role of auditing and risk management in records management that embraces both the private and public sectors is recommended. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

South Africa comes from an apartheid local government system that was structured to divide the citizens socially, economically, spatially and racially to ensure that only a small minority of South Africans benefited from the development and the resources of this country. Since 1994 government departments have undergone a number of transformation processes. The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and affirmative action became instrumental in ensuring racial and gender representation within the local government structures. This study investigates the perceptions of racism, nepotism, fraud and other related problems which were perceived as a hindrance towards the effective implementation of affirmative action. The main findings of the study confirm that the implementation of affirmative action in municipalities is not effective due to lack of commitment from top management. It is anticipated that the implementation of Local Government Systems Amendment Act 7 of 2011, will enforce service delivery within municipalities. / Public Administration & Management / M. Tech. (Public Management)

The objective of this thesis is to describe and examine the current state of research and knowledge on performance auditing and performance reporting, and how these two components of performance management can be applied in the public sector in South Africa, and, at the same time, be in line with the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act. The roles and responsibilities and supporting mechanisms available for implementation are reflected on and the application in national departments in South Africa is analysed. The analysis demonstrates that limited performance audits are conducted and reported on in the annual report. Although there has been a continuous improvement in performance reporting major shortcomings identified by the Auditor-General SA include the lack of sufficient supporting evidence and non-alignment between the planning, budgeting and actual reporting information. Accounting officers made reference to performance information in their reports but the content differed and audit committees also adopt various practices. Challenges include the lack of standards, support and incentives or sanctions for poor reporting. The study concludes with recommendations and suggestion for future research. / Auditing / M. Com. (Auditing)

South Africa comes from an apartheid local government system that was structured to divide the citizens socially, economically, spatially and racially to ensure that only a small minority of South Africans benefited from the development and the resources of this country. Since 1994 government departments have undergone a number of transformation processes. The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and affirmative action became instrumental in ensuring racial and gender representation within the local government structures. This study investigates the perceptions of racism, nepotism, fraud and other related problems which were perceived as a hindrance towards the effective implementation of affirmative action. The main findings of the study confirm that the implementation of affirmative action in municipalities is not effective due to lack of commitment from top management. It is anticipated that the implementation of Local Government Systems Amendment Act 7 of 2011, will enforce service delivery within municipalities. / Public Administration and Management / M. Tech. (Public Management)

The Eastern Cape Department of Education has become like a problem child in the Republic of South Africa. It is a cause for concern to both the provincial and national government. This is a department where service delivery is problematic. Schools are not built or renovated and children are taught in dilapidated structures or sometimes under trees. Hardly a week passes without the department making the headlines in the media for the wrong reasons. It is widely accepted that the department is dysfunctional and education is in a crisis. The department has emerged as the number one culprit of engaging in corrupt activities in the province. Public officials in the department have been identified as being at the helm of these corrupt activities. In the 200/10 financial year, the Auditor General issued a disclaimer to the department and highlighted a lack of direction, accountability and a total breakdown of internal control systems and supply chain management within the department. Numerous fraud risk indicators were identified during the audit and underlined by findings that are indicative of fraud and corruption within the department. This unfortunate state of affairs is contrary to the requirements of section 195(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which provides for the democratic values and principles governing public administration including inter alia, that: A high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained. Efficient, economic and effective use of resources must be promoted. Public administration must be accountable. This raises several questions about the ethical fitness of public officials in the department as the custodians of the public resources and trust. Though several reasons abound for this unfavourable state of affairs in the department, the researcher has singled out unethical conduct by public officials in the department and its impact on service delivery. The approach followed in this research was to analyse the 2009/10 Department of Education Annual Report and the 2009/10 Auditor General’s Report to the Eastern Cape Department of Education. The analysis confirmed the existence and occurrence of multiple cases of unethical conduct in the department. At the end scientific recommendations are proposed to alleviate this ill.