Provincial Treasury accommodates administratively the provincial shared internal audit unit and audit committees. The provincial shared internal audit unit provides independent assurance and consulting services to all twelve provincial departments. The unit services four departments with own staff and contracted two service providers to service the other eight departments. During 2012-13, a general manager, two additional senior managers and four senior internal auditors were appointed. The internal audit unit is in a growth phase to appoint more staff in order to service more departments with own staff and ultimately phase-out the use of service providers.
The internal audit unit is structured into four clusters of three departments each, namely:
- Cluster 1: Education, Provincial Treasury, Economic Development & Tourism
- Cluster 2: Health, Office of the Premier, Social Development
- Cluster 3 Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development, Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs, Sport, Arts & Culture
- Cluster 4: Roads and Public Works, Environment, Transport and Safety & Liaison The internal audit unit aims to deliver audit assurance in terms of International
Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing. The unit will undergo the five-yearly compulsory external quality assurance review during 2013-14, and R160 000 has been budgeted for this purpose. The unit also facilitates an internal audit training scheme to develop audit clerks into professionally qualified internal auditors. All auditors are registered with the South African Institute of Internal Auditors.
Three audit committees are in place and provide effective oversight through quarterly audit committee meetings and audit committee members attending ad-hoc departmental meetings. The audit committees are funded through Programme 1 and are aligned to the internal audit unit clusters, with cluster 3 and 4 falling under 1 audit committee. The audit committees operates in terms of an approved Audit Committee Charter and discharges all the requirements as outlined in the PFMA, Treasury Regulations and Charter.
Honourable Speaker, in making sure that fiscal prudence is achieved and that service delivery is accelerated, we will also have to step up our monitoring and oversight role through assistance of political intervention. Whilst we will continue to support other arms of government charged with mandate, we will have to engage from time to time with departments to allow us to intervene promptly where and when necessary and to make timely decisions.