Page 28 - Service Delivery Review

National Development Plan and State Capacity Conference

The NDP: If it Can’t be Measured, it Can’t be Achieved

Auditor-General’s Sibongiseni Ngoma

The Auditor-General’s Sibongiseni have a negative impact on the strength of our consti-
Ngoma explains why poor audit tutional democracy, and their impact is severely felt
in the lived realities of ordinary South Africans. While
outcomes undermine NDP goals. big-ticket cases of maladministration and graft might
tend to dominate news media headlines, the more
The Auditor-General’s strategic intent important stories of how the numbers, findings and
Most people’s perception of the work of the Audi- audit outcomes impact the lived realities of ordinary
tor-General of South Africa (AGSA) is of suited men South Africans remain untold.
and women holding clipboards, terrifying everyone
as they tick off debits and credits. Even though this In ESKOM’s case, for example, the inability to ensure
a continuous electricity supply significantly affects
is part of the AG’s job, it does not reveal its entire economic growth. It raises unemployment, particu-
strategic goal, which is to strengthen the country’s larly among young people, who, in turn, are becom-
democracy, make it easier to keep an eye on things ing increasingly restless. Consequently, I would like
and promote accountability and good governance in to talk about the ten-year review of the National De-
the public sector. Most importantly, we foster trust, velopment Plan (NDP) by concentrating on two areas
which boosts public confidence. However, before I of concern, namely: (1) the planning and reporting of
discuss how trust is built, I’d like to discuss what can government performance, and (2) the infrastructure
undermine public trust. construction space.

Year after year, the AG observes a lack of progress Performance planning and reporting fault lines
in audit outcomes, particularly at the front lines of It’s often been observed that our policies are among
government service delivery and among most State- the best in the world. The same sentiment applies
Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Regressive outcomes to government’s planning, budgeting and reporting

28 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15. No. 3 of 2023