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The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) plans to engage with those government departments employing high numbers of people who are still doing business with the state. Today, Scopa was briefed by the Auditor-General’s Office on audit findings on government officials doing business with the state.

Today’s briefing from the Auditor-General revealed that the departments of Police, Justice and Constitutional Development, Correctional Services, Trade and Industry, Public Works, and Public Enterprises are among the departments with the highest number of employees doing business with the state.

Today’s engagement was important because it addresses the issue of ethics in the public service. The Auditor-General’s report contains information about the fraudulent behaviour of government employees, who either did not declare or gave false declarations during the 2015/16 financial year.

Scopa has requested detailed information from the Auditor-General on the affected departments, so that when Scopa engages with these departments they can give clear explanations about why they are failing to follow the law. In the future, Scopa plans to work closely with the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration to deal with such matters.

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of SCOPA, Mr Themba Godi