Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Max Sisulu
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Nomaindia Mfeketo
Deputy President of South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe
Outgoing Auditor-General Terence Nombembe
Fellow MPs and Ministers present
Chairperson of the Forum for Institutions Supporting Democracy, Mr Ben Mthembu
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
I welcome the opportunity to thank all participants at this special ceremony to bid farewell to the outgoing Auditor-General, Mr. Terence Nombembe.
It is befitting to celebrate the leadership of someone who has led the institution of the Auditor-General of South Africa in the manner that Mr Nombembe did. During the tenure of Mr Nombembe the office of the Auditor-General has been one of the most effective and efficiently run institutions in South Africa.
We thank him for the conversations he often led on how best to improve accountability across our public sector institutions and for the range of international best practices we could draw on.
I am emboldened in my appreciation of your great contribution by the comments we have heard from various speakers today. For that, as Parliament, we want to say a very big "thank you" indeed.
To Members of Parliament people like the Auditor-General are the partners we need in order to succeed in our job. This is so because Members of Parliament are responsible for overseeing the performance of the Executive. To fulfil this role effectively, they need reliable and accurate information. The information needs to be examined by a suitably qualified, independent person to ensure that it is sound, accurate and complete. And under our system of governance, the person with this important responsibility is the Auditor-General.
In the seven years that Mr. Nombembe has been the Auditor-General Parliament has had an unqualified audit opinion in each one of them, though sometimes with some emphasis on some matters. Any material misstatements identified were subsequently corrected, resulting in the financial statements receiving an unqualified audit opinion the following year.
Indeed, we are confident that as this prime institution of our country we will be setting an example and committing to high standards when it comes to accountability in all of our activities.
Members and distinguished guests, as we salute Mr. Nombembe we also look forward to the continuation of hard work by his successor and the rest of the staff of the Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa to meet the high expectations of the entire South African society. May the office maintain the capacity to independently promote accountability and scrutinise the spending of public money.
We are thankful to the Deputy President, Hon Kgalema Motlanthe, for having graced this event with your presence and wise words.
I want to assure you that the gift that we have just given to Mr. Nombembe will be duly declared.
May I on behalf of our Parliament thank all the participants and stakeholders for making this event a success.
I thank you
Ngiyathokoza
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