Speaker, the first thing that comes to mind when a report from Scopa is tabled in this House is: So what? Will it make any difference to the way in which the people's money is managed? The sad reality is that the answer is no. Report after report sets out failure in the public financial system. That failure is systemic and not easy to resolve.
When a system starts to break down only a bold intervention can restrain the breakdown and start to reverse the process. That is what Scopa is meant to do. It must identify what has failed, make recommendations to remedy the failure, and ensure that those responsible for mismanaging the people's money face the appropriate consequences.
For the financial management of a department to operate effectively, it needs to have the basic building blocks in place; it needs to have a clear financial management procedure; it needs to have a robust internal auditing function that monitors compliance with financial procedures; and it must have an effective audit committee that receives regular reports from the internal audit unit so that it can alert management to any financial management problems before the annual audit is conducted by the Auditor- General. These basic and simple principles are not in place, and the result is that the people's money is being squandered fruitlessly, wastefully and irregularly by cadres who simply don't care and are not held accountable.
At a time when our economy has been battered by the perfect storm of fallout from the global financial crisis, incoherent economic policy and creeping systemic rot in the public financial system, Scopa should be at the forefront of holding the executive to account for financial mismanagement.
As a committee, Scopa has identified its problems in receiving the required improvement reports from the departments that appear before it. These reports remain backlogged in the Speaker's Office, if indeed they are submitted at all. An innovation to receive quarterly reports is a welcome step in the right direction, but this must happen and must happen very soon.
There should be no confusion about the role of Scopa. It does not compete with other committees as those who seek to further extract its teeth would suggest. Scopa is Parliament's committee specifically dedicated to public accounts. It has oversight over all of the people's money, irrespective of where in the system it happens to be spent or when it was spent. Scopa must pursue financial justice for the most vulnerable members of our society who feel the gravest consequences from a system that is already leaking over R30 billion per annum according to the Special Investigating Unit.
There should be no confusion that executive accountability to Parliament by Scopa is political and that Ministers must be held to account. They should be monitored and evaluated on their attendance of Scopa hearings; and, if they fail, the Cabinet must be held collectively accountable. And if that tomfoolery continues, the President must be held to account. Scopa needs to up its game and it needs to start now. Thank you. [Applause.]