Interviews of short-listed candidates for appointment as next Auditor-General

Meeting report

Interview questions

Ms Shaik

● The candidate was asked to clarify the role of the office of the Auditor General (AG), and also contextualise it within the Constitution of the country.
● How effective was the current funding model for the AG? If not, how would she change it?
● How would she share the responsibility of the AG with other Chapter 9 institutions?
● How would inexperience, given your age, affect or impede your role and functions?
● How would international trends and issues such as labour unrests affect herperformance as the AG?
● What was her understanding of independence of the Office, and who would her loyalty be to?
● Given the history of the country, where black children were compromised when it came to such fields as accounting and auditing; how would she ensure training and improvement of skills to rural and small municipalities?
● How would she ensure staff adhered to highest ethical standards and did not develop relationships with clients and stakeholders?
● What lessons could be drawn from the audits of the municipal accounts, as prepared by the AG every year, and what interventions do you propose?
● Would she change anything about the relationships that the Office of the AG had with stakeholders or was there anything that could be done differently?
● The candidate was asked about her level of exposure in terms of interacting with the leadership of various stakeholders?
● How would her colleagues describe her leadership style?
● Had the process been fair and transparent? Was there anything that the candidate would like to ask the Committee?

Refer to audio for all responses.

Mr Makwethu
● What would he do to improve service delivery and ensure audits were consistently better every year
● The candidate was asked to clarify the role of the office of the Auditor General (AG), and also contextualise it within the Constitution of the country.
● How effective was the current funding model for the AG? If not, how would he change it?
● How would he share the responsibility of the AG with other Chapter 9 institutions?
● How would international trends and such issues as labour unrests affect his performance as the AG?
● What relationship should there be between the Office of the AG and Parliament?
● It was noted that the candidate was the current Deputy AG.  He was asked how he saw the role of the Deputy AG and how that person ought to be appointed.
● What were his views on the AG services being paid for by the audited institutions; and should the country not consider going the international route where in countries like Austria the AG was paid for by the state?
● What would the candidate want to stay longer at that institution?
● What would the candidate perceive to be the relationship with other Chapter 9 institutions like the Public Protector? How would he ensure there was good understanding between organisations
● The candidate was part of the leadership that had released various audit outcomes, what lessons had been learnt, and what improvements would he suggest to ensure that better outcomes were achieved?
● How would he ensure that the staff adhered to the highest ethical possible standards, and that they did not become too familiar with stakeholders?
● Over the past 20 years, the AG had created a very good image of the country; how would he maintain that image to the international community?
● An observation had been that institutions generally struggled to create strong financial control measures; what would he do to improve this situation?
● Had the process been fair and transparent? Did he have enough time to prepare for the interview?

Refer to audio for all responses.

Ms Naicker
● How effective was the current funding model for the AG? If not, how would she change it?
● The candidate was asked about her enrolment for the LLB degree and if this would not interfere with her duties as the AG if appointed.
● The candidate was asked how long she had been a Chief Director in the Eastern Cape?
● How did she see the independence of the Office of the AG, and why was it so vital?
● Would she cope with the demands of the position?
● What was her understanding of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), especially with regards to the standards that she would have to adhere to?
● Were there any stakeholders that should be considered as priority, and if so, how would the balance with institutions be struck?
● What relationship should there be between the AG’s Office and Parliament, and where was the role of the AG located in the Constitution?
● What lessons could be learnt from the audit reports of the AG, and what improvements could be effected to ensure those institutions audited improved on their financial management?
● How would you ensure synergy and coordination between the AG, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the Public Protector in their work to defeat corruption in procurement matters?
● What would she do to encourage government departments to ensure source documents were available on time for audit, and that they kept records because most qualifications resulted from unavailability of source documents?
● Should the AG also do performance audit of government departments and independent institutions?
● Given the history of the country, where black children were compromised when it came to such fields as accounting and auditing; how would she ensure training and improvement of skills to rural and small municipalities?
● How would she ensure the staff adhered to highest ethical standards and did not develop relationships with clients and stakeholders?
● What lessons could be drawn from the audits of the municipal accounts, as prepared by the AG, and what interventions could be made, or would she propose?
● Would she change anything about the relationships that the Office of the AG had with stakeholders or was there anything that could be done differently?
● Had she been exposed at leadership level to interacting with stakeholders as the AG Office was massive?
● How would her colleagues describe you leadership style?

Refer to audio for all responses.

 

Mr Kaushic
● What lessons could be drawn from the audits of the municipal accounts, as prepared by the AG, and what interventions could be made?
● Given the history of the country, where black children were compromised when it came to such fields as accounting and auditing; how would he ensure training and improvement of skills to rural and small municipalities?
● How would he ensure staff adhered to highest ethical standards and did not develop relationships with clients and stakeholders?
● Would he change anything about the relationships that the Office of the AG had with stakeholders or was there anything that could be done differently?
● How would he ensure collaboration and synergy with other Chapter 9 institutions whilst maintaining the character of their distinct roles?
● How would he ensure that the staff maintained the highest ethical standards and that they did not develop familiarity or relationships with people audited or stakeholders?
● Given that people working at the AG office had varied skills pool; how would he harness the strengths of the people currently employed by the Office to ensure they were effective in the operational environment of the AG?
● What benefits and references would he bring to the AG’s office given that he had been working in the financial management environment for well over 30 years?
● How many South African languages could he speak?  This question was informed by the reality that as an AG he had to attend road shows?
● The hedging policy he implemented at SAA, as per his CV, did not go to well; could he share information on that?
● Who was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) during his tenure as Chief Finance Officer of SAA?
● How would he utilise the Office to collaborate with other existing institutions, and also how would you he improve the relationship with Parliament?

Refer to audio for all responses.

Mr Avhashoni
● The candidate was asked to comment on how public finances were managed in terms of the public finance management framework?
● Which stakeholders were important in the line of function for the AG, and how would he manage the relationships with such stakeholders?
● How would the economic situation, as it pertained to the unrest in the country, impact in his work as an AG?
● What qualities should be considered for a person appointed as an AG?
● How would he ensure AG staff adhered to the highest ethical standards and did not develop relationships with clients and stakeholders?
● What lessons could be drawn from the audits of the municipal accounts, as prepared by the AG, and what interventions could be made?
● Would you change anything about the relationships that the Office of the AG had with stakeholders or was there anything that could be done differently?
● Explain what the funding model was for the AG; was it effective; if not, what should change?
● What would you do to ensure political independence of the office, given the views you had expressed on your Facebook page?
● Demonstrate to the Committee the managerial experience you have, because the Office of the AG had a massive staff compliment; how many people were currently under your supervision?

Refer to audio for all responses.

Ms Zondo
● Given the history of the country, where black children were compromised when it came to such fields as accounting and auditing, how would you ensure training and improvement of skills to rural and small municipalities?
● How would she ensure AG staff adhered to highest ethical standards and did not develop relationships with clients and stakeholders?
● What lessons could be drawn from the audits of the municipal accounts, as prepared by the AG, and what interventions could be made?
● Would she change anything about the relationships that the Office of the AG had with stakeholders or was there anything that could be done differently?
● Had she been exposed at a leadership level to interacting with stakeholders as the Office was massive?
● How would her colleagues describe her leadership style?
● If the litigant in the ICT Indaba case she was currently involved in was successful, would she consider stepping aside?
● Noting the comments she made during the introductions about collaborations and the school of government, what other collaborations did she see the AG’s Office involved in or with?
● As a female what quality and added value would she bring to the AG’s Office, or what would she do differently?
● Was there a difference between the private sector and the public sector given that she had experienced both worlds?
● How would her achievements and experience in the financial and accounting fields, benefit the Office of the AG?
● What relationship should there be between the Office of the AG and Parliament?
● What would she perceive to be the relationship with other Chapter 9 institutions like the public protector; how would she ensure there was good understanding between institutions?
● Had the process been fair and transparent; was there anything the candidate would like to ask the Members?
● As a black female what quality and added value would she bring to the AG’s Office, or what would she do differently?
● It was noted that she had worked in the AG’s Office previously but had left. Why did she leave and why did she want to return to the Office now?
● What would she do to ensure that the road was not as rocky, as the one she had travelled, for black women to become chartered accountants?
● If she were to be successful, and hypothetically got a counter offer, what would she do? If deciding against this position where would that leave the Committee? If the answer could be contextualised in the statement cited as reason for leaving the AG’s Office of insecurity of contract work.

Refer to audio for all responses.

Closing remarks
Candidates were interested in finding out as to when the process would be complete, and secondly, whether Members had concerns about the mandate of the Office of the AG.

The Chairperson explained that after the interviews the Committee would deliberate and prepare a recommendation to the National Assembly (NA), on who the Committee thought was suitable to occupy the AG’s Office. By the end of the month candidates would be informed about the outcomes of the parliamentary processes. The intention was to conclude the process before the end of the term of the current AG (Mr Terrence Nombembe).

On questions relating to the mandate of the AG Office, the Chairperson said that improvements were desirable and would be dependent on the successful candidate. The Standing Committee on the AG would be best placed to elaborate on those questions.

The interviews were adjourned.

The Committee met in-camera later that day to deliberate on the merits of all the candidates.