North West clean audits mean nothing if services stay broken, Premier tells officials
Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi used the province's clean audit awards in Rustenburg to say compliance is not the same thing as accountability.
North West Premier Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi has told provincial public institutions that clean audits are not the finish line, saying accountability has to be measured by what it does for the people who depend on the state.
Speaking at the Auditor-General South Africa Public Finance Management Act Clean Audit Awards for the 2025/26 financial year in Rustenburg, Mokgosi said sustainable improvement in audit performance depends on strong leadership, effective oversight, timely corrective action and consequence management. Compliance on its own, he said, cannot clear recurring audit findings without a culture of accountability behind it.
“The purpose of accountability is not merely to satisfy auditors. The purpose of accountability is to improve lives,” the Premier said.
He told public officials and institutional leaders to take responsibility for their decisions and their performance, and said the real measure of success is the impact of good governance on citizens rather than the audit opinion itself.
The awards recognised auditees that had strengthened internal controls, improved governance and shown what the source describes as a commitment to responsible public administration. Among those recognised, the Department of Finance achieved its 13th consecutive clean audit and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs obtained its first. The North West Provincial Legislature achieved its third consecutive clean audit. The North West Gambling Board, the Klein Marico Recreation Centre and the Donkervleit Recreation Centres were also among the state-owned entities recognised for clean audit outcomes.
AGSA North West Business Unit Leader Mthokozisi Sibisi said the awards recognise institutions demonstrating good governance while reinforcing the standards required to keep improving. “We are not just recognising excellence because the journey is complete, but because there is a need to pave the way for future improvements,” Sibisi said.
Finance MEC Kenetswe Mosenogi said 10 provincial departments, five state-owned entities and three municipalities are on the Project Clean Audit programme, led by Provincial Treasury, as part of efforts to lift audit outcomes across the province. “A clean audit is possible for all of us. We just need to instil a culture of discipline and decisive consequence management and pay proper attention to the right things,” Mosenogi said.
Mokgosi closed by tying governance directly to development. “The quality of our governance will determine the quality of our development. The strength of our accountability will determine the strength of our institutions. Let us lead with integrity, govern with purpose and deliver with excellence,” he said.
This report is based on the account published by SAnews (South African Government News Agency), the government’s own news agency, at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/north-west-premier-calls-accountability-beyond-compliance. The agency’s item is a summary of the event and the speeches rather than a full transcript or the awards record itself.
