Outgoing auditor-general Kimi Makwetu died on Wednesday after a battle with lung cancer, which was diagnosed in 2018.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said of him: ‘During his time as auditor-general, Mr Makwetu served this country with dedication, distinction and great integrity. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time of great sorrow.’ Makwetu was one of the few high-profile public servants who thoroughly deserve Ramaphosa’s accolade.
Makwetu, 54, was one of the most respected public servants of the past decade. His term as auditor-general was to end at the end of this month, which also marked his appointment to the UN Independent Audit Advisory Committee. In his 13 years in the office, he was employed first in management, then as deputy auditor-general and finally as the man in charge.
The auditor-general’s office audits all spheres of government, and all state departments and entities.
During his term of office, the Public Audit Act was amended to give his office more power. As Business Day points out, strengthening preventive measures and ensuring accountability had been an important focus for Makwetu. The AG could now flag material irregularities – non-compliance with or contravention of legislation, fraud, theft or a breach of a fiduciary duty that could cause or had resulted in material financial loss, the misuse or loss of material public resources, or substantial harm to a public sector institution or the public.
He told Business Day that his legacy should be judged by those his work affected. Makwetu emphasised the importance of leadership and preventive measures in turning around the poor outcomes in municipalities.
‘Slippery path’
‘With all the capacity, technically and otherwise, that we have as a common heritage among ourselves as South Africans, we [have] over such a short space of time allowed a slippery path to engulf all of us so quickly’.
Audit outcomes across all spheres of government have mostly regressed. Makwetu seemed frustrated as levels of compliance and accountability deteriorated.
Makwetu said two things that got to him were people who refused to submit to scrutiny, as well as persistent disclaimers of opinions. ‘When you are an auditor and you are going to be issuing disclaimers of opinion every year, you are as good as not there.’
He went on: ‘Some of the changes are going to be seen in years to come. They will not be immediately realised. We can at least say, when we look back, that we did not leave a wobbly foundation.’
His mother, Vela, influenced Makwetu to become an auditor. As a boy in Gugulethu, he helped his mother – who ‘knew how to manage money’ – with her meat distribution business. ‘I was exposed to ways of checking how and whether the money was complete or not. I realised that in order for you to keep track of things, you must write them down,’ Makwetu recalled.
‘When you succeed …’
When he informed his father that he had been appointed deputy auditor-general, his father’s response prepared him for what would come when auditors at his office were being threatened: ‘When you succeed, remember that the people against whom you succeed are going to try to find a way to prevent you from succeeding. Your success as an auditor is the loss of the person that wanted to make off with the money.’
Makwetu had planned to do things that he wasn’t able to do while he was the auditor-general: contributing to creating a ‘better and sustainable SA future’ from a different perspective.
The African National Congress (ANC) said Makwetu’s death was a huge loss to the auditing profession and the ongoing task of building an accountable administration. ‘Makwetu served his profession and the people of SA with distinction and dignity,’ spokesperson Pule Mabe said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said Makwetu had served with dignity and excellence. ‘The DA salutes Makwetu’s service to his country.’
Perhaps Makwetu is best summed up by the following comment posted in response to the Business Day article about his death:
- Wes H • 9 hours ago
I worked in the AG with Kimi in charge and had the pleasure of meeting him several times. A humble and down to earth man who took his job seriously. We need more like him. This news was really shocking. My thoughts go out to his family.’
In contrast
In complete contrast, on the same day, Mongameli Bobani died of Covid-19. Bobani was the former mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) and a member of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) of Bantu Holomisa.
Holomisa said ‘We commend councillor Bobani for the good work he did for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay and his tireless efforts. He was always available to roll up his sleeves to work.’
It’s not likely that other politicians at the municipality would feel the same way. Bobani was elected mayor in August 2018 in a shocking vote that saw former mayor and DA councillor Athol Trollip lose power after a DA councillor abstained from voting.
Trollip had had Bobani as his deputy mayor because of a coalition between the DA and UDM. It was a very destructive relationship.
Trollip wrote repeatedly to Holomisa expressing concerns: ‘Bobani is corrupt. He represents everything I abhor in government.’
He accused Holomisa of being aware of Bobani’s alleged multiple acts of wrongdoing but failing to take action.
According to Trollip, the source of the conflict occurred when the DA stopped the payment of a number of excessive contracts. This prompted ‘extraordinary outbursts’ from Bobani who began to vote against the DA in contravention of their coalition agreement (Daily Maverick).
Allegedly corrupt relationship
Bobani reportedly received hundreds of thousands of rand in an allegedly corrupt relationship with a NMBM Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) service provider. Billions of rands were allegedly lost.
DA Eastern Cape leader Nqaba Bhanga said the financial stability of the metro was hanging in the balance after the city’s takeover by Bobani and an ANC-led ‘coalition of corruption’. He said that financial mismanagement, infighting and the implosion of the ANC in the NMBM would have a direct financial impact on the residents and the economy.
Under the DA-led coalition, the municipality’s collection rate for July 2018 was 98,8%. Since Bobani and his coalition of the UDM, ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters took over, the collection rate dropped to 78,7% in September 2018.
Bobani was ousted in 2019 and replaced by Andile Lungisa, who was later jailed for assaulting a DA councillor.
The city reached ‘Day Zero’, according to Daily Maverick, when the metro’s dams dropped to a combined storage level of only 18%, while the biggest dam, the Kouga Dam, was at 8.31%.
The DA insisted that the issue was not a shortage of water, but a shortage of water treatment chemicals. This emerged after it had received information that critical contracts had not been renewed.
A comment to Daily Maverick’s article by Craig McLachlan stated: ‘The metro-wide water shortage was not due to low dam levels… but due to problems at the Nooitgedacht treatment works.’
Bobani did not create the water crisis in NMBM, but his appointment to this critical position was not an inspiring one.
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Image by Iván Tamás from Pixabay