Sakeliga’s court case against the Auditor-General of South Africa (AG) to make public for the first time the state auditor’s undisclosed management reports of 154 problem municipalities was heard last week.
Arguments mainly revolved around the question of whether the OG has a Constitutional duty to make the management reports of municipalities public. The management reports differ from the summary audit reports that are published annually in that they contain detailed information about specific cases of corruption, misappropriation, management failures, tax abuse other irregularities, as noted by the audit teams.
Section 188(3) of the Constitution provides: “The Auditor-General must submit audit reports to any legislature that has a direct interest in the audit, and to any other authority prescribed by national legislation. All reports must be made public.” However, the management reports of municipalities have never been made public. Sakeliga believes that the non-disclosure has to do with the fact that the management reports contain damning information which, if made publicly available, will herald a new era for accountability of public officials, accountability for tax money and municipal litigation.
Judgment is reserved.