DAG highlights the importance of systematising consequence management

Deputy Auditor-General (DAG) Bongi Ngoma has called for stronger accountability and the importance of embedding effective consequence management across institutions to prevent further losses and improve service delivery. She made the comments while participating in a panel discussion on “The future of service delivery for social justice” at the Stellenbosch University’s 8th Social Justice Summit, held on 12 October 2026.

Drawing on the AGSA’s audit insights, she noted that persistent service delivery failures are often rooted in weaknesses in the accountability ecosystem, where key roleplayers do not consistently fulfil their responsibilities.

“What drives stewardship of effective service delivery is when everyone is effective in their role,” she emphasised. DAG Ngoma further stressed that the challenge lies not in the absence of legislation, but in its implementation. She illustrated this point by sharing an example of a municipality in the Eastern Cape that serves approximately 9 000 households and successfully transformed financial management practices, ultimately achieving a clean audit outcome.

She attributed the municipality’s progress to committed leadership and an accounting officer who took decisive action to implement the auditor-general’s recommendations. These efforts contributed to improved service delivery, including waste management, and water and sanitation for the community. She noted that the municipality’s experience highlights the relationship between good governance, sound financial management and effective service delivery. She added that such success stories give us hope, by showing us what is possible when leaders take responsibility, uphold accountability and fulfil their roles effectively.

Turning to the factors that support good governance, she highlighted the importance of professionalisation, capable individuals, ethical leadership, accountability and rigorous oversight. “We need to confront issues of professionalisation. We cannot have a sustainable, performing institution without capable individuals, ethical leadership, accountability enforced, and rigorous oversight,” said the DAG.

She said that these elements are fundamental to strengthening governance and improving institutional performance, ultimately enabling public institutions to deliver services more effectively.

In her closing remarks, she reiterated that accountability must be driven by a well-functioning accountability ecosystem, where every roleplayer fulfils their responsibilities, rather than relying primarily on audit findings. She unpacked that audit findings often identify problems only after losses have occurred, underscoring the need for preventative control measures and the consistent application of consequence management.

DAG called on government to place a greater emphasis on enabling and institutionalising consequence management, noting that the application of consequence management remains inconsistent. “When consequence management is in place, it prevents the next loss,” she said. She reinforced the importance of a coordinated accountability ecosystem in which effective oversight, ethical leadership and consistent consequence management work together to strengthen governance and improve the lived realities of citizens.