A New Era of Accountability: Public Interest SA Applauds AG’s First Certificate of Debt

Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, 15 November 2025 – Public Interest SA warmly welcomes the decisive action taken by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke in issuing a Certificate of Debt against the accounting officer of Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality, Allan Losaba. This marks the first application of the Auditor-General’s expanded powers and stands as an important turning point in the long-awaited effort to restore integrity to public financial management.

By holding Losaba personally liable for R4.6 million in losses, the Auditor-General has sent an unequivocal message: dereliction of duty, financial mismanagement, and disregard for the law will no longer be absorbed by the public purse. This “milestone”, as Maluleke aptly describes it, should become standard practice rather than an exception.

For far too long, individuals entrusted with stewardship of public resources have evaded personal accountability for losses arising from wasteful, fruitless, and irregular expenditures. Yet the legal framework – particularly the Municipal Finance Management Act and Public Finance Management Act – already provides for substantial penalties and recoveries. The persistent failure to enforce these provisions has fuelled impunity, eroded trust, and entrenched practices that hollow out state institutions.

This development should therefore not only be applauded but institutionalised. Certificates of Debt must become a permanent feature in all cases where public funds are lost, including instances of inflated contracts, procurement manipulation, or blatant abuses of section 217 of the Constitution. Those implicated in the industrial-scale looting at Tembisa Hospital – where everything from overpriced medical supplies to skinny jeans found their way into state expenditure – must similarly face personal liability and full recovery proceedings.

“This decisive step by the Auditor-General signals the beginning of the end of impunity in public finance management. For too long, those entrusted with public resources have treated accountability as optional. Personal liability must become the norm — not the exception — whether the losses arise from wasteful expenditure, inflated contracts, or the brazen abuses we witnessed at Tembisa Hospital. South Africans deserve a state where accountability is predictable, not negotiable.” — Tebogo Khaas, chairperson of Public Interest SA

Public accountability must not be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. South Africans deserve a public sector where consequences are predictable, consistent, and enforced without fear or favour. The Auditor-General’s bold intervention is a significant step towards that vision, and it is now incumbent upon all oversight bodies, accounting officers, and prosecuting authorities to ensure that this becomes the new normal in the governance of public finances.

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