Contributing to a sustainable future (the UN SDGs)

KEY ACTIVITIES IN 2023 AND IMPACT / DIFFERENCE MADE

• Submission and presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance on the lack of budget for SAPS and NPA and over-funding in certain less critical areas such as SAPS units
• Submission to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance on our concerns that the 2023 Budget Review did not cater for the economic impact of a negative FATF country review and that Parliament seemed unaware of this fact
• Submission to National Treasury on the Draft Preferential Procurement Regulations to strengthen procurement legislation within government which will assist with accountability and contribute to sustainable development
• Submission to the Department of Basic Education on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA) to improve the finance management of public schools which will result in better service delivery by government in terms of its mandate on education
• Hosted the MFMA year-end Financial Reporting and Audit workshop, which was attended by 284 delegates. This workshop is aimed at assisting individuals employed within municipalities to prepare credible financial statements for the public sector
• Hosting the CFO Forum at KZN Treasury − this allowed 205 municipal and public entity officials to have access to Standards of GRAP updates which would have otherwise not been possible
• Submission and Presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance on the changes to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act Schedule 1 on who would be classified as an accountable institution. This has a widespread impact on the accountancy profession
• Submission to the Specialist Committee on Company Law to request an increase in the Public Interest (PI) score as set out in the Companies Regulations, which impacts whether companies’ financial statements require an audit, independent review, or just a compilation. The aim is to consider a review and increase of the PI score to ease the regulatory burden on small businesses in South Africa and reduce the regulatory requirements for companies volunteering to have an audit
• Submission of a letter to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) on their request that professional accountancy bodies should inspect their members that perform independent reviews. CIPC withdrew the requirement that professional bodies should inspect independent reviewers in January 2023
• Ongoing engagements on IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts on practicalities of the standard via the working groups
• The public sector department successfully hosted an Eastern Region municipal budgeting and GRAP update session in collaboration with the Accounting Standards Board. The session aimed to assist municipalities in enhancing the quality of their budgets, daily transactions, and addressing other technical matters
• Key initiatives to support KZN local and provincial government to improve audit outcomes and public finance management in the province
• SAICA successfully hosted its inaugural Public Sector Summit aimed at fostering partnerships with key stakeholders to collectively address challenges impacting the public sector and citizens. The summit featured prominent stakeholders including National Treasury, the Public Service Commission, the Auditor-General of South Africa and CIGFARO
• Discussions on the establishment of the Centre of Audit Quality (CAQ) to produce thought leadership, and research and to advocate for views that will advance confidence in South Africa’s auditing profession and advance the discussion on issues relating to audit quality and trust in the capital markets
• Contributions made to the post-implementation reviews of the financial instruments (IFRS 9) and revenue from contracts with customers (IFRS 15) standards
• Signing of an MOU with The Whistleblower House
• Successful hosting of the SAICA Difference Makers and Anti-corruption Summit at Leaderex