Independent News reports that a report by the Institute for Internal Auditors SA (IIA SA), which was released in May, revealed that one out of five internal auditors feared for their lives, and those of their families, in the event of them exposing questionable activities in their investigations.
Economist George Glynos commented that the report indicated a desperate state of affairs and added: “We would want to see the institutional capacity of the NPA and the Hawks kick into play in a way that people such as internal auditors can feel protected from this sort of behaviour, and if it does crop up that they feel entitled and emboldened to approach them, and for those (guilty) people to be held accountable.” According to Dr Claudelle von Eck, the chief executive of the IIA SA, the institute has over the last number of years received numerous verbal reports from internal auditors claiming that they were being victimised, intimidated and coerced into sweeping findings under the carpet. Meanwhile, many said that they lived in fear of losing their jobs, with some even fearing for their lives. Political analyst Ralph Mathekga noted that internal auditors were at the coalface of fighting maladministration and that they would be the first people that corrupt elements would want to overrun. “These types of crimes should be taken very seriously, and we should protect those who are willing to act in good faith, and the best way to protect them is to go against the bad guys,” Mathekga said.
- Read the full original of Samkelo Mtshali’s report in the above regard at Independent News
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