Auditor General Terence Nombembe has criticised the government and public servants for a weakening of the pillars of governance protecting South Africa's democracy, Business Day reported on Monday.
He also expressed concern about the vulnerability of his office because of growing lack of support from the government to his warning about this deterioration.
Nombembe said the management supply chains, service delivery, the security of government information and accuracy of government reports were deteriorating.
“Things are serious, and they are even more serious than we thought they are,” he said at the opening of Deloitte's new building in Pretoria on Thursday.
“They are more serious because the people that are employed by government to do work are least prepared and equipped to do it. The situation is dire.
“We are equally vulnerable as those countries where the auditor general has limited scope to do its work because what we are saying is not taken serious, not by the government, not by ourselves and those who need to do something about it.”
He said his office would soon release the audit results for local municipalities, and he expressed his dismay at them.
The people voted into power were slow in taking responsibility for what they had been voted in for, he said.
“The accountability for the results is not taken as serious as it should be. Bad results are regarded as a norm and when people get a disclaimer or qualified reports, little happens to them to show that this is unacceptable. This is the culture we need to be concern about,” he said. - Sapa