The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended stronger Standing Orders, digital tracking tools, and new legal reforms to improve how parliament holds government accountable for public money.
Presenting a report before the National Assembly recently, PAC chairperson, ‘Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, called for the adoption of digital tools to track audit recommendations, foster closer collaboration with the Auditor-General’s office, and using the AFROSAI-E Model Public Audit Act to advocate for stronger independence of Supreme Audit Institutions.
Lemphane-Letsie’s remarks follow the SADCOPAC Sub-Committees’ Operationalisation and Consultative Workshop held in Johannesburg in March 2026.
She said that her committee would push to use the SADCOPAC advocacy framework to review PAC meeting frequency and follow-up on recommendations.
The workshop exposed persistent regional challenges she added. PACs across SADC still face low implementation rates of recommendations by executives, loss of institutional memory due to electoral turnover, over-reliance on donor funding, and delays in tabling Auditor-General reports.
Lemphane-Letsie noted that the outgoing 2022–2025 strategic plan only achieved 70 percent implementation despite setbacks like COVID-19 and funding shortfalls.
For 2026–2030, SADCOPAC set three pillars: Advocacy for legal reforms and standardised PAC procedures, Capacity enhancement through an AI-enabled digital knowledge platform, and Stakeholder collaboration to formalise partnerships with a 75 percent satisfaction target by 2030.
