Abstract:
South Africa’s successive corporate governance codes have progressively increased
their emphasis on internal auditing. This article had two aims, both resulting in
specific contributions to the internal auditing literature in South Africa. Firstly, it
aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of factors that could affect internal
audit standing, based on the references to internal auditing in the King report on
governance for South Africa 2009 (King III). Secondly, questionnaire data collected
from relevant stakeholders were aligned with the review of the internal audit
function standing obtained from King III in a comparative analysis of the standing of
the internal audit functions of national government departments. The main finding
of this article is that internal auditing in government departments lacks the standing
that is envisaged in King III. Regular communication between chairpersons of audit
committees (CACs), accounting officers (AOs) and the heads of internal auditing
(CAEs) of each department should clarify the role that internal audit functions are
expected to fulfil using the resources available. The agreed role should be reflected
in the internal audit charter of each department. The National Treasury should
play a prominent role in evaluating the reasonable nature of and compliance with
government departments’ internal audit charters.
