{
  "id": 12158926,
  "title": "Committee slams ‘depressing’ audit picture as women’s portfolio regresses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/committee-slams-depressing-audit-picture-as-womens-portfolio-regresses",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-05T12:59:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/news/committee-slams-depressing-audit-picture-as-womens-portfolio-regresses/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities in South Africa experienced a decline in audit outcomes, according to the Auditor-General's 2025-26 report. This downward trend was assessed as \"deeply concerning\" by the committee chairperson, Liezl van der Merwe, who linked the regression to governance failures and ongoing challenges. The audit outcomes for both the department and the Commission for Gender Equality retained findings, indicating persistent issues. Key problems included vacancies, leadership instability, weak internal controls, and poor performance reporting. The committee emphasized the need for proper succession planning to ensure the department's continued effectiveness. They also questioned the department's ability to provide credible performance reports, a matter highlighted by the Auditor-General. Despite audit action plans and oversight interventions, the same issues resurfaced year after year. The committee called for decisive action against officials who fail to comply with procurement and financial management regulations, expressing frustration over the lack of consequences for wrongdoing. They urged the department to provide detailed plans showcasing how additional resources would enhance performance and service delivery, rather than accepting general statements about underfunding. The committee also scrutinized the effectiveness of internal audit structures and questioned whether leadership vacancies were the sole cause of the department's challenges or if a broader capacity issue existed within senior management. The Auditor-General attributed the poor outcomes to institutional instability and vacancies, noting that the department's vacancy rate had risen to 11.6%, with senior management vacancies at 16.2%.",
  "summary": "'It's depressing because the portfolio meant to look after the most vulnerable in our society is moving backwards and not forwards.'",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}