PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 January 2021
The Southern African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA) celebrates the dawn of the new year by making two giant announcements. First, the registration of the Occupational qualification: Public Sector Auditor qualification, NQF Level 8, by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Second, the appointment of the former Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) Mr Bernard Agulhas as the chairperson of the Institute’s Examination Board.
The Public Sector Auditor qualification, which replaces the legacy qualification, certificate: Government Auditor is the new underlying qualification for the Registered Government Auditor professional designation. The purpose of the new qualification is to prepare candidates to operate as Public Sector Auditors. Therefore, a qualified candidate will be well equipped to perform external audit engagements to report on the public sector expenditure, performance, and compliance in accordance with relevant standards and legislative requirements.
Members of the SAIGA Council expressed their excitement on this achievement: “This is a momentous task completed, very excited and proud to be associated with the organisation for achieving such a milestone. It has been long awaited. Well done to the current and previous leadership of SAIGA. “Words cannot describe the excitement and happiness to see this milestone finally achieved”. “A well-deserved round of applause to the CEO, the team, Council, Exco and all subcommittees”.
Mr Bernard Agulhas is replacing Professor DP van der Nest as the new chairperson of the Examination Board. The SAIGA Council has welcomed the appointment of Mr Agulhas. In their Memo on the appointment, they wrote, “we are pleased that Mr Agulhas has accepted this appointment and we look forward to his contribution to the Institute. We wish Prof van der Nest all the best and thank him for the contribution he has made during his tenure as the chairperson of the Examination Board”.
Mr Agulhas is a Chartered Accountant, a Registered Public Sector Financial Officer with thirty years’ tenure in the auditing and accounting profession (private and public sectors). Prior to his CEO position at IRBA, Mr Agulhas was the Technical Director at the IRBA. IRBA is the statutory regulator and standard setter for auditors in South Africa. He was also the centre manager for the Technical Department at the Office of the Auditor General as well as the Project Director: Technical for the public sector at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Mr Agulhas has represented IRBA on various external committees, including the King Committee on Corporate Governance, and provided technical support on the drafting of international auditing standards for the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). He was also a member of the Board of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR), which is a global forum which shares best practices in audit oversight as well as a board member of IFAC’s International Accounting Education Standards Board which issued education standards for the accounting and auditing profession globally.
The CEO of SAIGA, Mr Russel Morena and Council are pleased that Mr Agulhas brings to SAIGA a wealth of experience in the areas of audit and education in the public sector.
To read more about SAIGA’s Public Sector Auditor qualification click here or put this URL on your browser: https://allqs.saqa.org.za/showQualification.php?id=117326
