After a study found that nearly one-in-five internal auditors in South Africa said they would not feel safe if they exposed questionable activities to law enforcement agencies, some internal audit leaders and others are calling on the state to do more to protect internal auditors, in both the public and private sectors, who raise concerns.
“While the majority of complaints have come from internal auditors in the public sector, the fact that the veil had largely been lifted on private sector corruption pointed to the necessity to include the private sector in the study,” Claudelle von Eck, the chief executive of the Institute for Internal Auditors South Africa told the South Africa newspaper The Star.
The IIA SA’s report, titled Plight of Internal Auditors, which was released in May, revealed that 18 percent of internal audit respondents feared for their lives, and those of their families, were they were to expose questionable activities in their investigations. Internal auditors working in local municipalities (33 percent), metro and district municipalities (29 percent each) and national government (26 percent) reported the greatest fear for their lives and that of their families.
“Clearly a significant amount of internal auditors in local government, across all three types of municipalities, are living with a sense of fear in their professional capacities. It is unclear how many would still do the right thing despite being afraid,” the report said.
“These types of crimes should be prioritized by the state, which should send a very strong message when this kind corruption happens because otherwise, it will simply corrode institutions in the long run,” said Ralph Mathekga, a South Africa political analyst.
George Glynos, an economist, said the report indicated a desperate state of affairs. “We would want to see the institutional capacity of the NPA kick into play in a way that people such as internal auditors can feel protected from this sort of behavior, and if it does crop up that they feel entitled and emboldened to approach them, and for those (guilty) people to be held accountable,” Glynos told The Star. 
Joseph McCafferty is editor & publisher of Internal Audit 360°.