Standing Committee on Public Accounts explained

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA; Afrikaans: Staande Komitee oor Openbare Rekeninge) is a standing committee of the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa. It oversees the financial statements of all government departments and state institutions, any audit reports issued on those statements, reports compiled by the Auditor-General on government departments and state institutions, as well as any other financial statements or reports referred to by the committee.^[1]

From 1994 until 2024 the practice has been that Parliament elects an opposition party member as chairperson. In July 2024 the Parliament elected Songezi Zibi from Rise Mzansi, a member of the Government of National Unity (NGU) as chairperson.ActionSA, an opposition party that has not joined the GNU, criticised his election saying that the position has been "gifted to a member of the multi-party government/'GNU' which already commands a 70% majority in Parliament [which] serves to potentially neuter effective oversight over government expenditure and outcomes related performance. ... Strong government needs a counter balancing force in opposition that uses the considerable powers afforded to a SCOPA Chairperson to hold government to account."^[2]

Membership

The membership of the committee is as follows:^[3]

Party		Member
	Mkhuleko Hlengwa (chairperson)
	Alexandra Beukes

The following people serve as alternate members of the committee:

• Ganief Hendricks (Al Jama-ah)
• Marubini Lubengo (African National Congress)
• Thandiswa Marawu (African Transformation Movement)
• Constance Mkhonto (Economic Freedom Fighters)

List of chairpersons

It is customary for a member of an opposition party to serve as chairperson of the committee.^[4] However, in 2024 Songezi Zibi, the leader of Rise Mzansi, a member of the GNU, was elected chairperson.

Chairperson		Party	Term Start	Term End
	Ken Andrew	Democratic Party	1994	1999
	Gavin Woods	Inkatha Freedom Party	1999	2002^[5]
	Francois Beukman	New National Party	2002^[6]	2005^[7] ^[8]
	Themba Godi	Pan Africanist Congress	2005^[9]	2007
		African People's Convention	2007	2019
	Mkhuleko Hlengwa	Inkatha Freedom Party	2019^[10]	2024
	Songezo Zibi	Rise Mzansi	2024	Incumbent

External links

• Page on Parliament of South Africa
• Page on People's Assembly

Notes and References

1. Web site: Role of Parliamentary Committees . 6 August 2022 . Parliament of South Africa.
2. Web site: Election of Grand Coalition Member to SCOPA Chair a Cynical Plot to Paralyze Government Oversight . Athol Trollip . ActionSA Parliamentary Caucus . 10 July 2024 . 10 July 2024.
3. Web site: Public Accounts (SCOPA) . 2022-08-06 . Parliamentary Monitoring Group . en.
4. Web site: 2022-07-29 . How Are SCOPA Chairpersons Elected Nationally and Provincially? . 2022-08-06 . People's Assembly . en.
5. Web site: 25 February 2002 . Gavin Woods resigns . 2023-06-10 . News24 . en-US.
6. Web site: 25 April 2002 . New Scopa chair a 'lackey' . 2023-06-10 . News24 . en-US.
7. News: 2 June 2004 . NNP to chair Scopa – for now . 10 June 2023 . IOL.
8. Web site: 2005-09-07 . Scopa chairperson resigns after switching parties . 2023-06-10 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
9. Web site: 2005-10-24 . DA criticises ANC choice for Scopa chair . 2023-06-10 . The Mail & Guardian . en-ZA.
10. Web site: 21 June 2019 . IFP's Mkhuleko Hlengwa is new chair of watchdog Scopa . 2023-06-10 . Sunday Times . en-ZA.