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.
Independence of the Chair From 1994 until 2024 the practice has been that Parliament elects an opposition party member as chairperson. African People's Convention's Themba Godi, who was the SCOPA chair for 15 years, in 2022 said about the party affiliation of the chair:
In July 2024 the South African 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."
Zibi responded: “I think people are mischaracterising the tradition ... The tradition is that the chair of Scopa is not from the majority party. [Rise Mzansi is] not even in the national Cabinet, so the conflict doesn’t arise.”
Membership The membership of the committee is as follows: Party Member Position Since Songezo Zibi Chairperson 2024 Alan Beesley Member 2024 Tintswalo Bila Member 2024 Patrick Atkinson Member 2024 Farhat Essack Member 2024 Helen Neale-May Member 2024 TTS Kubheka Member 2024 Ntando Maduna Member 2024 Veronica Mente-Nkuna Member 2019 David Mandla Skosana Member 2024 Christobel Thandiwe Nontenja Alternate 2024 Mazwikayise Brian Blose Alternate 2024 Kingsley Wakelin Alternate 2024
List of chairpersons It is customary for a member of an opposition party to serve as chairperson of the committee. However, in 2024 Songezi Zibi, the leader of Rise Mzansi, a member of the GNU, was elected chairperson. Chairperson PartyTerm startTerm end Ken Andrew Democratic Party19941999 Gavin Woods Inkatha Freedom Party19992002 Francois BeukmanNew National Party20022005 Themba Godi Pan Africanist Congress20052007 African People's Convention20072019 Mkhuleko Hlengwa Inkatha Freedom Party20192024 Songezo Zibi Rise Mzansi2024Incumbent
References
External links Page on Parliament of South Africa Page on People's Assembly