Keynote address delivered by the auditor-general at ProInter 2025 – “Women in Leadership” – 3rd Edition

At ProInter 2025 – “Women in Leadership” – 3rd Edition

Date: 13 October 2025, Venue: Afrosai-E HQ, 4 Daventry Road, Pretoria

Programme director

Ms Nancy Gathungu (Afrosai-E Chair, Auditor-General of SAI Kenya) joining us via video

Minister Benjamin Zymler (SG of OISC-CPLP, TCU)

Representative from PROPALOP-TL / UNDP – Maxwell Gomera, UNDP Resident Representative

RSA and Director of Africa Sustainable Financial Hub

Dr Margit Kraker, Intosai General Secretariat also joining us via video

Honoured guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you to ProInter TCU for this wonderful opportunity to engage in conversation on a topic that is not only quite dear to me, but to all of us, men and women who are earnestly committed to recognise, affirm and reinforce the role of women leadership in general and within our industry in particular.

It was only two years ago that the first cohort of 15 participants from 8 SAIs of the Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (OISC-CPLP), supported by the Program for the Consolidation of Economic Governance and Public Finance Management Systems of Portuguese-Speaking African Countries and Timor-Leste (PROPALOP-TL) had their inaugural session.

Last year’s session boasted 37 participants from 17 SAIs from CPLP countries and from the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS).

We are proud today to host the third iteration of ProInter Women In Leadership session for the 15 Afrosai-E countries participating here in Pretoria. I am told that this cohort includes two female auditors from each SAI of the OISC/CPLP and one female auditor from each SAI of Afrosai-E, the English-speaking subgroup of the Afrosai and that it includes anglophone SAIs in line with the commitment made by the TCU during the 2024 Intosai Governing Board Meeting to expand the programme’s linguistic and geographic scope, with a focus on the inclusion of English-speaking participants.

At any given time and with whatever resources we have, we must affirm to girl children that their dreams are valid. One way to achieve this is to present ourselves in a way that we become and are viewed as role models, even by those aspiring to follow in our footsteps in this sector. Women in Leadership and other similar programmes are a way working together to drive and deepen transformation. And we are not doing it just for the sake of it. It is because we know that when women rise, real change is felt across society.

The United Nations Women organisation makes a point of how women bring change when they get involved. They say: There is established and growing evidence that women’s leadership in political decision-making processes improves them. For example, research on panchayats (local councils) in India discovered that the number of drinking water projects in areas with women-led councils was 62 per cent higher than in those with men-led councils. In Norway, a direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal councils and childcare coverage was found.

We can easily substitute political impact with auditing or any other field, and we would come to the same conclusion as further argued by Honey Mamabolo that “women leaders offer unique perspectives, skills and talents that not only enhance organisational effectiveness but also drive innovation and foster healthier workplace cultures. Their ability to balance empathy with decisiveness, collaboration with vision, and resilience with adaptability has reshaped what leadership looks like in the modern era.” It is one thing to say that women's leadership makes a difference. It is quite another to set an example that will inspire a generation to believe in themselves, whether through programmes like this or intentionally being the role models for young girls and boys to look up to.

Women in leadership inspire others; their legacy extends not only to those who lead now, but also to the generations that follow. We are laying the groundwork so that in the coming decades, the gender imbalance is no longer an impediment to women’s uptake into leadership positions.

Role modelling matters because if a child from the dusty streets of Soweto, from the desert of Namibia to a child that has survived the war in Somalia, the child from the Gold Coast in Ghana, Liberia and from our neighbours in Zimbabwe; from the fishing community of Malawi to a child from the Niger Delta in Nigeria, can see likeness and a posture of professionalism, we as the generation that has managed to climb the ladder would have not only affirmed their dreams but planted a seed with others that will bear fruit in a future that we shall not be part of but wish for our youth. This is, I believe, the appropriate understanding of the Chinese saying that the wise plant trees today knowing very well that future generations will benefit from the shade and or fruits.

It is appropriate and fortuitous that this programme is being held on the African continent in the same year that we successfully hosted SAI20 – (the supreme audit institutions of the G20 countries) because of South Africa’s presidency of the G20 group of countries. Allow me a little indulgence here programme director.

Not only was the SAI20 Summit in June tremendously successful, it also broadly affirmed the need for development that considers the gendered divide as well as broadly committed supreme audit institutions and governments, as well as making strong recommendations to the G20 in the area of skills development.

The summit had two themes; namely accelerating efforts to unlock and leverage public infrastructure funding for equality, sustainable growth and bringing improvement to the lives of citizens as well as undertaking collaborative and integrative efforts towards bridging the skills gap for a future-ready workforce.

Our communique, which was adopted through consensus, called for a number of things but for the purposes of today, these are the salient points:

The summit urged the member supreme audit institutions to “broaden auditors’ skills in areas such as engineering, finance, auditing and project management” for the purposes of being able to deal with the infrastructure audits as well as encouraging them to “partner with multidisciplinary professional bodies to bolster SAI capabilities to deal with challenges related to complex infrastructure projects” as part of the second theme of skills development. We urged the G20 to “ensure that the skills gap is addressed equitably across diverse communities, taking into consideration both rural and urban areas, as well as the youth and gender divide”. This week’s activities attest to this commitment that this continent has made to ensuring that SAIs confront and deal with issues of women empowerment within their ranks and there is no better way of doing so than putting education and skills development at the centre of this transformation.

Individually and collectively, it calls upon each of us to use the powers bestowed on us to reinforce our resolve and for all the SAIs to commit to the continuous development of their workforce and particularly in advocating for women.

We acknowledge the foresight of Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), the current chair of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (Intosai), to build the capacity of the SAIs so that they are better able to play a key role in ensuring a better lived experience of citizens in the jurisdictions where they operate. This is just as important for all nations, whether they are members of the G20 or not.

Programme director

I spoke about the power of role modelling and the impact that it can have on those who witness it. I stand here as a testimonial that a girl born in the township of Diepkloof, Soweto, but who spent a better part of her formative years in Soshanguve north of our capital Pretoria, could ascend to the highest point of public sector auditing. And this is not only applicable in public sector auditing, but it is possible across the industry in general. Think of my sister Shirley Machava, born and bred in Venda, who is also an alumnus of the AuditorGeneral of South Africa and is at the top of the ladder at PricewaterhouseCoopers SA as CEO and being PwC Southern Africa Regional Senior Partner, Nonkululeko Gobodo blazed her trail and remains a true inspiration.

So, there are some examples, but they are not yet enough. My attitude towards my career is raising my hand for opportunities, embracing every opportunity and showing up.

For me, although I believe in being of service to the country that has placed so much faith in us, that has invested heavily in us to give back to this society. This is where the bug of public service was implanted – with a father who was a judge and a mother who was a teacher but, in the end, chose the noble duty of raising her children.

To all the managers here, this is my mantra for the day and whenever I get an opportunity:

You can achieve anything you set your mind to but not only that, you are now in the middle of this opportunity so use it well, use it with zest and show up with the power that resides inside each one of you.

I joined the AGSA with the commitment to serve the public in the best way that I can, perhaps inspired by my parents. I always get introduced as the first female auditor-general. Though I am more inclined to think of myself as a professional instead of the first this or that, as I said earlier, this serves to hold an example for the young women that anything is possible if they put their minds to it.

I have also served in numerous leadership roles, not just at the AGSA but within the industry which includes being involved with bodies like the Association of Black Accountants of South Africa where I served with an express intention of growing the circle, especially for the African child, as a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants as a board member as well as chair of the Nominations Committee, served on boards that are in line with the development of excellence including the Aspen African Leadership Initiative international. I look forward to my next challenge of serving on the selection panel to appoint the next director of public prosecutions for South Africa. Again, no small task, given the impact the current National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, has had. 

The point is that the road to success may take varied forms but as long as individuals have the hunger for it, and as long as those that have gone ahead have ensured that they open doors through education and other access opportunities, it is possible to transform the world to see and appreciate the contribution women can and do make.

It is for this reason that, to the greatest extent possible, we have steered our institution towards development strides that take into consideration and affirm women and youth. Our pipeline training for CAs has, since 2019, produced 2281 (excluding 2025 numbers) of which the slant is towards women – 1262 against the male portion of 1019.

We also encourage AGSA women and others in the public sector to take up other opportunities that will afford them the necessary skills to make a difference and grow in leadership positions. We do this with Duke University, where selected senior managers get a chance to improve their skills and hone their leadership abilities through education and training and peer learning.

That is one of the ways we can change the picture and deepen transformation but sometimes it feels like a drop in the ocean on sheer numbers alone. The picture across the SAIs differs but it is still skewed against significant female representation. Data from the IDI / Intosai Global Surveys & Stocktaking Reports show that while overall gender composition among SAI staff is closer to parity globally (51% men/49% women). However, this picture does not take into consideration major differences by region and by level.

Women remain underrepresented in senior leadership: only 29% of SAI Heads are female (as of 2020), and women account for 39% of senior management roles worldwide.

In lower-income countries, the gap is steeper; female representation in senior management remains low.

In the Afrosai-E region, the picture shows that there is still a lot of work to be done. Specific findings for this area include:

• A gender assessment of Afrosai-E members in 2021: among 18 participating SAIs, women comprised 34% of the total staff.
• Many SAIs do not yet have fully implemented gender policies, or policies are incomplete/need improvement.
• Organisational culture, leadership commitment, human resources systems are often not yet fully gender responsive.

SAIs have a critical role to play in holding public institutions to account and thus strengthening public trust in governments. But to effectively do that, they need to have the capacity to do so. SAIs have to take a good look at whether they have the capabilities and professional capacities to demonstrate to their stakeholders that they are relevant, competent and independent assurance providers. That is what reinforces their licence to trade. They constantly need to focus on development of the capabilities and professional capacities and ensure that their development strategies keep them at the top of their game and that they would continue to have impact.

They need to take to heart Intosai’s Goal 2 which supports SAIs in developing their capacity to maximise their value and the benefit they bring to their respective societies by promoting the development of their professional capacities and capabilities.

This will create the necessary impact which we can divide into two, governance and inclusion.

Governance Impacts:

• More inclusive leadership tends to improve accountability, transparency, and public trust. SAIs with diversity in senior leadership are more likely to consider multiple perspectives in audit scopes and recommendations.
• Gender parity in staff and leadership strengthens institutional legitimacy. Citizens need to see that public institutions reflect society.
• SAIs also play a role in holding governments to account for gender equality, for inclusion, for SDGs. If SAIs themselves are not inclusive, they may not fully integrate or audit these issues effectively.

Inclusion Impacts:

• Internal inclusion (women in leadership, supportive policies, equal opportunity) improves staff morale, retention, reduces turnover, and broadens the talent pool.
• It contributes to a culture of fairness: enabling women to contribute to decision-making, to bring different perspectives, to challenge the status quo, which can drive innovation.
• Intersectionality: women, especially those who also have other marginalised identities (ethnicity, disability, etc.), benefit from more inclusive environments.
• Leaders have a responsibility to create enabling environments for continuous learning and development. When a plant does not receive the water and the nutrients to grow, it dies. When humans do not continuously develop and learn new skills, they become obsolete and it is in the interests of good leadership to continuously grow new skills and talent, not only for the individual, but for the benefit of society at large.

In support of governments, it is also important to support goals that promote development.

The Sustainable Development Goals are some of those programmes that SAIs need to support. SDGs are ambitious and reflect a world that wants to see improvement. They reflect the world that longs for decency and for all effort to move those in need from dire circumstances and set humanity on the path to a better life.

Li Junhua, UN under-secretary for Economic and Social Affairs noted in her reflections on the 70 years of Intosai published in 2023: SAIs are in a unique position to provide evidence-based inputs and insights and to make recommendations to accelerate SDG implementation and they must strengthen dialogue and engagement with stakeholders, including government entities around SDG follow-up and review.

But it is not only what governments need to do around SDGs that is important. It is also about what the SAIs need to do and SDG 16 comes to mind. This is about peace, justice and strong institutions. The SAIs are some of those institutions that we need to build through continuous development so that they are equipped with the skills to discharge their duty and mandate to hold governments accountable. As women, we need to ensure this is done, to prevent any regression in the gains we have made.

SAIs should continue to invest in building and strengthening their capacities, including at the strategic-planning level, argued Junha.

Programmes like ProInter Women in Leadership definitely add muscle to this quest for development, to the quest for bringing to life SDG 16’s intent of building strong institutions that will benefit citizens in the countries where these SAIs are operating and to create a set of leaders with the necessary skills to implement strategies that always make them relevant. The quest for relevance is an ever-present challenge that we need to rise to.

Such programmes should find commonalities with other existing programmes with the same intent including other capacity building & leadership development programmes like the Afrosai’s Women Leadership Academy (WLA) which targets mid-level women in SAIs to build strategic thinking, leadership skills, confidence, peer networking and the organisation’s Senior Leadership Development Programme (SLDP) & Management Development Programme (MDP) helping build capacity among existing leaders.

There are a number of suggestions that I would like to urge SAIs to consider and Afrosai-E can provide leadership in ensuring that we consider practices, strategies and tools that can assist in this quest. Among these are the gender policies or being gender responsive which would encourage SAIs to have plans that speak to gender equality, human resources policies that remove bias (in recruiting, promotion, compensation, performance evaluation). Also, SAIs should continually conduct gender assessments and audits to help identify gaps. The famous adage is that you cannot improve what you cannot measure. The gender assessment conducted by Afrosai-E in 2021 is a good example. Gender responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring, evaluation and auditing must become commonplace and a regular occurrence.

There must be an intentional effort to change the institutional culture. Again, Afrosai-E has been at the forefront in holding workshops, for example, in collaboration with GIZ on impact of culture on gender, diversity, inclusion) to raise awareness. The important part is what individual SAIs do outside of the guidance of the organisation, such as Afrosai. It is also important, not only to hold these important sessions, but also to ensure there is sufficient leadership commitment I.e. SAI heads / senior management (especially male counterparts) must champion, not just endorse, gender equality. It must not be a matter of compliance because transformation is about the ability to competently discharge of the mandate under which you operate.

Programme director

SAIs are guardians on the usage of public funds but they must also display that which they demand of government and other governing entities. SAIs must earn public trust, must be seen to be acting in a democratic manner and they should hold themselves accountable. This is important so that they can enhance their credibility with stakeholders, including citizens, parliaments, civil society organisations and other non-governmental organisations. As I said, this is a subject that is close to my heart and I could go on forever but in closing, it is important that the SAI heads, like me, and the senior leadership should commit to measurable targets for female leadership. It is our role and I call upon all of those who have the power to make a difference to ensure that gender is integrated in strategic plans, not just as a by-theway. Women leaders should build and commit to peer networks where they continue building mentorship, engage in knowledge-sharing and exchange with their peer communities and take advantage of leadership development opportunities that arise.

Men must be part of the conversation. Men must be active enablers and see gender equality not only as a women’s issue but for what it is; an issue for growth, development and justice. Let me close by quoting Yusador Saadatu Gaye, former SAI Liberia Head who said: “We must govern by example… No matter how small the change, if we do it with integrity, it becomes part of something bigger.”

We have a much bigger agenda for transforming the workplace and create an enabling environment for women not only to lead but to thrive which should translate to successful SAIs or companies in any other industry.

Thank you