Effectiveness and Efficiency of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) in Enhancing Oversight and Accountability in the Public Sector

Public Accounts Committees (PACs) has significant role to play in enhancing oversight and accountability for the use of public funds. This paper discusses the role of PACs in promoting effective, efficient and economic (EEEs) use of public resources for the benefit of the public. It also provides the theoretical background, practical experiences and challenges faced by PACs in executing their mandate. The question addressed in this article is “whether PACs within the respective Legislatures are effective and efficient in performing their mandate as enshrined in the Constitution”. Based on empirical evidence of financial misconduct, fraudulent activities, and corruption cases in the public sector, it is argued that more still need to be done by the PACs in order to continuously improve its work. Institutions such as APAC, Auditor General, National Treasury and South Africa Legislative Sector need to continuously capacitate PACs Members and support staff on oversight and accountability best practices so that those committees can be effective and efficient in executing their mandates. Considering challenges faced by PACs, several recommendations were also proposed in order to address those challenges