FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND THE DISCHARGING OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY OF ORDINARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA

摘要

The Schools Act, 84 of 1996 (section 42(b)), requires that all public schools in South Africa, “as soon as practical, but not later than three months after the end of each financial year, draw up annual financial statements”. These schools must further submit audited financial statements to the Department of Education within six months after the school’s year end (section 43) and according to section 43(6), “at the request of an interested person, the governing body must make the records referred to in section 42, and the audited or examined financial statements referred to in this section, available for inspection”. The compilation, auditing and submission of these statements are therefore legally required and are compulsory for all schools. The study aims firstly to establish whether schools in South Africa comply with the current legislative prescripts and accounting and auditing practices, and secondly to identify possible problem areas in this regard.