The Best Performing Institution Award is in recognition of the SACAA’s continued excellent performance, which rose consistently over the last five years; from 74% during the 2011/12 financial year to 84% in the 2012/13 fiscal year, and then from 94% during the 2013/14 financial year to 100% during the 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years.
The Best Performing Institution Award comes just a week after the SACAA received the Auditor-General’s Clean Audit Award for the fourth year in a row. This means that the Civil Aviation Authority has consistently produced clean audits during the 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, and 2015/16 financial years.
The Clean Audit Award serves as evidence of the Auditor-General's satisfaction and unqualified audit opinion regarding the financial and operational management of the SACAA. It also attests to the presence of effective internal controls and good governance processes at the SACAA as well as the entity’s compliance with applicable legislation on financial management.
“To some these awards may mean little but to us, as the regulator ,they are of significance considering the huge responsibility we have, which is to assist licence-holders to uphold unquestionable levels of aviation safety and security. Acknowledgment of the good governance and exceptional performance rendered by the SACAA gives comfort to those that use air transport, and also mean that the regulator is more than capable of discharging its mandate. Our performance is intertwined with the country’s levels of aviation safety and security, and it mirrors how we discharge our mandate. It is thus important that we excel in all aspects of our business,” explained Poppy Khoza, who heads the SACAA as director of Civil Aviation.
Khoza added that in discharging its mandate, which includes auditing operators, the SACAA endeavors to always do things right and often applies the same precision used by those that audit the regulator. “We always strive to follow due processes and apply the same meticulous approach that is often carried out on the SACAA and South Africa, for instance, by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as well as other international civil aviation bodies,” she elaborated.
Following an audit conducted in 2013 by ICAO, South Africa’s level of compliance with mandatory ICAO prescripts is currently rated at 84%, which is significantly higher than the world average of 60%. The rating does not include one element that was not reviewed by ICAO during the 2013 audit, which is the aircraft accident and incident investigation function. Had this element been audited, the rating could possibly have been higher than 84%.
“We are excited that South Africa’s ICAO Corrective Action Plan has progressed very well and this has prompted ICAO to confirm its next audit, which is earmarked for May 2017. A scrutiny of statistics indicates that out of 191 ICAO Member States, South Africa is at position number 38 globally and second in Africa in terms of ICAO’s Effective Implementation rating. These ratings are not static and change consistently in line with ICAO’s continual auditing exercises. South Africa, therefore, needs to perform well during the 2017 ICAO audit in order to improve its ranking,” said Khoza.
