Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke bags global role at Unesco

Nearly three years after her appointment, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke is set to take up a role at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Maluleke will serve as Unesco’s External Auditor for a period of six years from 2024 to 2029, the Presidency has confirmed.

Members of various committees and subsidiary organs of the UN agency voted for Maluleke, who is a chartered accountant, to fill up the position on Friday.

Presidency wishes Maluleke well

President Cyril Ramaphosa has since congratulated and wished Maluleke well as she embarks on her new oversight position.

“On behalf of government and the nation, I congratulate our Auditor-General on her election to a global role which as an acknowledgment of her personal capabilities and the leadership capacity and integrity that resides in South Africa’s governance institutions,” the president said in a statement on Sunday.

Maluleke assumed her role as the Auditor-General of South Africa in December 2020.

ALSO READ: Auditor-general flags deficiencies in financial and performance management in govt departments

She was the first woman to hold the position in the supreme audit institution’s 109-year history.

Her appointment by Ramaphosa on recommendation of the National Assembly was for a non-renewable term of seven years.

She succeeded Kimi Makwetu, who passed away just weeks before the expiry of his term of office in November 2020.

Maluleke’s extensive CV

Maluleke, who previously served as the country’s Deputy Auditor-General, is a registered auditor who holds a BCom accounting degree and a postgraduate diploma in accountancy from the University of Cape Town (UCT).

She also has a postgraduate diploma in development and public management from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2016.

According to International Federation of Accountants, her background as a Chartered Accountant spans more than 20 years, with experience in both the private and public sectors, and in areas as such as auditing, consulting and corporate advisory, among others.

Maluleke served on the presidential black economic empowerment (BEE) advisory council, where she successfully led a subcommittee that developed recommendations for broad-based B=black economic empowerment (BBBEE).

Furthermore, she is the former non-executive chairperson of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) board.

NOW READ: Limpopo governance: Legal battle over auditor-general’s recommendation