Barriers to effective internal auditing within the South African Police Services : case of Northern Gauteng

Abstract

The study examined the effectiveness of internal auditing, how it could be measured and to determine the factors that impede its effectiveness, and how such challenges could be overcome. This is on the backdrop of whether internal audits enjoy full management support. It also determined if management responds to internal audit reports timeously and if action plans or corrective actions were being implemented. This is because internal auditing is critical within an organisation, as it assists the organisation in the evaluation of the adequacy and efficacy of internal control, corporate governance, and risk management processes. It is also critical for establishing the quality and effective internal audit that could assist the organisation in improving operational and financial performance in the organisation. The researcher administered structured questionnaires to more than a hundred internal auditors, external auditors, and audit committee members. Out of 100 questionnaires distributed, 91 participants responded. Statistical Package for Social Scientists 25.0 was used to analyse descriptive data. The study results revealed that SAPS internal audit is effective, as most of the participants responded positively on this notion. There, however, are some areas of improvement that needs urgent management intervention such as ineffective risk management within SAPS, which tends to negatively affect the internal audit planning process. The study results further indicated that the SAPS internal audit function lacks management support because of a shortage of budget allocated to them and the non-implementation of corrective actions that emanate from internal audit reports. It is against the backdrop of this research to adopt agency and institutional theories in determining barriers to effective internal auditing with SAPS. The study contributes to the auditing literature by providing a rich description of the internal auditing of SAPS in South Africa that has not previously been a subject of a comprehensive study.