Breaking Barriers: Ngoma named Deputy Auditor-general, second woman in 115 years.

In a historic milestone for South Africa's supreme audit institution, Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has officially appointed Sibongiseni Ngoma as the new Deputy Auditor-General (DAG) of the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA).

Ngoma is the second woman to hold the post in the institution's 115-year history. She has been acting in the role since February 2026.

The appointment followed consultation with Parliament's Standing Committee on the Auditor-General (Scoag), which endorsed the recruitment process.

The Public Audit Act requires the AG to appoint a DAG with suitable qualifications and experience after consulting the committee. The term runs for up to five years and may be renewed once for a further five.

As DAG, Ngoma becomes the national audit office's accounting officer, responsible for operations.

An illustrious, award-winning career

Ngoma is a highly accomplished Chartered Accountant (CA)(SA) with a distinguished career spanning more than two decades. Prior to stepping up as the acting DAG, she served with distinction as AGSA’s head of audit. She trained at Ernst and Young, then joined the Industrial Development Corporation, where her roles included head of internal audit. She joined AGSA in 2012 as a corporate executive overseeing finance, human capital and legal services, and was appointed chief financial officer in 2015.

In 2021 she won CFO of the Year and Public Sector CFO of the Year at the annual CFO Awards. The same year, African Women Chartered Accountants named her public sector CFO of the year, and the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa named her 2021 Executive of the Year.

Strong internal leadership choice

Maluleke said Ngoma had been part of implementing AGSA's "culture shift 2030" strategy and that the appointment drew on the office's internal talent pipeline. She said Ngoma's knowledge and expertise would strengthen the institution's efforts to meet its constitutional mandate.

"We are very pleased to have a leader of Ms Ngoma’s calibre take this critical role in the year that we celebrate 115 years of public auditing and providing illuminating insights for a better South Africa. We are equally pleased to be appointing a candidate from the organisation who has been part of the journey of implementing our ambitious culture shift 2030 strategy. I am confident that she is the right person to enable us to continue fulfilling our constitutional mandate,” said Maluleke.

The appointment lands as AGSA leans on enforcement powers granted under the Public Audit Amendment Act, which took effect in April 2019 and allow the office to flag material irregularities, order remedial action, refer matters to law enforcement and issue certificates of debt.

Those powers have grown in reach: AGSA reported recovering and preventing R3.47 billion in financial losses through the material irregularity process in its 2023-24 annual report, and in November 2025 the office issued its first certificate of debt, escalating remedial action against an accounting officer who failed to recover lost funds.

As accounting officer running AGSA's operations, the DAG sits at the centre of delivering on that mandate.

ENSAuditor-General South Africa AGSA is the country's supreme audit institution and the only body legally required to audit and report on government spending. It marks 115 years in 2026.