Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu. PHOTO: ANA
Durban - Outgoing Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu has died.
According to his office, Makwetu (54) died of lung cancer. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer two years ago.
In a statement, the office of the AG said it was saddened by the news.
"It is with great sadness and shock that we announce the passing of auditor-general Kimi Makwetu this afternoon. Mr Makwetu passed away in hospital. He was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in June 2018," read the statement.
Makwetu had been part of the office of the auditor-general for several years.
Makwetu has appeared before various committees of Parliament where he issued reports on the departments and municipalities.
His audit reports have been supported across political parties in Parliament as they identified a number of irregularities in national, provincial and local spheres of government.
Just days ago, political parties paid tribute to Makwetu after serving a non-renewable seven-year term.
NCOP deputy chairperson Sylvia Lucas hailed Makwetu for pursuing the Standing Committee on AG to review powers of his office and the suitability to adequately address systematic failures in public finances.
According to the Auditor-General website, Makwetu was appointed to the post of AG by former President Jacob Zuma in December 2013.
Thembekile Kimi Makwetu was born in Cape Town and completed a Social Sciences degree at the University of Cape Town in 1989. He received a BCompt Honours degree from the University of Natal (distance learning in 1997) and was a qualified chartered accountant.
He started his career with Standard Bank and later worked at Nampak.
He completed his articles at Deloitte where he progressed to senior management before joining Liberty and Metropolitan Life in Cape Town (Western Cape). He moved to Gauteng in 2003 where he worked at Liberty Life.
Makwetu returned to Deloitte as a director in the firm's forensic unit before his appointment as Deputy Auditor-General at the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).
Political Bureau