The COO has been appointed as the Accounting Officer of The Presidency, in terms of the Public Finance and Management Act (PFMA) by National Treasury, and is also the Deputy Head of The Presidency, expected to act as head of The Presidency and exercise all the powers of the DG in his absence unless the DG appoints another person to act on his behalf.

Assisting the Director-General with the effective and efficient execution of the responsibilities delegated to him by the President as Head of the State and Head of the Government of the Republic of South Africa.

Ensuring the implementation of policies of the Government as determined by Parliament, the President and the Cabinet. In effect this means the following for the accounting officer in terms of the PFMA:

Having and maintaining effective, efficient and transparent systems of financial control, risk management and internal control;

Having and maintaining a system of internal audit under the control and direction of an internal audit committee;

Having and maintaining an appropriate procurement and provisioning system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective;

Having and maintaining a system for evaluating capital projects for implementation;

Ensuring effective, efficient, economical and transparent use of resources including collection of revenue, prevention of unauthorised, wasteful expenditure and losses due to criminal conduct; and the management of working capital;

Complying with appropriate legislation in relation to taxes, appropriation, audit, pensions, and transfer of funds;

Taking steps to prevent, report and discipline any individuals in relation to irregular, criminal, wasteful or fruitless expenditure;

Preparing the budget and controlling expenditure in accordance with the budget;

Keeping full and proper records of the financial affairs of The Presidency, and preparing financial statements for the Auditor-General, the executing authority;

Preparing an Annual Report on the activities of The Presidency;

Taking responsibility for the submission of reports, notices, returns and other information to Parliament; Treasury, Public Service Commission, Chapter Nine institutions and the Department of Public Service and Administration.

Managing the Heads of the five main Branches of The Presidency: Offices of the President and Deputy President, Communications, the Cabinet Office and the Policy Co-ordination and Advisory Services.

Managing the Heads of the components that report directly to the Chief Operations Officer: Office of the Director-General, Internal Security, Internal Audit, Legal and Executive Services, Protocol and Ceremonial Services, Corporate Services and Human Resources and Finance.

Ensuring the development of the appropriate structures and systems for the effective and efficient administration of The Presidency