Cape Town – Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says a recently launched counter corruption project has netted 26 suspects.
Leading a media briefing on the implementation of the programme of action in the Governance Cluster in Pretoria, on Sunday, the Minister said the suspects were arrested for fraud and corruption.
He said they were arrested following the launch of Operation Bvisa Masina, a Tshivenda phrase that means ‘throw out the rot’, which was launched in July this year.
“We must reiterate that the twin evils of corruption and fraud will not be tolerated in government and we will do all in our power to ensure that those found to be engaged in these callous acts face the full might of the law,” he said.
The Minister said the Counter Corruption unit is quite busy in detecting the corruption taking place at the department.
“They provide reports to us on a quarterly basis that show us the areas that are most vulnerable in the department to allow us to take policy decisions.”
The briefing took place as government commemorates Public Service Month under the theme ‘Moving South Africa Forward: Taking the public service to the people’, which highlights government’s services as well as dedication and excellence of public servants who go the extra mile in the delivery of public services.
The Minister said government is mindful that improving the performance of the state will enable the public service to achieve the objectives that have been set.
This includes the eradication of corruption, as well as inefficiency in the public service, while ensuring accountability and that there are clear, firm consequences where there is a failure to deliver services to citizens.
“The past few months of the fifth administration have, through the level of service delivery, shown that this cluster is committed to building a caring, effective and responsive state that delivers as per the expectations of the people.
“This achievement has contributed to the unprecedented progress made in the last 21 years of freedom of accelerated service delivery,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister has called on all citizens who do not possess identity documents or birth certificates to apply for the documentation following the department’s announcement on its intention to end the current late registration of birth process.
He said the Department of Home Affairs would soon announce new stringent measures for registering late births to enforce regulations and early registrations within 30 days of birth.
“The Department of Home Affairs continues to undertake awareness programmes in communities around the country aimed at highlighting the importance of early birth registration.
“Our mobile offices have been deployed in communities to aid the process of late registration of birth and ensure unregistered South Africans are included in the national population register (NPR) to ensure that the only entry to the NRP is through birth registration.
“Therefore, we call on undocumented citizens without identity documents or birth certificates to apply for these documents in the meantime.” – SAnews.gov.za
