The South African government will continue to stand resolute, refusing to flinch or retreat in the war against corruption.
Addressing the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) held in Parliament on Tuesday, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said left unattended, corruption deprives South Africans of resources which are meant for their development and well-being.
"It is therefore our patriotic duty to increase our efforts to rid ourselves of all corrupt practices so that we can create a truly ethical and capable developmental state.
“We shall not compromise or backdown in the fight against corruption at all levels,” Kubayi emphasised.
The Minister said effectively ridding the State of corruption requires strengthening “institutions which are tasked with fighting corruption”.
“The era of State capture starkly illustrated how institutions can be compromised, weakened, and rendered ineffective, ultimately transforming those meant to fight corruption into enablers of corruption.
“To strengthen these institutions and avoid the recurrence of state capture, the Department will lead efforts on the review of the anti-corruption architecture. This review is meant to eradicate duplication of mandates and enable resource allocation optimisation,” she revealed.
While that work is underway, a world-class digital forensics lab is being developed.
Additionally, resourcing and capacitation of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption under the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is ongoing “so that State capture cases can be expedited amongst others”.
“To close the capacity gap within the NPA, in January this year, we developed and approved guidelines for section 38 appointments of prosecutors.
“Through these guidelines the appointments will be effective, efficient and more importantly, avoid subjectivity,” Kubayi said.
The Minister said lifestyle audits on departmental staff will be conducted as part of rebuilding law enforcement institutions.
“The first phase will include all those categorised as Senior Management Service in the department, State Attorneys offices, prosecutors, investigators in the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the officials in the sheriff offices and in the Masters office.
“We will then go further to subject all employees who deal with appointments of liquidators and admitted Guardian Fund to full vetting irrespective of their position, as well as those in supply chain management units.
“This is to ensure that those who lead the fight against corruption and other malfeasance in our society are not themselves implicated in wrongdoing that compromises and weakens institutions in which they discharge their responsibilities,” Kubayi said.
Progress and results
Kubayi informed Parliamentarians that the fight against corruption is “already yielding results”, with the SIU having saved some R8 billion in State coffers in the 2023/24 financial year.
“The amount includes a record recovery of funds in actual cash amounting to R2.28 billion, prevention of a further R2.32 billion in potential State losses and secured cash to be recovered from the acknowledgement of debt and admission of liability agreements to the value of R1.6 billion.
“In addition, the SIU successfully set aside contracts worth over R2.13 billion through the Special Tribunal and the High Court of South Africa, which bodes well for the effort to rectify irregular administrative decisions.
“This, honourable members, is demonstration of our commitment to safeguard public resources and ensure they benefit all South Africans,” she said.
Whistleblower Protection
On the issue of protecting whistle-blowers, the Minister said the department is finalising a framework to address existing weaknesses.
“A benchmarking exercise was conducted on best practice on whistle-blower protection systems in the world and it found that there are gaps in our framework we currently use to protect whistleblowers. In response, the department is finalising the whistle-blower protection framework that addresses the current weaknesses.
“This is in recognition of the key role whistleblowers have played and continue to play in the fight against corruption. We believe the framework will help guide the whistle-blower protection programme and ensure their safety.
“Furthermore, it will pave the way for the introduction of the Whistle-blower Protection Bill in Parliament within this financial year,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
