Anti-corruption Strategy: briefing by Department

Meeting report

PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
12 November 2004
ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY: DEPARTMENT BRIEFING

Chairperson: Mr R Baloyi (ANC)

Relevant documents:
Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy
Strategy for anti-corruption training in the public service
Minimum anti-corruption capacity for departments and organisational components in the public service

SUMMARY
The Department reported on the Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy. It had started in earnest in 1997 when Cabinet appointed an inter-Ministerial committee to look at corruption in the criminal justice system. That Committee's recommendations made it clear that a wider strategy was required to address the problem of corruption in the public service. The government had reviewed and consolidated the legislative framework on corruption and increased its institutional capacity to fight corruption. The Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act was passed in April 2004. A National Public Service Hotline System was put in place to facilitate the reporting of wrongdoing and the protection of whistleblowers and witnesses. A Register for Tender Defaulters was established in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act to strengthen the fight against corrupt individuals and businesses.

Members were concerned about senior public service officials leaving government parastatals intending to buy shares in state owned institutions. Some of them occupied key positions in the public service. An argument was been made that by virtue of their position some of them had privileged information and might bend government policies to suit their own future needs. A cooling off period was necessary to address this concern.

There was also a concern about the level of involvement of clerks and secretaries in corrupt activities. Unless there was a focus on the lower ranks corruption would not be eliminated.

MINUTES

Department briefing
Mr R Kitshoff (Manager: Public Service Anti-Corruption Unit) and Mr Alvin Rapea, Executive Manager: Human Resources represented the Department of Public Service and Administration. Mr Kitshoff conducted the briefing.

Mr Rapea welcomed the opportunity to make the first presentation of the public service anti-corruption strategy. He invited Mr Kitshoff to make the presentation. The programme started in earnest in 1997 when Cabinet appointed an inter-ministerial Committee to look at corruption in the criminal justice system. The Committee's recommendations made it clear that a wider strategy was required to address the problem of corruption in the public service. A public sector anti-corruption summit was held in 1998 that considered the problem. It was realised at the summit that the fight against corruption necessitated collaboration of all sectors of the community. Another summit was held in 1999 where various resolutions that started the foundation of the national anti-corruption programme were adopted. In 2001 the Department was instructed by Cabinet to look at the consolidation of anti-corruption work, establish the Public Service Anti-Corruption Strategy (PSACS), to lead the policy process and roll out the anti-corruption strategy to all parts of the public sector.

Highlights of Implementation of the PSACS
The Cabinet considered the first draft of the PSACS in June 2001 and approved it in January 2002. The Department was given the roles of developing and implementing the strategy, supporting national anti-corruption programme and fostering regional and international co-operation on anti-corruption. The strategy was developed for the public sector, but had national and cross-cutting qualities. For instance, corruption legislation covered both public and private sectors. The government had reviewed and consolidated the legislative framework on corruption and increased its institutional capacity to fight corruption. The Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act was passed in April 2004. A National Public Service Hotline System was put in place to facilitate the reporting of wrongdoing and the protection of whistleblowers and witnesses. A Register for Tender Defaulters was established in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act to strengthen the fight against corrupt individuals and businesses. The Department was required to do pre-employment screening. A financial disclosure system was implemented. A total of 75 law enforcement officials were trained on international techniques to investigate and fight corruption. A training strategy for the public service was adopted in October 2004 and would be rolled out in 2005.

A National Anti-Corruption Forum was established to facilitate collaboration between public, private and civil sectors. A review of the Forum's composition and roles would be done in early 2005 at the second National Anti-corruption Summit. Cabinet established the Anti-corruption Co-ordinating Committee. The Committee brought together all Departments and agencies that had anti-corruption roles.

Discussion
Mr R Ntuli (DA) said that there had been a number of complaints about senior public service officials leaving government parastatals intending to buy shares in state owned institutions. Some of them occupied key positions in the public service. An argument had been made that by virtue of their position some of them had privileged information. In anticipating their exit some of them might bend government policies to suit their own needs. He asked if the Department was contemplating introducing a "cooling off" period to strengthen the fight against corruption.

Mr Rapea replied that the Department was in the process of developing a policy to deal with such issues. This was one of the gaps identified in the Strategy. A draft policy had already been discussed within the Department and would be taken to the Anti-Corruption Co-ordinating Committee for discussion before being taken to Cabinet. It considered issues like a cooling off period and what constituted corruption.

Mr Baloyi asked if there were any timeframes within which the policy had to be developed.

Mr Rapea replied that it would be finalised by the end of the financial year. The document was already comprehensive.

Mr S Simmons (NNP) noted that the Department was required to conduct pre-employment screening and prohibit corrupt employees from working for the government. He asked if the Department would keep a register of prohibited people, and who would be consulted in the screening process. He also noted that the Department had trained 75 officials on international techniques to deal with corruption. He asked in which Departments those officials were stationed.

Mr Kitshoff replied that one of the strongest ways of ensuring that there was proper screening and "blacklisting" was by using a central system in which all information would be recorded. The system should have information about all public servants. He reminded Members of the voluntary severance package in 1996. People who took the package were barred from coming back into the public service. A simple entry of a person's identity number into a computer indicated that a person was barred from being employed in the public service. A similar mechanism would be put in place. This process would need some form of legislation in order to succeed.

He could not indicate where the 75 officials were stationed. They were drawn from the National Prosecuting Authority, South African Police Services, Special Investigating Unit, South African Revenue Service, Department of Correctional Services and the Department of Defence. The Department of Defence had big anti-fraud capabilities.

Mr N Gcwabaza (ANC) appreciated the kind of developments that were taking place in order to deal with corruption in the public service. He asked to what extent the Department focused on corruption in the lower levels of the public service. Clerks and secretaries were in the frontline of corrupt activities and in most instances they were left untouched. There was a feeling that employees at the lower ranks could commit corrupt activities and still not lose their jobs. Unless there was a focus on the lower ranks corruption would not be eliminated. He also asked if the Department collaborated with other Departments in the fight against crime. There was rampant corruption in the Department of Home Affairs. Despite legislation and the strategy on corruption a lot of work still needed to be done.

Mr Rapea replied that there was collaboration between Departments. The Department assisted in formulating the turn-around strategy for the Department of Home Affairs. The Department had recently appointed a person to deal with corruption in the Department of Home Affairs. There was no such person before and hence the number of corruption cases. The Anti-corruption Co-ordinating Committee ensured that there was collaboration between Departments.

He agreed that there had been a number of corruption cases at the lower ranks of the public service. He indicated that there had been a number of corruption cases in the Department of Home Affairs. A number of people had been arrested for issuing identity and other documents to foreigners. In the Eastern Cape province there was a problem relating to social assistance. A number of people were arrested and others dismissed from the public service. There was a need for collaboration between the government, community and the private sector. He was concerned that some people did not report corrupt activities. There was legislation to protect people who reported corrupt activities.

Mr W Skhosana (ANC) appreciated the fact that the Department was doing something to fight corruption. He asked what the financial disclosure system would entail. He said that African countries had different beliefs and approaches to democracy. He asked if there was any possibility that what was regarded as corruption in South Africa might not be so regarded in another country. It was important to align laws on corruption. He also asked if there were plans to deal with white-collar crimes.

Mr Kitshoff replied that the financial disclosure system would have similarities with the system used in Parliament. Designated people within the public service would be expected to make full declarations of their assets on an annual basis. This would have to be signed off by the employing Minister or Member of the Executive Council and deposited with the Public Service Commission.

With regard to corruption in other countries, he replied that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries had adopted a regional anti-corruption programme in April 2004. The programme consisted of regional and domestic elements. Domestic elements entailed what countries should do within their borders. The regional element had a number of projects. One of them was the Harmonising of Legislation. There should be some degree of commonality in legislation. The project had already started under the leadership of the SADC Legal Secretariat. They contracted the Southern African Human Rights Trust (a Zimbabwean based Non-governmental Organisation) to look at the harmonisation of legislation. The difference in legal systems was not a major problem. Co-operation, extradition and application of laws were arranged between countries.

The concept of "white collar" crime like corruption had become a blanket term for many crimes. There was specific legislation dealing with these crimes. Besides the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, there was other potent legislation to deal with white-collar crimes. These included the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the Trans-national Organised Crime legislation. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act dealt with money laundering and this was one of the most prominent elements of white-collar crimes.

Mr Rapea added that financial disclosure did not deal with people's worth. It did not say that if a person was worth a certain amount of money he or she could not be employed in the public sector. It looked at the risk of employing the person, financial background, criminal record and fraud and dishonesty in previous employment. A job applicant should disclose financial interests in companies so as to eliminate possible conflicts of interests.

Mr Skhosana asked if the Department would encourage the Department of Correctional Services to train and educate offenders on corruption as part of the rehabilitation process.

Mr Kitshoff replied that the Department of Correctional Services did not have a national anti-corruption role to play. However, it was represented in the Anti-corruption Co-ordinating Committee because they had a challenge to root out corruption. The Department of Public Service and Administration had realised that rehabilitation was important in the fight against corruption.

Mr Gcwabaza asked if was contemplating establishing corruption units in provinces.

Mr Kitshoff replied that provinces had established structures to deal with corruption. The Western Cape province had already held its anti-corruption summit and the Department was waiting for a report on the summit to feed into the second National Summit to be held in 2005.

Mr Simmons asked if there was any co-ordination between various government Departments. Mr Kitshoff replied in the affirmative.

Mr Baloyi asked to what extent the screening process would go. He indicated that there were some university graduates who owed the National Students Financial Aid Scheme some money. Some of them took long before being employed. A few of them were blacklisted for such debts. He also asked if the Department was considering compulsory induction for new public servants and ongoing training on corruption issues for those already in the system.

Mr Rapea reminded Member of the Committee that the President had called for a compulsory induction programme. The programme was already in place but Mr Rapea did not know the extent to which it dealt with corruption. The Department would investigate if corruption was covered in the programme.

On the issue of blacklisting graduates, he said that people were usually blacklisted for small amounts and black people were mostly affected. Some people were blacklisted for missing instalments. The screening process did not exclude people on the basis that they had failed to repay the financial aid scheme.

Mr Baloyi asked what role the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) would play in the development of the anti-corruption strategy at the level of provincial and local governments.

Mr Rapea replied that his Department worked closely with the DPLG. The DPLG was also part of the Anti-corruption Co-ordinating Committee. The local government strategy on corruption was derived from the national strategy.

The meeting was adjourned.