Question NW2536 to the President of the Republic
09 November 2015 - NW2536
Lekota, Mr M to ask the President of the Republic
Whether he had declared to the World Economic Forum on Thursday 4 June 2015 that (a) the country had such a strong anti-corruption culture that even the Head of State was thoroughly investigated nd (b) taxpayer’s money could not be taken by people in Government for their own use; if not, (i) what did he say in this respect and (ii) how did he substantiate that declaration; if so, on what evidence did he base such statements considering that many instances of corrupt practices are annually laid bare by the Auditor-General, Public Protector or investigative journalism and when investigations are instituted they are either (aa) thwarted when they come too close to political elites, (bb) seldom followed-up with prosecution and (cc) rendered futile as happened with the investigation and recommendations of the Public Protector in respect of the R246 million spent on security upgrade of his private residence at Nkandla; 2. Whether he will make a statement on whether he had requested the Hawks to investigate whether a certain person (name furnished) had received a bribe of R20 million or more from a certain company (name and details furnished) in order to show the nation and the world that he was very serious about fighting graft no matter who was involved ?
Reply:
Since the advent of our democracy, our country has placed the fight against corruption high on its agenda.
This has continued throughout the administrations including the current fifth administration.
The South African Anti-Corruption landscape was set by the drafting of the government’s anti-corruption framework in 2001. The country committed to align itself with international best practice, and established a sound anti-corruption and ethics framework, inclusive of strong policies and legislative measures.
In this regard a plethora of measures have since been adopted to eradicate corruption. We have however not become complacent and are further strengthening these measures in line with our commitments in the National Development Plan and the Medium Term Strategic Framework to ensure that we -
- Have a resilient anti-corruption system, which includes the strengthening the multi-agency anti-corruption endeavours, strengthening the protection of whistle-blowers, ensuring greater central oversight over the awarding of large tenders or tenders of long duration as well as empowering the tender compliance monitoring office to investigate corruption and guaranteeing that there is the value for money regarding procured goods and services;
- strengthen the accountability and responsibility of public servants;
- create a transparent and responsive public service; and
- strengthen judicial governance and the rule of law.
It is actually because government has dedicated a lot of effort to combating corruption, both in the public and the private sector, that corruption has occupied a priority space in public dialogue.
South Africa also has a well-developed legal framework for fighting corruption. The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act, 2004, is one of the most important pieces of legislation enacted by Parliament to fight corruption in the country.
The Anti-Corruption Task Team under the leadership of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee is playing a very important role in driving the government strategy to fight corruption.
A wide range of anti-corruption agencies are given powers in terms of the different legislation to fight corruption in the country. These agencies, amongst others, include, the Special Investigating Unit, the Auditor-General, the Public Protector , the Public Service Commission, the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority.
Other measures strengthening the anti-corruption work of government include the following;
- The Public Service Special Anti-Corruption Unit, which was established to enhance and consolidate the fight against corruption in the public service and the work done within the Department of Public Service and Administration, established to fast-track the processing of the disciplinary cases within the public service and to curb corruption.
- The work done by the Directorate Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks).
- The Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which was established by law as an independent statutory body that fights corruption through investigations and litigation, and which is currently processing several proclamations from the President directing it to probe maladministration and corruption within the public service.
- The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), within the National Prosecuting Authority, which is tasked to seize assets of people involved in crime or corruption
- The NPA’s Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit and the various SCC regional courts, which have been prioritising corruption cases, and
- The Multi-Agency Working Group which was set up by the Minister of Finance to coordinate and investigate corruption related to supply chain management practices.
The fight against corruption is a continuous and dynamic process. As new manifestations of corruption are revealed, gaps in the existing approach, strategies, interventions and application of existing legislation and policies are identified for strengthening and review.