By Minister Des van Rooyen
Now that various councils across the country have been constituted and mayors have selected their executive teams, the focus will now shift to the delivery of services to communities over the next five years.
Since the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs aims to build and strengthen the capability and accountability of provinces and municipalities, the start of local government term is an opportune time to talk about government’s zero tolerance approach to corruption.
With new teams across the length and breadth of our country now dealing with challenges of service delivery first-hand, it is important that they familiarise themselves with the laws and regulations governing local government. Equally important they should also fully understand their duties and obligations.
As elected representatives they are tasked with ensuring that the needs of community are met and that the municipality shows steady economic growth and development. They are there to serve the people and must ensure that they act in the best interest of communities across the country and above all do not fall foul of corruption or corrupt activities.
It is my solemn duty to ensure that this cancer that consumes our development and takes us back is not allowed to consume our future. Our efforts as the government to curb and wage an ongoing war against corruption is a significant giant step forward towards normalising our country.
Corruption has the potential to derail good governance, lead to lack of confidence in government’s ability to deliver and eventually result in high levels of public discontent. In addition, should it occur it holds dire consequences for the running of a council and provision of service delivery to communities.
Corruption has already crippled some municipalities and brought others to their knees and have become almost dysfunctional, thus requiring urgent intervention. This corruption is a criminal offence of the highest order as it sabotages service delivery.
Without a doubt every elected representative must constantly be on the lookout for corruption in all guises and deal decisively with it. In particular they must be mindful of legal consequences should they engage, or even just entertain corrupt overtures.
Corruption is not only limited to bribery or embezzlement, it includes activities such as the misuse of public resources, exchange of seemingly insignificant gifts, use of personal connections to obtain favours, failure to follow tender procedures or accepting money to influence the allocation of tenders. In addition, when we bribe traffic officers, immigration officers and make ourselves guilty of unethical or illegal practices particularly in the supply chain management value chain we are undoubtedly falling into the trap of allowing corruption to take hold, or even perpetuating corrupt activities.
As a responsible government we should never allow the actions of a few to jeopardise our hard won democracy and commitment to move the country forward. We would therefore like to call on all incoming public representatives to ensure compliance with the government’s zero tolerance approach to corruption.
We also urge them to report maladministration or any corrupt activities to appropriate bodies, such as the various Chapter 9 institutions that have been created to deal with corruption. Whistle blowing is a key tool for promoting organisational accountability and complaints about alleged corruption will be taken seriously and be properly investigated. This is line with the National Development Plan (NDP), our vision for 2030 that calls for the development of a society with zero tolerance for corruption.
There is however, an assertion by some that South Africa has not put in place anti-corruption measures in place and that they are now messiahs in this regard. I believe that it is important to dismiss the myths and accessions that suggest South Africa is not doing anything to deal with corruption. In fact, South Africa has a robust anti-corruption framework which is constantly enforced. I assure you that a lot of work has been done to eradicate corruption, and we still continue to work hard to root out this cancer.
I urge all councillors to build on the gains and progress we have made over the years to root out corruption. It is unfortunate that our discourse tends to be dominated largely by the questionable actions of a minority that get involved in corruption.
The Special Investigating Unit, the Anti-Corruption Task Team, the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Hawks have made notable progress in our quest to combat corruption in society broadly and in the public sector. President Jacob Zuma also continues to sign proclamations authorising the Special Investigating Unit to investigate maladministration of various municipalities around the country.
Des van Rooyen is the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
