In fight against corruption, a range of measures have been institutionalised to prevent corruption, including measures in the procurement system. A provincial anti-corruption strategy is being implemented and was reviewed in 2006 in line with the anti-corruption and ethics imperatives of the province.
A Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) ethics and anti corruption policy was approved in 2007. Fraud prevention, anti-corruption awareness and ethics training have been provided and a number of departments have appointed ethics officers.
The departmental anti-corruption hotlines were integrated, initially into a centralised GPG hotline and later as part of the national anti-corruption hotline. Departments are also putting in place complaints management mechanisms to ensure that complaints from citizens are appropriately handled and responded to.
Corruption is a key factor that can inhibit public service performance, drain state resources and negatively impact on the delivery of services to meet the needs of the people. Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing has made a steady progress in entrenching public service ethics and preventing fraud and corruption.
Recently at Park Hyatt Hotel, the department invited the Auditor-General to do a detailed audit and review of the Housing Subsidy Systems (HSS) in order to identify disadvantage in housing information management systems that resulted in people who are not supposed to get the subsidy getting them. The auditing was led by the following allegations that officials employed by government and many other individuals who do not qualify for the housing subsidy were allocated houses from 1994 to 2004.
The Auditor-General reported that a number of government officials, municipal officials and private individuals have fraudulently received houses they were not supposed to receive between 1994 and 2004. However other resource has been done to address these problems and developed systems that not only identify fraudulent activities but also prevent them.
Issued by: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government
15 June 2009
Source: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government
(http://www.housing.gpg.gov.za/)
