Honourable Premier, Dr Zweli Mkhize,
Members of the provincial executive council
Ladies and gentlemen,
In 2009, our government took a conscious effort to focus on five key priorities for five years.
These are education, health, rural development and land reform, creating decent work and the fight against crime and corruption.
We have spent the last two years intensifying the fight against crime, which has assisted us to bring down the levels of serious crime.
We have equally identified corruption as a key threat to achieving government objectives. Our goal is to build a performance oriented state that is free of fraud and corruption.
Corruption within the public sector undermines the moral authority of the State. It inhibits socio-economic development and contributes to delays in delivering services to our people.
We congratulate the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Government for demonstrating the seriousness with which it takes the need to promote integrity, by organizing this conference.
I regret that I cannot join you in person to be part of this important discussion, as I personally feel very strongly about the need to rid our government of all forms of corruption, fraud and maladministration.
The wonderful work that government does is unfortunately sometimes drowned by stories of corruption and greed in the media and society in general, arising from the actions of a few within government.
We have a responsibility to protect the integrity of government and the State, by putting in place mechanisms of preventing, detecting and acting against corruption.
We have made great progress already but our work is ongoing.
To improve coordination we established the Anti-Corruption Task Team, composed of the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority including the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Special Investigating Unit, National Treasury, South African Revenue Service and the Financial Intelligence Centre.
Since its establishment, the task team has identified and registered 42 corruption priority cases. Some of the cases are before the courts.
The task team has also been working with the Department of Co-operative Governance, investigating some municipalities under the banner of the project Operation Clean Audit.
Some progress has been made.
Out of 362 cases received for investigation, 291 arrests were made, leading to 155 convictions, made up of 77 public officials and 78 members of the public.
In addition, the Special Anti-Corruption Unit in the Department of Public Service and Administration has investigated several cases relating to conflict of interest, maladministration and nepotism. These were referred them to the relevant departments and law enforcement agencies with recommended action.
Our seriousness in fighting corruption is also evidenced by amongst others, the fact that to date, the President of the Republic has issued close to 20 Proclamations authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to conduct investigations.
This is the biggest number in one year in the history of the SIU. Most of these cases focus on procurement-related irregularities.
We also appreciate the contribution of Chapter 9 institutions in the fight against corruption and maladministration. We can mention the Office of the Auditor-General, the office of the Public Protector and the South African Human Rights Commission amongst others.
Working together with these institutions, we will be able to achieve our goal of clean governance.
We are also working on preventative measures. The Department of Public Service and Administration is establishing norms and standards relating to integrity and ethics in the public service.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Anti-Corruption which is responsible for the political coordination of government’s anti-corruption work, is considering the following policy improvements:
- To centralise major contracts and procurement of major items.
- Stricter penalties for service providers attaining contracts illegally.
- Increase transparency in the tender processes.
- Improve the monitoring and evaluation capability in supply chain processes.
We call on all sectors of society to join hands with government in the eradication of the scourge of corruption in our society.
We also urge the private sector to look within its own ranks. We have to eradicate this scourge in both the private and public sectors.
The theme of the KZN Integrity Leadership Conference is very appropriate. We need to do right even if nobody is watching. Clean governance and integrity should be a way of life.
We wish you well with the conference, and look forward to receiving the resolutions.
I thank you.
