26 March 2009
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 Housing Department has made a steady progress
in entrenching public service ethics and preventing fraud and corruption.
Recently at Park Hyatt Hotel, in Johannesburg, Minister of Housing, Dr
Lindiwe Sisulu 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.
In fight against corruption, a range of measures have been institutionalized
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
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.
Issued by: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government
26 March 2009
Source: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.housing.gpg.gov.za)
