KZN loses R30m to graft in a year

In just one year the KZN government has lost millions through corruption in 700 cases against public servants.

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Durban - In just one year the KwaZulu-Natal government has lost R30.8 million through corruption in 700 cases that have been reported to authorities against public servants.

Addressing the Integrity Leadership Summit in Ballito on Thursday, Premier Senzo Mchunu said the figures were only for the 2014/15 financial year.

The provincial government held the two-day summit to find better ways to fight corruption, which Minister of State Security David Mahlobo said threatened to throw the country into turmoil through violent protest as the government failed to provide services.

Mchunu said that, of the cases that had been reported, there were 560 prosecutions and convictions.

He said that although there were policies in place to stop corruption and maladministration, public servants were continuing to flout the Public Finance Management Act, Municipal Finance Management Act and Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

“Most of these are repeat findings, which says a lot about how seriously we take compliance issues and good governance.

“Compliance prescripts are well spelt out to ensure good governance, but the tendency is to flout these prescripts, unfortunately,” he said.

Mchunu said that to strengthen its fight against corruption his office had approached the auditor-general, Human Rights Commission and public protector to work closely with the province to protect state resources.

He said KwaZulu-Natal had also introduced an Integrity Management Unit to work with the Special Investigating Unit, SAPS Directorate Priority Crime Investigation, Hawks, National Prosecuting Authority and Anti-Corruption Task Team to fight graft.

He said the integrity unit would co-ordinate quarterly meetings with the agencies to share ideas about ongoing investigations and fraud cases.

“One of the important functions of the IMU is to manage and process citizens’ complaints about poor service delivery,” he said.

Mahlobo expressed concern about the damage corrupt public servants and private companies had already done to the country internationally.

He said that corruption service provision had been compromised, which had led to protests that threatened the country’s security.

Mahlobo commended KwaZulu-Natal for being the first province to hold a summit of this nature. He told senior government and municipal officials that if corruption was not stopped immediately, the country would face serious violence.

Transparency International had already rated the country as dire in terms of corruption.

“Corruption undermines investor confidence and generates negative perceptions about the country’s integrity and functionality,” he said.

Mahlobo said corruption had also led to a number of councillors being fired, having their houses burnt down and even being killed.

Public Service and Administration Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi said state employees should read their codes of conduct to avoid engaging in corrupt activities.

The Financial Disclosure Framework, which was meant to monitor public servants’ conduct, had shortcomings.

“The most glaring is that it does not apply to all employees in the public service, which has opened doors for officials at lower levels to exploit the system,” he said.

Provincial public service commissioner Dr Pearl Sithole said graft was the legacy of the apartheid system, which the current government should defeat.

“To do all of this, we rely on political will, which will ensure we are not the laughing stock of the former colonisers,” she said.

The Mercury

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