House Chair,
The ACDP would like to thank those hundreds of thousands of public servants who diligently, every day, perform their duties — whether it’s doctors, nurses, educators, policemen, prosecutors, social workers — across the whole spectrum. There are very many more that diligently work hard and do whatever they are required to do under very difficult financial conditions. Minister, we do appreciate those workers.
What is needed is a culture of servant leadership. Public servants are there to serve the nation and they also need to understand the concept of stewardship of state resources. The funds that are entrusted to them are not there to be looted or stolen, but to be stewarded.
That having been said, we are fully aware as the ACDP, that corruption is very widespread and impedes service delivery, compromises development and undermines public confidence in the state.
The ACDP is concerned that there are still many public service employees who are involved in corrupt activities. Many continue to do business with the state. Even funds allocated for social relief continue to be embezzled.
What is even more disgraceful is that some officials appoint ghost workers to benefit from the weaknesses in the personnel (PERSAL) system. So, conducting lifestyle audits on selected categories of employees is required, and we welcome that, Honourable Minister. We welcome the extension of lifestyle audits to further categories of managers.
The low willingness to report corruption is a further matter of concern. And, yes, we need to improve whistleblower protection and ensure that whistleblowers receive a financial incentive. Many of them give their lives when they blow the whistle on corruption. We believe that public awareness campaigns as well as a financial incentive (should funds be recovered as a result of whistleblowing) will assist in this regard.
House Chair, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act contains very stringent provisions to fight corruption and they must be strictly enforced. Parliament passes many laws which aren’t fully implemented. One of the provisions is section 34 which requires any official in a position of authority who knows or ought reasonably to have known of any corrupt activities involving amounts up to R100,000 to report that to a police official. If they don’t, it is a criminal offence.
The question is how many people have ever been prosecuted under this Act? I don’t think any. So, we believe far more can be done to fight corruption, but we appreciate the work that many public servants do at this stage and the ACDP will support this report and this budget.
I thank you.
