How can SA beat corruption? Provincial summits chip in their ideas

A new national anti-corruption strategy is being presented to organisations around the country to obtain their input on how to tackle the issue.

The first provincial consultation session was held in the Western Cape on Wednesday‚ and high-ranking law enforcement‚ government and National Prosecuting Authority officials took the opportunity to discuss the “nine pillars” underpinning the strategy.

An opening speech by Western Cape premier Helen Zille laid the foundation for a thorough grilling of the government’s perceived lack of willingness to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to dealing with corruption.

Western Cape Hawks Brigadier Niel Oliver‚ who was in the audience‚ questioned why the pillars did not include adding more skilled manpower to agencies which face the task of dismantling some of the largest corrupt networks in the world.

When the Hawks tried to take on certain individuals‚ he said‚ they were hampered by other agencies which actively worked against them‚ leading to government departments being bogged down in litigation against each other.

Members of the audience representing municipalities raised concern about the lack of implementable legislation to help them to tackle corruption at local government level.

Joy Rathebe‚ head of safety and security at the Department of Planning‚ Monitoring and Evaluation and the man spearheading the strategy‚ said the meetings were to obtain input from individuals in government and the public.

All comments made would be recorded and assessed‚ and useful ideas would be incorporated into the final strategy. There is no clear indication when the “implementation phase” will commence.

Rathebe and his team are heading to the Northern Cape next‚ and hope to attract civil society organisations and private companies to join the meetings.