Legalbrief | your legal news hub Wednesday 29 September 2021

Naming and shaming officials a 'great deterrent'

Efforts to put the heat on corrupt officials were in the spotlight this week, writes Legalbrief.

A Cape Times report says naming and shaming civil servants guilty of fraud, corruption or theft is a 'great deterrent' to keep other state officials from doing the same, according to ANC MPL Max Ozinsky. The report notes Ozinsky was reacting to a briefing to the Western Cape Provincial Legislature's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on the number of cases of alleged fraud, corruption and theft reported in the province between April and December. Officials from the Department of Agriculture told Scopa that they published reports of any misconduct in their internal newsletter. 'I want to commend the Department of Agriculture for publicising those guilty officials, it is a great deterrent,' he is quoted in the report as saying. Altogether 126 new cases of alleged fraud, corruption and theft were reported to the Western Cape provincial government's Forensic Investigative Unit to investigate in nine months last year. This was added to 179 cases the unit was already busy investigating, said Henriette Robson, deputy director-general of corporate assurance. The unit finalised 146 investigations in the nine months and referred 74 cases back to departments to look at because the allegations didn't fall within its scope to investigate. The unit only investigates allegations of fraud, corruption and theft. Full Cape Times report

In KwaZulu-, more than 1 500 government officials have been convicted of fraud amounting to R88m in the past three years, according to a SABC News report. The report says this was revealed by Premier when he delivered his state of the province address in Pietermaritzburg yesterday (Wednesday). Mchunu says the Integrity Management Unit in the Office of the Premier has been quite effective in dealing with fraud and corruption cases in partnership with the provincial treasury and police. A TimesLIVE report notes that an internal audit in the Gauteng Department of Health has resulted in 143 'ghost' employees being removed from the payroll, saving the province more than R1.2m. In addition, says the report, 104 salaries have been frozen and are still being investigated. Full SABC News report Full TimesLIVE report

Staying with efforts to tackle fraud and corruption: A Financial Mail report says the government must be applauded for the progress it has made in tackling fraud and corruption in the social grants system and cleaning up the beneficiary database. It notes 1m invalid beneficiaries were removed from the system last year, including 340 000 elderly and disabled people who failed to re-register and 300 000 children whose primary caregivers failed to present the children on whose behalf they were claiming. Apart from savings that will flow from the removal of these recipients from the system, Finance Minister says the re-registration process, coupled with the introduction of a new payment system, has lowered the cost of administering grants. Full Financial Mail report

The ANC's perceived soft-pedalling on corruption has, however, come under fire. A report on the IoL site notes DA leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday that no public official in the DA would survive a track record such as that of the ANC's Free State health MEC Benny Malakoane. 'Dr Malakoane would be fired,' Zille said. Malakoane and five other people were arrested in July on charges of corruption and fraud involving about R13m. The charges relate to crimes allegedly committed while Malakoane was the municipal manager at the Matjhabeng local municipality in Welkom. Zille said the DA had called for Malakoane's suspension. 'But in (President Jacob) Zuma's ANC the corrupt are safe,' said Zille. In Zuma's government, if 'number one does not face any charges, why should anyone else suffer?' Zille said. Free State premier candidate and leader said the province needed a clean and corruption-free government. Both Zille and Kopane were speaking to party members at the announcement of the DA's governance plans for the Free State. Full report on the IoL site

Staying with corruption-related election news: Special courts to deal with corruption would be established under an IFP government, the party's leader said in over the weekend, notes a report in The Citizen. Buthelezi, speaking at the launch of the 's 2014 election manifesto, said: 'We plan to investigate all cases of corruption and prosecute the offenders in a specially-mandated corruption court.' While he gave few details of how this court would work, much of his speech dealt with the eradication of corruption. Full report in The Citizen