Govt stamps out corruption

Written by Albert Pule

The National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH) has helped government to recover over R300 million from corrupt public servants.

Public Service and Administration Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi said by the end of August 2016, over 18 000 cases were referred to departments, feedback on 16 752 cases was received and of the total number of cases referred, 16 547 were closed.

“The closure rate underscores a commitment by departments to investigate allegations of corruption as reported through the NACH.”

Since the inception of the NACH, 3 570 officials were found guilty of misconduct related to corrupt activities. All tip-offs came via the NACH.

The following are the types of sanctions taken against officials who were charged and found guilty of misconduct between 1 September 2004 and August 2016:

• 1 694 officials were dismissed from the public service.
• 438 officials were fined (e.g. not receiving a salary for three months).
• 133 officials were demoted.
• 913 officials were given final written warnings.
• 392 officials were prosecuted.

Minister Ramatlhodi added that by 2017, all public servants should have declared all their business interests.

“A circular has already been issued for public servants to disclose their business activities involving any organ/s of state and that such employees should, by January 2017, make a decision either to resign from the public service or relinquish their business activities.”

In an effort to skill public servants, the National School of Government (NSG) has trained 312 officials who are responsible for capacitating councillors at local government level.

“The NSG is implementing the Breaking Barriers programme aimed at capacitating graduates who do not have the experience of working in the public sector.

“This programme is aimed at removing barriers that make it difficult for graduates to be employable in the public service.”