Eastern Cape premier Noxolo Kiviet has sent multi-disciplinary task teams to help fight fraud and corruption in the Departments of Health and Education.
Speaking on International Anti-Corruption Day in Bhisho on Friday, Kiviet said the teams, consisting of law enforcement agencies, Provincial Treasury and a consortium of reputable audit firms, will speed up investigations and help eliminate massive backlogs in reported fraud and corruption cases.
Premier Kiviet said the two prioritised departments account for nearly half of all reported cases of fraud and corruption which are on the database of the Office of The Premier.
She said only 34% of the 637 cases have been completed or closed with limited capacity for effectively tracking progress made in dealing with the cases.
The premier also launched a web-based case management system called "XELA" (meaning report in Xhosa) to track every case and address information management system gaps experienced in the province.
She likened fraud and corruption to cancer cells that can develop into a tumour and spread all over the body to destroy all cells of a person.
"There must be no corrupt practice small enough to be ignored because the business person that bribes a government employee today will be evading tax tomorrow in a big way", said Premier Kiviet.
The premier also outlined a series of other interventions aimed at fighting fraud and corruption within the provincial government of the Eastern Cape.
These include: "Conducting skills audit among all anti-corruption practitioners in the provincial government which found that most practitioners lack the requisite skills to conduct successful investigations. A skills development programme has been done for collective execution by various law enforcement agencies;
"Partnering with the twin province of Germany - Lower Saxony - to review the provincial anti-corruption action plan which was also unveiled at the ceremony for roll out;
"Launching of an educational and awareness campaign against corruption which include the promotional material like the Whistle Blowing policy and code of ethics, and a road show to all districts together with various government departments and law enforcement agencies.
The launch was attended amongst others by South African Police, State Security Agency (formerly known as NIA), Special Investigating Unit, Business, and high ranking government officials.
Clearly conscious of the conclusion of COP17 Conference in Durban, the Premier also spoke of the dumping of substandard medicines and hazardous waste in landfill sites and in oceans as another form of corruption that always hurts most the poorest of the poor.
She urged every sector of the society to introspect and develop their our anti-corruption strategies that are aligned to the provincial framework because corruption cannot be confined to the public service. She said government corruption is but one portion of a bigger problem and therefore everyone must come on board and help fight corruption.
She said "fighting corruption is my responsibility and your responsibility as well. Government cannot do it alone, we need a consolidated effort that will yield positive results."
