By Anita Dangazele
- The Eastern Cape government claims it has been successful in fighting corruption through new programmes targeting officials’ finances.
- An anti-corruption watchdog says bad leadership still blocks progress.
The Eastern Cape government celebrated its fight against corruption at an event in Gqeberha on Monday, but watchdogs say there’s still a long way to go.
Hundreds of residents gathered at the International Anti-Corruption Day event to hear what the government is doing to stop the theft of public money.
Despite making notable strides against corruption, bad leadership is still allowing it to flourish, according to one watchdog.
Acting Premier Sibulele Nogongo said new programmes checking senior officials’ financial affairs are working well.
“One of the important ones is a committee responsible for financial disclosures of senior managers within government departments as well as the political leadership, and that programme has since yielded good results,” said Nogongo.
He said corruption in school transport has decreased thanks to these efforts.
The event drew officials from crime-fighting bodies, including the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Electoral Commission, SARS and the police.
But SIU provincial investigator Mike Koya said bad leadership is still enabling corruption.
“Corruption is getting out of hand. As the SIU, we investigate day in and day out, and we raid municipalities all the time, but we don’t seem to win the war against corruption. Why does it seem like nothing is changing? Our biggest issue is unethical leadership,” said Koya.
He complained that corrupt officials are often just moved to different departments instead of being fired.
“A lot of the time, we investigate and release reports which are then swept under the carpet, and then you see the perpetrators being swapped around from department to department. We want to see a government where corrupt individuals are thrown out of government and away from taxpayers’ money,” said Koya.
The SIU recently raided several municipalities, including Ngqushwa, Alfred Ndzo, OR Tambo, Makana and Chris Hani, over water corruption claims. Nelson Mandela Bay is also under investigation.
Koya said they are now checking officials’ lifestyles to catch those living beyond their means.
“We’ve had instances where R20 million is stolen, and we’re only able to recover R3 million. We’ve noted that through lifestyle audits, we’re able to follow the trail of where this money went. Some buy farms and luxury clothing items with stolen government money.”
South Africa ranks 49th out of 100 countries for corruption, according to the 2023 International Transparency Index, where 1 is the most corrupt and 100 is the least corrupt.
Pictured above: Various stakeholders are seated at the Lilian Ngoyi Community Hall in Kwazakhele Gqeberha where the Eastern Cape government commemorated International Anti-Corruption Day.
Source: Anita Dangazele
