By Charmaine Ndlela
Corruption takes root where government is weak and accountability is absent, Public Service and Administration Minister Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi said on Tuesday.
He was speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria to outline reforms aimed at strengthening integrity, accountability and ethical governance across the public sector, and as a prelude to International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December.
Buthelezi said the day was more than symbolic. Rather, it was a renewal of South Africa’s resolve to confront wrongdoing in the public sector.
“The fight against corruption is never a short-term campaign but a long-term national commitment that demands consistency, vigilance and collective ownership,” Buthelezi said.
Buthelezi was accompanied by the department’s deputy minister, Pinky Kekana.
He used his address to highlight South Africa’s successful hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
“G20 positioned our nation as a credible leader on governance and institutional reforms,” he said.
“Our critical pillars of leadership [included] the work of the anti-corruption working group that we delivered successfully, working together with the Special Investigate Unit (SIU).”
He praised the anti-corruption working group for standing firm against graft and for demonstrating commitment to reform, but warned that worrying trends persisted in the public service.
Buthelezi said that continued corruption trends included “entrenched challenge of misappropriation of funds, nepotism and ethical failures within our system”.
He said corruption undermined economic competitiveness and constituted “a direct assault on the developmental aspirations of the citizens”.
“This will be dismantled from our systems whether it manifests in boardrooms, municipal officers or even in the global network,” Buthelezi said.
“This shall be implemented by closing historical loopholes within our system, by doubling down on consequence management, by strengthening investigative capacity, and by building a public service culture that is controlled by ethics, accountability and performance discipline.”
He said South Africa was recognised as a country that led global anti-corruption efforts, and that his department was rolling out concrete measures to back up that reputation, including lifestyle audits and a central register to detect whether public servants are involved in corrupt activity.
“The central register will function as a national integrity parameter and mechanism that ensures repeat offenders do not re-enter positions within the government and or in the supply chain,” he stated.
The lifestyle audit and central register were a shift from reactive interventions to preventative governance, he said.
“These are not cosmetic endeavours but mergers that speak to our commitment to clean administration and enforce discipline.”
He said the reforms also include streamlined, technology-driven procurement systems to enhance transparency and reduce opportunities for manipulation, as well as modernised whistle-blower protection mechanisms that “prioritise safety and humanity…”
INSIDE METROS