The presidency and the department of justice are processing 44 applications by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for proclamations by President Cyril Ramaphosa, which will authorise its investigations into state corruption and maladministration.
In addition to the 14 proclamations already signed, that would bring total proclamations requested by the SIU in 2021/2022 to 58. If approved by the president, this would mark a dramatic increase in the number of proclamations issued. In 2020/2021, only nine were issued, while 30 were issued in 2019/2020.
This is a stark testimony to the corruption that characterised the emergency Covid-related procurement by the government and its entities, as well as the deep-seated corruption associated with state capture. It is also a sign that the SIU is making headway.
The number of investigations is set to increase on the basis of the allegations contained in the reports of the Zondo commission of inquiry, which has praised the SIU for its work.
Ramaphosa was elected to lead the ANC and the country on a ticket of renewal and he promised to clean up the rampant corruption that took root mostly in the Jacob Zuma era. While the increase in applications for investigations is an indication that he is living up to his word, it also shows he still has an enormous task ahead of him.
Investigations into SAA, Denel, Transnet, Eskom, Alexkor and the Gupta-linked media company TNA are already under way.
The figures were provided on Wednesday by SIU CEO Andy Mothibi during a briefing to parliament’s justice & correctional services committee on the SIU’s annual performance plan and budget.
Mothibi said the SIU, which investigates and litigates corruption and maladministration by the state, had seen a 122% increase in its work since 2016/2017, when it received 13 proclamations. It has been forced to capacitate the organisation accordingly and recently recruited forensic accountants and cyber forensic specialists.
To cope with the increase in the number of proclamations, the SIU’s staff complement has grown quite aggressively, CFO Andre Gernandt told MPs, increasing from 612 in 2021/ 2022 to a projected 733 in 2022/ 2023 and 816 in 2023/2024, with the salary bill rising from R531m to a projected R723m and R928m, respectively.
Unsustainable
Mothibi stressed that the SIU’s funding model — a matter of concern to committee members — was unsustainable. It has made proposals on legislative amendments to tackle this as well as the president’s power to issue proclamations. This power could give rise to a conflict of interest were a president to be the subject of a probe.
The SIU, which derives about half of its income from the state and the other half from the sale of goods and services, is projecting a deficit over the next three years. Expenses are projected at R976m in 2022/2023, R1bn in 2023/2024 and R1.2bn in 2024/2025, while total revenue is forecast at R850m, R891m and R954m, respectively.
A major problem is that government entities have to pay for SIU investigations into their activities but have proved to be tardy payers. By the end of December, the organisation had a total outstanding debt of R650m, R157m owed by local government, R141m by national departments, R155m by provincial governments and R197m by public entities.
With the addition of accruals, the debt amounted to R772m, of which R151.5m had been paid by the end of January. Mothibi warned that the non-recovery of this debt carries potential risks to its operations in a few years’ time. The SIU has had to appeal to the Treasury to get government entities to pay up.
Addressing the outcome of SIU investigations, Mothibi noted that towards the end of March, it had 119 cases at the Special Tribunal, which was set up specifically to fast-track the adjudication of corruption cases.
These cases involved a total amount of more than R12.8bn and included 48 cases involving R2.2bn related to Covid-19 investigations. There were 56 cases in the high court involving R62.3bn worth of contracts that the SIU wants set aside.
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