The scourge of corruption in the country’s industrial and economic hub needs to be eliminated and the trust deficit reduced if the Gauteng government is to regain the confidence of the electorate and improve service delivery, premier David Makhura said on Tuesday.
The trust deficit and corruption, among other things, have seen support for the ANC-led government plummeting, resulting in the loss of key metros such as Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane to opposition coalitions after last year’s local government elections.
The province has also been beset by frequent service delivery protests as disillusioned citizens take to the streets to register their discontent.
“Corruption, maladministration, abuse of power and poor service delivery undermine development outcomes and further contribute to loss of public confidence and shift public resources away from the development and advancement of society to enrich few individuals,” Makhura said.
He was speaking at the launch of the province’s report on ethics, integrity management and anti-corruption work.
Gauteng is SA’s economic powerhouse and contributes about 35% to GDP. In 2020, the province was named the seventh-largest economy in Africa.
However, a survey released in September 2021 by the Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO), a research project of the provincial government, the universities of Wits and Johannesburg and the SA Local Government Association, showed a big drop in the quality of life of residents over the past two years.
The GCRO’s Quality of Life Survey 2020/2021 indicated how the proportion of those living below the poverty line had steadily grown over the years, from 35% in 2013/2014 to 24% in 2017/2018, but then rising to 36% during 2020/2021.
The corruption allegations in the provincial government pertaining to Covid-19 have shone a spotlight on the province’s alleged irregular processes in the procurement of goods and services.
Makhura said the most sustainable and effective approach to dealing with corruption was to introduce systemic reforms aimed at institutionalising integrity and create “a new ethical culture that promotes good governance, ethical leadership, transparency and accountability”.
The approach also called for the detecting and punishing of fraud, corruption and abuse of power.
Makhura said the provincial government would start rolling out lifestyle audits in all departments in this financial year.
“Maximum efforts and resources are put in place to ensure that all allegations of fraud and corruption receive urgent and utmost attention of the relevant institutions and agencies so that there is consequence management,” he said.
In the 2017/2018 and 2019/2020 financial years, the provincial government achieved 100% financial disclosure submissions from senior management service employees.
In 2020/2021, the figure went slightly down to 99.87%; while financial disclosures by other employees translated to 39.25% during 2017/2018, 38.30% (2018/2019), 40% (2019/2020) and 49.99% in 2020/2021.
The report released by the premier sought to demonstrate actions taken by his administration in promoting good governance, in collaboration with other entities including the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Auditor-General SA, Office of the Public Protector, and other law enforcement agencies.
The SIU was investigating 211 contracts valued at R4.7bn pertaining to irregular supply chain management processes in the procurement of personal protective equipment. The premier said 45 matters had been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority, while civil litigation had been instituted against 10 service providers to the value of R205m.
On February 10, the Special Tribunal found that the Gauteng department of education did not follow proper procurement processes in awarding contracts to 49 service providers worth more than R219m. “The SIU seeks to recover all profits made by service providers from the irregular contracts.”
Makhura said the State Security Agency had completed the lifestyle audits of MECs “as requested by the premier, in line with the policy framework developed by President Cyril Ramaphosa”.
The outcomes of the lifestyle audits will be released separately after due consultations are completed, said Makhura.
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