On December 2 last year, the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Council (GEAC), a civil society-led body under Dr Terence Nombembe, convened a round-table session to discuss how best to advise the premier and the executive council on institutionalising integrity across the Gauteng city region.
The GEAC comprises men and women of high integrity who have distinguished themselves as being beyond reproach, including Nombembe, Fay Mukaddam, Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Thulisile Madonsela, Natasja Holtzhausen, Puseletso Madumise, Deon Rossouw, Claudelle von Eck, Zanele Sabela, David Lewis and Martle Keyter.
Last year the GEAC released a biannual report on the state of ethics. The report recommended that the government implement, among others, the following:
- Consistent adherence to constitutional values;
- Effective oversight;
- Full implementation of the recommendations of the Chapter 9 and 10 constitutional institutions;
- An effective integrity management programme;
- Communication of success stories; and
- Adoption of the Integrity Pact as part of the procurement process.
Informed by the outcomes of the release of the state of ethics report, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi joined the round-table session and reaffirmed the commitment of his government to institutionalising integrity and ethics within the system of government to prevent fraud, corruption and maladministration and promote a culture of good governance, transparency, and accountability.
Priorities for building an ethical state
The heads of the following institutions attended the round-table session: the Office of the Auditor-General of SA (AGSA), the Office of the Public Protector, the Hawks, the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Gauteng Audit Committee. The central message from the various leaders of these institutions was that the approach taken by Gauteng to tackle corruption was correct.
The other message that emerged from the session is that building a developmental and ethical state needs a clear tone from the top, and judging by the announcement of the premier, the Gauteng provincial government is taking the correct route to get the message across.
The collective from the various institutions also cautioned that to win the war against corruption, government needs everyone to commit to the task and walk the talk. Lastly, the various heads of institutions said the provincial government must invest in systems and controls and mitigate emerging risks.
To successfully implement the plan, we must invest in a skilled, capable and ethical workforce and support initiatives to build a developmental state. Targeting clean governance and ethical leadership is one of the priorities of the Growing Gauteng Together (GGT2030) plan in the Gauteng city region. The provincial government remains committed to ensuring the successful implementation of GGT2030.
In the immediate future, its focus is on the implementation of the following elevated priorities:
- Economic recovery – prioritise townships;
- Strengthening the immediate fight against crime, corruption, vandalism, and lawlessness;
- Improving living standards in townships, informal settlements and hostels;
- Building the capacity of the state to render services; and
- Building the communication capacity of the state.
Gauteng remains mindful that implementing these elevated priorities will introduce projects with increased budgets, especially on community safety and development/investment in townships, informal settlements and hostels.
This might invite corrupt minds to want to take advantage of these programmes, which are aimed at improving the lives of the most vulnerable in our province. History has taught us that we can’t afford to ignore corrupt activities as the most significant risk that might dent the success of these programmes.
Fighting corruption
The provincial government therefore wants to be proactive by putting in place mitigating measures that are effective in preventing and detecting any corrupt activities that might arise. Failure to do so may result in the total collapse of these programmes. More critical in Gauteng is the presence of the GEAC, a civil society-led body intended to strengthen partnerships further to promote integrity and fight corruption.
The Gauteng provincial government is taking advantage of the GEAC, which among others is actively collaborating with stakeholders who can assist meaningfully in promoting integrity and fighting corruption in the province. These include the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Public Protector, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), the PSC, the Auditor-General and the Gauteng Audit Committee.
The approach taken was to improve an integrated response to fighting corruption. It also acknowledges that there must be ongoing multidisciplinary interventions in this area of work for the GEAC to support the executive authorities and accounting officers.
The partnership contributes towards an improved state of ethics in the province. It also includes effective consequence management, the full implementation of a combined assurance model in the province and the use of an internal audit report for risk identification purposes. There should also be regular monitoring of high-risk departments such as health, education, infrastructure, roads, safety and finance.
The government vows to work tirelessly to create safe avenues to report corruption and to protect the anonymity of whistle-blowers. Efforts to update the province’s whistle-blowing policy are at an advanced stage. Its shared responsibility remains to protect brave employees and citizens who have uncovered corruption. In addition, it is consulting relevant agencies like the Hawks and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to ensure an effective witness protection programme.
The government vows to work tirelessly to create safe avenues to report corruption and to protect the anonymity of whistleblowers.
The Gauteng provincial government has been prioritising transparency in public processes. The introduction of the open tender system in Gauteng revolves around a transparent procurement process. Accordingly, the government seeks to take another step forward by continuously publicising all the final forensic investigation reports and the status of implementation of recommendations.
The procurement of goods and services remains a high-risk area susceptible to corrupt activities. Hence, decisive interventions are being considered in this area.
The GEAC has been leading efforts to ensure the adoption of the integrity pact, which ought to be legally binding and enforceable for both Gauteng provincial government departments and their service providers. Ideally, the integrity pact should make it easier for the Gauteng government to review and terminate the contractual obligations with service providers that breach the integrity pact with minimal risk of litigation. The government has considered requesting businesses to submit a signed pact and pledge as part of their bid documents. Commitment to ethical practices should come from CEOs of bidding companies and failure to adhere to this will lead to disqualification of the bidding company.
The other notable intervention in procuring goods and services is to ensure the vetting and lifestyle audits of all the officials involved in these processes.
The Gauteng government is mindful that implementing reforms to address unethical conduct is not the government’s responsibility alone but of all sectors of society. It will continue to work with all stakeholders — civil society, the private sector and law enforcement agencies — to root it out.
• Mbada is acting director-general of the Gauteng provincial government.
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