Public Protector Thuli Madonsela Public Protector Thuli Madonsela
Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela does not believe the ANC’s “cadre deployment” programme is the cause of the relatively bad audit outcomes in about half the municipalities and reports of widespread corruption in local government.
These issues spoke to a much wider public ethical malaise, Madonsela said at a media conference during the SA Local Government Association (Salga) anti-corruption summit, which began in Cape Town yesterday.
“I wouldn’t attribute [that] to any political party. I would say corruption reflects the value systems of society. There is not corruption in government only,” she said, pointing out that big tender frauds involving World Cup infrastructure projects related to private sector companies.
Madonsela said that a “steward” leadership needed to be instilled at local government level to ensure that public representatives remained accountable to those who elected them. She also argued that transparency was the key to good governance as it put the spotlight on bad decisions.
She welcomed the proposal to be discussed by the summit that a performance barometer of the 283 municipalities in the country should be established.
About half the municipalities received relatively poor audit outcomes, as reported by auditor-general Terence Nombembe.
Local government representatives, including mayors, are to debate for two days ways to correct corruptive practice in local government. The theme of the summit is “Local government leading the fight against corruption and maladministration”.
One way to ensure efficiencies at local government was to create a central revenue collection service for all municipalities, but Salga chief executive Xolile George emphasised that this idea needed to be further canvassed by the Department of Co-operative Governance, the Treasury and other interested parties.
Salga chairman Thabo Manyoni, who is the mayor of Mangaung and Free State ANC deputy chairman, said the large number of disclaimers in the auditor-general’s report on local government “is not equivalent to corruption”.
Auditing was not only about verifying whether corruption had taken place or not. There were a number of factors – such as not following the letter of the law and regulations – that were also part of the auditing process.
However, Manyoni acknowledged that where there were disclaimers, a higher level of corruption was also likely.
Andries Nel, the Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance, said bluntly: “We are going to red card corruption where we find it. This [the summit] is a collective attempt to further refine the systems that are being put in place to contain corruption.”
The reality was, however, that no matter how strong the government made the law enforcement systems, “if people are corrupt in their hearts and minds, they will find ways to circumvent all of those things”.
Educating people and changing their mindsets was the way to go, he proposed. - Business Report