As the international community celebrates the 2021 International Anti-Corruption Day, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) urges South Africans to play an active role in preventing and exposing corruption by reporting it to the law enforcement agencies.
Corruption and maladministration in the affairs of government departments, municipalities and State Owned Entities are depriving the public of valuable resources. Preventing and exposing corruption makes it possible for the government to invest public resources in building and maintaining public infrastructure, and increasing access to basic services like water and sanitation, healthcare and education.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, the SIU recovered financial losses suffered by the State to the value of R1.8 billion, prevented losses to the tune of R2.7 billion, and set aside administrative decisions and contracts amounting to R7.1 billion. The money could have been lost to corruption had no one bothered to blow the whistle.
During the Financial Year 2020/21, the SIU received a total of 1276 allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of government institutions. A total of 410 allegations were concerning the affairs of the national government followed by Gauteng and Limpopo provinces with 258 and 128 respectively.
The SIU received 114 corruption allegations from KwaZulu Natal and 104 from Eastern Cape. There were 70 allegations from the North West, 65 from Western Cape, 57 from Free State and 52 from Mpumalanga. People of the Northern Cape only reported 18 allegations of corruption to the SIU.
It was through the work of brave and caring South Africans that the SIU managed to motivate for President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign Proclamation R23 of 2020 authorising it to investigate allegations of corruption, maladministration and payments made in relations to the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by State institutions. As a result, the SIU managed to investigate scooter ambulances tender in the Eastern Cape and have the tender declared invalid and unlawful, awarding of irregular tender for the construction of Talana shacks in Limpopo, costly disinfection of Gauteng schools, Digital Vibes communication tender and irregular PPE procurement in the Gauteng Department of Health.
South Africans can report corruption and maladministration allegations in the affairs of government institutions to the SIU via Hotline: 0800 037 774, email: siu@hotline.co.za(link sends e-mail), SMS: 30916, fax2email: 086 726 1681 and website: www.thehotline.co.za(link is external).
Source: Government of South Africa