Questions by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to National Minister of Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu, have led to a remarkable admission of ineptitude, with the Minister openly admitting that a 2014 law – created to apply the brakes on misconduct by government officials – was only “operationalised” earlier this year.
The revelation was made during a recent plenary session of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), relating to the Public Administration Management Act.
The Act, signed into law in December 2014, includes specifically laid out extensive plans to hold officials to account in terms of ethics, integrity and discipline, including prohibitions on their doing business with the state.
During the session, Minister Mchunu admitted that it was only in April 2019 that President Ramaphosa “operationalised” 13 sections of the Act, including Section 15 which relates to the establishment of a Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit.
The Minister also acknowledged that the existence of such a Unit could well have prevented many of the corrupt activities exposed at the Zondo Commission.
The DA in the NCOP finds this state of affairs completely unacceptable. The ANC-led government, under former President Jacob Zuma, has been exposed with officials clearly dragging their heels for five long years. Even with the supposed intervention of President Cyril Ramaphosa, this Unit has still not been established to date.
During the meeting, the Minister undertook to meet with the relevant parties yesterday. Given that this meeting has now supposedly taken place, the DA calls on him to act without delay and ensure that accountability begins.
The DA stands for accountability, transparency and observance of the rule of law. In all DA-led governments we take a tough stand on all instances of corruption and this is reflected in the excellent record of qualified audits from the Auditor-General.
Corruption robs South Africa of the life blood of resources that are vital to the upliftment of the people of our country.
The DA will always uphold what is in the best interests of all South Africa’s citizens and will not stand by while the ANC paves the way for corrupt officials to loot without hindrance.