Parliament - MInister of Public Service and Administration Ngoako Ramathlodi has promised to crack down on public servants doing business with the state.
The state has lost hundreds of millions in the last few years on its employees who moonlight as business people by getting government tenders, he said.
The Public Service Commission released a report in Parliament three years ago that corruption in government had reached almost R1 billion.
In his budget vote yesterday, Ramathlodi said officials were close to finalising the regulations on the Public Administration Management Act.
“During this last financial year, we focused on the development of the first set of regulations to give effect to certain provisions in the act,” Ramathlodi told Parliament.
“As a start, we prioritised the development of regulations dealing with the important matter of prohibiting public servants from doing business with the state,” he said.
ANC MP Peace Mabe, who is also the chairperson of the portfolio committee on public service and administration, said other officials backed the minister.
“This will minimise unethical conduct in the public service,” said Mabe.
But the DA and EFF said the government has failed to crack down on corruption across the public service.
DA MP Annette Lovemore said over the last few years a number of anti-corruption task teams have come and gone, with no results, citing 2 000 cases with the police.
President Jacob Zuma signed the bill into law in December 2014, but the regulations will soon be released for public comment.
Political Bureau