Joburg - The DA in Gauteng says service delivery in the province continues to be hindered by government officials who are intent on looting the public purse.
The party said this following the report by Corruption Watch in 2022: Analysis of Corruption Trends that focuses on corruption in public and private sectors.
The DA said it was worrying that the report indicated that in the public sector in the province, corruption was reported in the following areas:
- 27% - Bribery/extortion.
- 21% - Abuse of power.
- 19% - Fraud.
- 18% - Dereliction of duty.
- 15% - Misappropriation of resources.
“This province has a huge problem with irregular expenditure,” said DA Gauteng’s spokesperson for finance MEC Adriana Randall.
“According to the report that deals with the Public Finance Management Act Provincial Audit outcomes that was released last year, irregular expenditure to the tune of R9.73 billion was incurred, while fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R378 million."
Randall said the only way in which the provincial government would be able to clamp down on that was to ensure that consequence management took place.
The DA has already put forward two motions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature regarding the rampant corruption in the province.
“In these motions, we have proposed that public funds lost due to those who are found guilty of corruption must be recovered from them. A DA government will ensure that where officials are found to be involved in corruption and irregular expenditure, a disciplinary hearing takes place as quickly as possible,” said Randall.
“When the official resigns, we will continue with the disciplinary process, and if need be, we will lay criminal charges against the officials. Furthermore, we will also establish an independent provincial agency that will tackle corruption in public procurement.”
The Star