South Africans have a responsibility to provide relevant information related to squandering, maladministration, and misuse taxes to the law enforcement agencies, writes Phumla Williams.
One of the most common dilemmas facing whistleblowers
and members of the public, who want to report corruption, is fear for their
safety and victimisation.
Understandably, some people turn a blind eye to
corruption for fear that acting on it will jeopardise their careers, or even
their lives.
What is of concern about this phenomenon though is that many of us
seem to lack appreciation that there are laws that protect whistle blowers or
people who report corruption in South Africa.
When the Anti-corruption hotline in the public service
was launched in 2004 it provided for anonymous reporting. This was to create a climate
that is hostile to corruption and protect the responsible citizen reporting.
In this context, let us salute all South Africans who
have taken it upon themselves to use the available mechanisms to report
corruption for the good of the country.
Let us also thank members of the media
for their role in uncovering some of the cases of corruption that continue to
bedevil our country.
Anti-corruption society
Although the Public Service Commission, as the
institution tasked with overseeing the performance of the public service, are
custodians of the anti-corruption hotline, it is necessary that we should also
consider encouraging all other sectors of society, to follow this example of reporting
corrupt practices so as to develop a
truly anti-corruption society.
According to the anti-corruption hotline from September 2004 to March 2017, was able
to expose a total 3 655 people, who were subsequently found guilty of
misconduct within the Public service.
Of these figures, the Public Service
Commissioner Ms Sellinah indicates that 1 740 officials were dismissed, 450
were fined, 140 were demoted, 927 officials were given final written warnings
and 395 were criminally prosecuted during that period.
At the end of the 2017/2018 financial year, through
the successful investigation of cases reported through the hotline, R420
million was recovered back into the public purse.
Clearly, whatever it is that we have to do to address
the issue of corruption, it requires all of us to stand up and say no to wrongdoing.
In the past few weeks, South Africans observed in
horror, as reports emerged of dishonesty and corruption in the procurement of
Covid-19 personal protective equipment.
These included overpricing of goods and services, violation of emergency
procurement regulations, collusion between officials and private sector service
providers, abuse of food parcel distribution, and the creation of fake
non-profit organisations to access relief funding.
Many of these
cases did not just land by themselves in the media, but it took some honest and
dedicated individuals to report the wrongdoing in the procurement of PPEs and
the misuse of Covid19 relief funds.
Reporting or blowing the whistle on
corruption is one of the duties of an active and responsible citizen.
While ordinary citizens are encouraged to report
corruption, public servants are obligated to do so.
Many public servants are afraid of
victimisation and occupational detriment that once it is known that they have
reported these allegations, they will suffer at work.
The Protected Disclosures Act was introduced precisely
for this reason to combat the element of fear and ensure the protection of
whistleblowers.
The Act makes provisions for employees to report unlawful or
irregular conduct by employers and employees, while providing for the
protection of employees who blow the whistle.
The law enforcement agencies have
been trained to ensure that they protect the identity of the Whistle-blower,
and to treat all passed on information as confidential.
Whistleblowing hotlines
The whistleblowing hotlines do not make use of tracing
and caller identification technologies, and hotline operators are trained to
respect the wishes of a caller should they choose to remain anonymous.
Any
information received is also stored in a secure manner until such time as it is
passed on to the investigating officer.
Accordingly, legislation is also in place to ensure that
all crimes involving corruption and stealing of public money are dealt with
decisively. As an active citizen, it is your responsibility to provide relevant
information related to squandering, maladministration, and misuse of your taxes
to the law enforcement agencies.
Dealing with corruption is not just an issue of law
enforcement. We need to build a caring
society that takes it upon itself to act against the scourge of crime and
corruption and an ethical society that respects humanity.
Our small practical actions such as refusing to pay a
bribe, refusing to pay your way to the front of the list for tenders, will go a
long way to show those involved in corruption that South Africans are no longer
tolerant of wrongdoing.
Let all of us who may suspect or witness cases of
corruption to do our part and pick the phone and dial the anti-corruption
toll-free line on 0800 701 701.
– Phumla Williams is the Director-General at Government
Communication and Information System
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