‘SIU reports gathering dust’ – MPs lambast Presidency for lack of urgency

Members of Parliament on Tuesday lashed at the Presidency over the backlog and inefficiencies in implementing the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) reports.

Gungubele’s office presented feedback on SIU reports to Scopa members on Tuesday. These include concluded investigations on Covid-19 PPE corruption and maladministration and corruption across the State.

SIU reports

No cooperation from Presidency

The members of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) chastised Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele for lack of urgency and stricter control in implementing remedial actions on corruption findings across the State.

The investigations that emanated from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s proclamations seemed to be a wasteful expenditure, said committee chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

“Minister, we deliberately raised this matter knowing how the SIU completes investigations and indicate to this committee that reports have been disseminated to the Presidency. That’s why we called this meeting.

“For a long time, we have had difficulty in getting cooperation from the Presidency on this matter. Now it is clear why. This is something you have to look into.. It is unacceptable.”

‘Inefficient administration’

Ramaphosa’s office processed 81 reports from the SIU since he took office in 2018.

An inefficient government administrative system was a stumbling block to ensuring speedy remedial actions such as criminal prosecutions and disciplinary actions, Presidency’s Matsietsi Mekhwe told the MPs.

“Our level of success is not where we want it to be. We acknowledge that our administrative system is not robust enough to provide a clear filtering process, and we still have a backlog of reports in processing and implementation.

“Ourselves and the SIU are both constrained by the lack of responses from the institutions to which the referrals are made,” Mekhwe said.

State institutions never give feedback on how they were implementing the reports, and sometimes give inadequate responses back to the Presidency, creating a gap in control, she said.

“There is generally a slow pace to implementing disciplinary actions against officials. The Public Service Act is very clear on implementing disciplinary hearings, but we find that they are protracted.

“The SIU do make follow-ups on the hearings. They also follow up on criminal referrals. What needs to happen is to ensure we strengthen the administrative system.” 

To remedy this, the Presidency is in a process of establishing a consultation process to manage the interactions on the report, said Mekhwe.

‘Lack of urgency’

Unimpressed ANC MP Nokuzola Tolashe said there was nothing new in how the reports were handled.

“There is really no sense of urgency. We needed to hear from them on what they will do differently and drastically this time.

“Noting that the President has championed corruption busting and we see him successfully doing so, South Africans just want things to move with speed, especially when it comes to corruption.”

The DA’s Robert Leese said the problems experienced in rooting out corruption originated from the dissolution of the previous graft busting organisation, the Scorpions.

“I should ask you minister if this is not the consequence of disbandment of the Scorpions? Surely it is now time to implement an equivalent to the Scorpions which will get out there and get it done, and we stop hearing about these challenges,” Leese said.

‘Guilty as charged’

Gungubele conceded there were inadequacies in implementation and follow-ups on corruption matters in government.

“Let’s accept that as a gap, but not a deliberate gap. Having observed that, just this morning I spoke to the director-general of DPME [Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation], that I need a plan of action in a short space of time.

“DPME have a duty to monitor government work to make sure that those commitments lead to value-adding ads, we will be able to come and share with you. Otherwise, guilty as charged”.

Hlengwa said Gungubele has until the end of February to provide concrete progress on the mechanisms to ensure implementation of the reports.