Commission needed to win the battle against corruption

Editor – 
The losing battle against corruption: Now more than ever, we need an integrity commission.
The devastating impact of many years of corruption has left an indelible mark on the people of South Africa, particularly the most vulnerable communities, who rely on the State for access to the most basic social services, as per our Constitution.
Corruption is, in effect, taking food from the mouths of the poorest of the poor. All government anti-corruption structures – despite countless promises – are slow to react, inept, under-capacitated and perhaps even partisan and compromised, as many cases of corruption are alleged to involve senior officials in government.
This is why the IFP is calling, yet again, for the establishment of an independent, well-resourced Chapter 9 Institution, to be known as the Integrity Commission.
This commission should focus specifically on the investigation and prosecution of high-level corruption in the public service. This commission is essential, especially now, as the Covid-19 pandemic has triggered the release of large-scale government funding and emergency procurement procedures. Unfortunately, the NPA is currently punching below its weight.
The NPA’s latest Annual Report (2018/19) emphasised that the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit (mandated to deal with serious, complex and organised commercial crimes) had a vacancy rate of 20.92% and operated “with the lowest number of prosecutors since 2010”.
Although the Minister of Finance announced in his February 2020 Budget Speech that the NPA, the Special Investigating Unit and the Hawks would get an additional R2.4 billion, the need for critical skills was again emphasised in the NPA’s Annual Performance Plan 2020-21, presented to Parliament on May 22, 2020.
The plan stressed that the NPA had “to invest in development / sourcing of critical skills as a matter of urgency”. Further, there is an urgent need to “have access to forensic investigation capacity”.
The IFP has consistently attempted to place the creation of such an institution on the State’s agenda.
The IFP will continue to campaign for the establishment of an independent Integrity Commission, as this pandemic – coupled with weak checks and balances – provides ample opportunity for corruption and fraud at the expense of the most vulnerable in society.
Narend Singh, IFP MP

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