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Provincial perspective to corruption
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Road and Public Works

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 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
 SPEECH BY MEC P. MASUALLE
ON THE  THE PROVINCIAL PERSPECTIVE TO CORRUPTION
 AT THE NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS ANTI-CORRUPTION SUMMIT
 ON 25-26 OCTOBER  2000



How you conceptualise a problem sets the parameters within which you can formulate a solution. It you define popular behaviour as the 
problem, as opposed to circumstances that evoke that behaviour, then you solution is bound to run against popular resistance.  [1]

MC,
 The Honourable Minister, Comrade Nkosazana Stella Sigcau,
 The Honourable Members of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures,
 Ladies and Gentlemen,

I greet you all today also grateful of getting this honour of addressing you about this serious syndrome that has infected our society so 
badly.

As the quotation above indicates, Chairperson, ours here is to find the proper conceptualisation of the problem that faces us, and the 
symptoms of the problem, so that we can then derive the most appropriate solution to the problem itself and not just symptoms.

Corruption manifests itself in may forms, but however it can simply and narrowly be viewed as a particular behaviour or particular sets of 
behaviours, either in the form of omission or commission, with an effect of inducing the deriving of an unfair advantage to the detriment 
of the public interest for a benefit of a personal or sectoral interest.

The vital and central task of all the progressive forces, and not just government in this instance, today is the launch and intensification 
of an all-round war against this demon in our society: CORRUPTION. How we launch and intensify such war? What forms of organisation can 
ensure the maximum mobilisation of all the resources at our disposal for this purpose? What are the motive forces for such strides and 
their potential? What strategies and tactics do we employ in the process? These are some of the problems and questions that require our 
consideration and solution.

In our conduct of waging this war against corruption we have to understand the fact that we will be waging it in a complex and difficult 
national and international situation which we need to understand as providing a context. Needless to point out Chairperson that the counter-
progressive forces in this context have embarked upon an all-round strategy of reactionary and brutal counterattack against our progressive 
government so as to achieve their sole objective of blockading the way to a better life for all South African citizens.

We are called upon here today therefore so that we can together discuss means and ways of uprooting corruption in our society, particularly 
within our conduct of delivering services to the people.

The intensification of the and putting into effect of co-operative government will also enhance our unity in action in this mammoth task of 
fighting corruption within our own ranks. If corruption is a societal problem, then the state as a reflection of such society will bear 
corrupt elements. However, the more transparent the state becomes, the more easier our task to get ourselves rid of such elements. The 
extent to which people feel ownership for a given process also sets the parameters or, rather, determines the extent to which they will be 
committed and dedicated to defend, advance and protect such process. If such an assertion be true, then the more co-operation there is in 
our various levels and spheres of government from the lowest through to the highest and vice versa means more peoples participation in 
combating this viral disease.

The Eastern Cape Case

Our province has been dubbed the second corruption capital second only after Mpumalanga. As a province we have neither intentions nor the 
inclination to defend this position. If any thing we remain open minded about the existence of elements with our administrations operating 
inside the provincial departments, some times alone and very often with the cooperation of specialised crime syndicates to undermine our 
democratic gains and achieve the objectives of frustrating our ultimate goal of improved service delivery. Indeed chairperson we owe the 
gains we made in this regard to the corporative approach we assumed. Our quest to maximise the publicity of corruption within our 
administration, as an integral part of drawing the entire society on our side sometimes led to some of comrades and compatriots to ask the 
questions in the prevalent circumstances of the negative publicity that results from the public acknowledgement of corruption and other 
social ills in our society, should we not contain this outbreak and deal with it silent? After all the apartheid state was both quiet about 
crime and corruption in its ranks and we are at least doing something genuine about.

As though the words of comrade Amilca Cabral tell no lies claim no easy victory were invented for us we had marched on and refused to be 
detracted from our original cause, to uproot corruption in our society until not trace of it could be seen.

What was the result?

We endured degrading pain and all round criticism. Who does not know that virtually every issue of the Daily Dispatch, The Herald, The 
Weekend Post including national papers featured an article after another. Whether it was a R2.5 million stolen from a safe in the then 
Department of Health and Welfare a day before the pension pay out, ghost employees drawing salary from the state coffers, the stealing of 
medicines and other valuable supplies intended for the poorest of the poor, stealing of diesel intended to upgrade the roads for 
inaccessible communities, senior management involved in construction and security companies whilst at the same time expected to award 
contracts to similar companies, prison escapes, we had gone before national television screen to report cases of corruption on our own 
volition.

Yet we had the option of dealing with these matters internally thereby saving our faces. Yet we had chosen the route that gave ammunition 
to our strategic opponents to attack us from left, right and centre. We still marched on!

Corruption has to be exposed to be dealt with effectively. Publicity is a powerful tool in the fight against corruption. More so in society 
where white-collar crime is accounting for deadliest attack on the movement towards development, empowerment and democratisation in our 
society. Those that are involved in corrupt practices are often those respected Ladies and Gentlemen occupying senior positions in 
government and respected in society in general. A sheer mention of their names in cases of alleged corruption is in many ways a crucial 
lesson for our communities of how far grid and contempt can go. Just this is a rallying point and a source of partnership between the state 
and the entire community. In other cases we have benefited directly from the public when the sudden riches of those corrupt surpassed the 
expectations of their fellow residents and friends. They had come forward and corruption cases were reported in increasing numbers across 
the length and breadth of our province.

Slowly but surely a great movement is growing.

The battle lines are drawn

All along the strategies for dealing with corruption were being mooted. Individual departments sought to deal directly with those alleged 
to have committed these crimes. Systems were being developed and refined to close the loopholes exploited by corrupt officials. In some 
departments redeployment was used effectively to displace officials from potentially corruption prone areas to those less so.

It was not until last half of 1999 that our province has convened anti-corruption summit to seek an integrated and all encompassing anti-
corruption strategy. The East London summit against corruption drew delegates from all walks of lives. Political parties, private 
organisation, NGOs, organised labour, parliamentarians, etc all played crucial roles in defining the challenges of the day. The critical 
objectives of the summit are summarised below as:

1.The establishment of the Provincial Anti-corruption forum.
 2.Implementation of anti corruption campaign
 3.Effective coordination of anti-corruption agencies
 4.Streamlining of institutional arrangements to enhance the fight against corruption.
 5.Review of legislation, which inhibits the effective fight against corruption
6.Development of an effective communication and information strategy
 7.Putting in place effective e anti-corruption measures
 8.Ensuring effective administration of law enforcement in corruption cases.

In relation to what exactly then has been done in towards the achievement of the above set objectives, the following can be highlighted:

* An anti-corruption forum was founded in April 2000 for the purposes of central and overall strategy and tactic formulation body
* Our Honourable Premier, Rev. M. A. Stofile, declared the year 2000 as the anti-corruption year in February this year and thereby 
launching the campaign against corruption
* With the assistance of Treasury, department are presently establishing effective systems and controls with some form of early warning 
systems for corrupt practices to be easily exposed
* The province is presently implementing the many laws assisting in the fight against corruption that have been passed by our government 
like Public Finance Management Act of 1999, Prevention of Organised Crime Act and many others
* A provincial communication strategy has been kick started though it is still being effectively developed so as to ensure that there is 
more communication about these problems when they arise, but also to be able to detect where there are problems
* As part of developing anti-corruption preventative measures, the province is busy training officials on the PFMA and the new Treasury 
Regulations, the Minimum Inforamtion Security Standards, developing performance management systems policy, proper job descriptions as well 
as intensifying the adherence to procurement policies and procedures.
* The province has not been very lenient with regard to corrupt officials and as a result a number of misconduct cases have been dealt with 
in the province affecting very senior management staff members.

These are but some of the few attempts that are being undertaken to ensure that there is an all-round system that supports the fight 
against corruption in our own ranks.

Thank you.

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[1] Mahmood Mamdani: Democratizaton and Marketization

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