Page 10 - DPSA - Service Delivery Report

NEWS IN BRIEF
R38m allocated towards establishing Investigative Directorate
Justice and Constitutional Develop- ment Minister Ronald Lamola says the department will provide budgetary support towards the establishment of the NPA’s Investigative Directorate.
This comes after President Cyril Ra- maphosa announced the establish- ment of the directorate in his State of the Nation Address in February in a push to tackle corruption head-on at a time the country finds itself recovering from the effects of State capture.
Minister Lamola said fighting fraud and corruption forms part of the de- partment’s core mandate and that the levels of brazen corruption and avarice that are seen in society can and must be halted.
“The various commissions of inquiry currently underway are part of the pro- cess of addressing fraud and corrup- tion. The department will continue to provide the necessary administrative support to enable these commissions of inquiry to do their work.
“In addition, the department will also provide budgetary support to the es- tablishment of the Investigative Di- rectorate, under the auspices of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to deal with all cases emanating from these commissions.”
Minister Lamola said the Investigative Directorate will work collaborative- ly with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the SIU Special Tribunal and the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investi- gations (DPCI) to ensure that perpe- trators of acts of fraud and corruption are brought to book speedily.
“The regulations of the tribunal will be finalised shortly to enable this im- portant institution to commence with the task of recovering moneys stolen through corruption and maladministra- tion,” he said.
Meanwhile Shamila Batoni, the Nation- al Director of Public Prosecutions, said R38 million would be allocated to the new directorate for start-up purposes, and that over a three-year period, she expects over R200 million to be allocat- ed towards the running of the new unit.
“But this is for start-up costs at this stage. We have also made a bid to the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA) fund for funds that we will re- quire for the first year. The total amount is about R200 million over three years. We have made a bid to the CARA fund and we are quite confident that we will be successful in that bid,” she said.
Modernising the courts system
According to Minister Lamola, the modernisaton of the justice system lies at the heart of the transformation tra- jectory of the department.
A total of R1.3 billion has been allocat- ed for the department’s modernisation programme.
“As such, through the Integrated Jus- tice System (IJS), the department is driving a multi-department effort to increase the probability of successful investigation, prosecution, punishment and rehabilitation of offenders.
“The Court Recording Technology (CRT) system has been rolled out to over 2 000 courts.
“A further 146 mobile recorders are used in periodical courts. The CRT en- ables efficient recording and storage of court proceedings. This system will also improve operational efficiencies in courts.”
Minister Lamola said the modernisa- tion efforts will also extend to the Mas- ter’s offices where work is underway on the Master’s Online project, which is scheduled to be implemented by 2020.
The project aims to streamline the Trust registration process and will as- sist in curbing fraud.
“The condition of our courts as service points to the public, is a top priority. A total of 25 courts will be part of the total facilities management solution imple- mented by the Department of Public Works.
“This will bring relief to users of our fa- cilities as breakdowns in equipment of- ten disrupt court sittings and contribute to delays in the finalisation of cases. The department is also implementing an in-source model, which allows sen- tenced inmates and participants in the Extended Public Works Programme to be utilised for minor maintenance work,” said the Minister.
– SAnews.gov.za
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
8 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 12 No.3 of 2019