Department of Public Service and Administration Head of the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit, Mr Robert McBride, has been elected Interim chairperson of multi-stakeholder Reference Group that will provide strategic advice on how to step up the fight against fraud and corruption in the country.
When the first meeting to constitute the Reference Group took place recently at the Union Buildings, Pretoria, the main outcome has been the election of Interim Chairperson of Mr McBride and Co-Chairperson, Mr David Lewis from Corruption Watch.
This was after an extensive nation-wide consultative process in line with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) Roadmap.
The multi-stakeholder Reference Group has been established to provide overall strategic advice on the draft NACS and to ensure that the strategy covers all aspects of fighting corruption in the country.
The Reference Group, which consists of representatives of government, labour, civil society, business and academia, will be tasked with processing the NACS for approval by Cabinet and other key stakeholders.
Speaking at the meeting, Advocate Andy Mothibi, Head of the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) urged all the invited members to put their hands on deck to ensure that the Strategy is a national response towards fighting corruption.
In 2014, the government established the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC) with the mandate to coordinate and oversee the work of the state organs in combatting the scourge of corruption in the public and private sector.
The Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) chairs the ACIMC, while the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) which has representatives from various law enforcement agencies was tasked by ACIMC to develop the NACS.
The ACTT established a Steering Committee to drive the work of drafting the NACS, implementation plan and the monitoring plan.
The Committee conducted initial research and consultation process and public consultation to ensure buy-in from members of the society and it further, undertook public consultations in provinces to get additional inputs into the draft strategy.
The National Development Plan (NDP) is clear that fighting corruption should involve all members of the society and it further tasked the country to develop a NACS and supporting implementation plan.
Fighting corruption in South Africa is one of the Government’s key priorities.
