Government departments are reminded to submit reports of all corrupt officials who were allegedly involved in the irregular acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Department of Public Service and Administration before the end of November 2020.
Last month, Public Service and Administration Director-General, Ms Yoliswa Makhasi issued a circular to all Heads of national, provincial departments and government components to submit the list of all public servants implicated in the PPEs scandal.
“In order for the DPSA to strengthen government oversight of discipline in terms of section 15 of the Public Administration Management Act, all departments are required to report all cases they are aware of which links employees employed in terms of the Public Service Act to PPE related corruption.
“Reporting should typically include those employees currently being investigated by the Special Investigating Unit for tender or contract irregularities or those employees involved in tenders or contracts identified by the Auditor-General as being problematic,” she said.
According to the Director-General, the DPSA is also interested in those employees who have resigned since March 2020, following investigations into possible corrupt practices.
The Director-General said the law is very much clear in terms of who must tender for state work, adding that the Public Administration Management Act makes it clear that public servants are not allowed to conduct business with the state or be a director of a company doing business with the state. This she said includes part-time employees.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is on record that the consequences for those who break the law or bypass regulations will be severe.
“The people of South Africa require nothing less than full accountability from those who have been elected and appointed to serve them.
“We commend those provincial governments and municipalities that have already started taking disciplinary action against officials accused of improper conduct and, where appropriate, have reported them to the law enforcement agencies.
“We will take steps to recover all funds that have been stolen or where goods have been overpriced. The success of our fight against corruption depends on the involvement of all citizens and all parts of society,” he said.
