Cape Town – State Security Minister David Mahlobo says government is on course to vet senior managers in a drive to root out corruption in the public service.
The Minister said this when he tabled the department’s Budget Vote in Parliament on Tuesday.
He said the department has embarked on a process of prioritising government departments and State institutions to ensure the effective implementation of the strategy.
The department, Minister Mahlobo said, was at the centre of creating conditions of security within State departments and entities through counterintelligence awareness and training programmes aimed at raising the security competence of State employees.
“We are on course to implementing our policy as agreed on vetting of all senior managers in the public service, supply chain management teams, officials working on critical infrastructure, while extending the process to state owned companies; rotation of staff, especially in the security cluster; and investigating the possibility of a single vetting agency and conducting life style audits.
“We will also push for innovative ways of improving the integrity of civil servants of key service delivery points and going after those who run away from being vetted,” he said.
The State Security Department is part of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster and collectively, they work tirelessly to ensure that the State is rid of corrupt activities.
The Minister said corruption poses a serious and direct threat to the country’s reconstruction and development initiatives, good governance, service delivery, and ultimately stability, particularly at local level.
“We will continue focusing on corruption within the public service and private sector,” he said.
He said in 2015/16, 163 government officials were convicted of corruption-related offences.
The Minister said the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) continues to ensure that criminals do not benefit from the proceeds of crime.
“In this regard, the AFU obtained 483 forfeiture orders to the value of R372 million. Recoveries totalling R356.9 million were obtained in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act which is 166% higher than the target of R134 million,” he said.
SA commanding its territorial integrity
Meanwhile, Minister Mahlobo said while South Africa, in the global context of sovereign security and terrorist threats, remains stable, the department will not be complacent to current security threats that have been obtained through “in-depth and robust intelligence capability and multivariate analysis”.
Briefing journalists after tabling his speech, the Minister said the department remains vigilant to threats posed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), amongst others, who are operating in other countries except for their own.
He said while there is space in South Africa for NGOs, some are unable to explain who their funders are, or clearly explain their activities in the country.
During his speech in the Old Assembly Chamber earlier, Minister Mahlobo said countries cannot secure their national sovereignty unless they assess the new emerging threats accordingly. – SAnews.gov.za
