President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Presidency is steadfast in lending its support to law enforcement agencies in South Africa’s war against corruption and is fully focused on rebuilding South Africa’s public institutions.
The President was addressing Parliament in reply to the house’s debate on the Presidency’s budget vote.
“Accountability is the cornerstone of any transformative vision if it is to be realised. No more critical is this than in the fight against corruption. We will…continue to lend the support and weight of the highest office in the land to the work of the multidisciplinary Fusion Centre, the Hawks, the SAPS (South African Police Service), the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) Investigating Directorate, and all entities involved in the war against corruption,” he said.
"To further strengthen the fight against corruption at the local government level, the President reported that the work undertaken by the SAPS Clean Audit Task Team is “ongoing and has seen a number of arrests for fraud and corruption at local government level.”
Institutional credibility
The President reported that the task government has undertaken to rebuild and restore credibility to state institutions like the NPA and the South African Revenue Service is bearing fruit.
“It was this Presidency that instituted high-level commissions of enquiry into the workings of the South African Revenue Service and the NPA. Credibility has been restored to these institutions as they implemented the recommendations of the respective commissions.
“By way of example, last financial year SARS collected record revenues of R1.564 trillion. Four years since I appointed a commission of inquiry into administration and governance at SARS, its turnaround has been spectacular. This revenue enables the state to fund social support, social infrastructure, and many other projects,” he said.
He added that the Presidency is working to ensure that recommendations made by the Special Investigating Unit in respect of investigations into departments and state institutions “are acted upon”.
“As The Presidency, another focus for us this year is supporting the respective departments to implement the recommendations of a number of high-level commissions appointed by the President.
“As I indicated…a number of the recommendations made by the expert panel into the 2021 July unrest, have already been implemented. Notably, restoring stability to the leadership of the State Security Agency, the South African Police Service, and SAPS Crime Intelligence,” he said.
Turning to crime prevention and investigation, President Ramaphosa said government has its eye trained on improving policing in the country.
“The Honourable Groenewald has called on government to focus on strengthening the criminal justice system to deal decisively with all forms of criminality that impacts people’s daily lives.
“This begins, fundamentally, with improving policing. The re-establishment of CPFs (Community Policing Forums), the entry of new police recruits, and strengthening public order policing will further support our hardworking SAPS members whose job is difficult and an often thankless task,” he said.
Source: South African Government News Agency