50% of graft complaints lodged in Gauteng

“If we look at our own gauge of the public mood, the steady rise in reports of corruption suggests that the public is emboldened,” said Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane.

Johannesburg - More people came forward to report incidents of corruption to Corruption Watch last year, especially in Gauteng, from where 50 percent of the complaints came.

This was revealed this week when Corruption Watch released its 2015 annual report. The organisation has existed since 2012, and in that time period, more than 10 000 people have reported corruption to it. Of these, 2 382 complaints were registered during 2015.

The corruption hotspots for the year were in schools, which made up 16 percent of overall reports during the year. This was followed by traffic and licensing complaints at 12 percent, immigration at 6 percent and housing and healthcare at 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Abuse of power constituted the bulk of corruption reports at 38 percent, followed by bribery at 20 percent and procurement corruption at 14 percent.

On the fact that the majority of the complaints came from Gauteng, the organisation said this was indicative of a highly engaged and active population complaining about corruption and “of a provincial government that has generally responded constructively to the reports we have received”.

Corruption Watch board chairman Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane said 2015 was the year when many problems in the country were confronted, particularly through student protests.

“If we look at our own gauge of the public mood, the steady rise in reports of corruption suggests that the public is emboldened, perhaps because of these broader movements and campaigns, to speak up, and to declare an end to the tolerance for graft and abuse of resources and power,” Ndungane said.

The organisation said it had conducted 10 investigations into allegations of corruption in schools over the year, and in these cases, the principal was found to be the main culprit involved in corrupt activities.

According to a 2014 Corruption Watch report, corruption in schools was identified as the most prevalent form of dishonesty in the country.

The body also took part in many legal cases, among them the City of Cape Town versus Sanral, and SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng versus the DA. Others included Corruption Watch versus the Gauteng Department of Education, Corruption Watch versus the chief executive of the South African Social Security Agency, Corruption Watch and others versus the President, the EFF versus the Speaker of the House, and the DA versus the Speaker of the House.

Corruption Watch executive director David Lewis said their core mission was to encourage and enable the public to participate in combating corruption. He said the reports they receive were an important source of learning and intelligence that helped them to better understand corruption and identify hotspots and patterns.

He said that in the coming year, their flagship campaign was to encourage and enable public participation in the appointment of a new public protector.

“Because of the exemplary courage the present public protector, Thuli Madonsela, has displayed in tackling corruption, we fear that government may try to appoint a new public protector who is more intent on protecting the executive than the public. We can prevent this by speaking out on the sort of public protector we want,” Lewis said.

angelique.serrao@inl.co.za

The Star