Peter Dickson
Special courts are planned for the hearing next year of a backlog of more than 400 government-related fraud and corruption cases in the Eastern Cape.
The decision was taken at the province’s first anti-corruption summit held in East London last week after Premier Makhenkesi Stofile asked for broader input on Bisho’s proposals. It is the first concrete step towards stopping public service fraud syndicates in all levels of government in the province.
At the same time, Stofile’s bureaucracy is resigned to overspending this year in key departments like education and health, and up to 60% of the province’s transitional local councils, many under investigation for fraud and maladministration, stay in the red while struggling to deliver services.
Some municipalities are withholding millions of rands in vehicle licence fees to demand payment of Bisho’s state debts. Port Elizabeth, which became a metropole last week, is withholding R15-million.
The anti-corruption summit resolved that the the special courts progress should be policed through an audit of all current corruption cases within the next six weeks, with data collated within a month. Stofile, who said the Constitution’s freedoms often frustrated government action against public service fraud, has been given eight weeks to ask Minister of Justice Penuell Maduna to have the courts set up.
Provincial detective services chief Assistant Commissioner Ross Mpongoma told the delegates that 502 government-related corruption cases were under investigation by the police commercial branch. Of these, 70 were already before the courts, while 42 people had been convicted by October this year.
In another important decision, a watchdog audit committee comprising government and private sector members and reporting to the provincial auditor, will make sure that government departments act decisively in sweeping Bisho and the local government clean.