Almost half the Eastern Cape government officials surveyed by a corruption monitor believe it is ”not wrong” or ”wrong but understandable” for them to accept gifts from citizens in return for services.
The survey, by the Grahamstown-based Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM), throws a harsh light on what is widely seen as South Africa’s most corrupt province.
Based on interviews with 169 public servants, the survey also finds 58% of respondents believe it is not wrong, or is understandable, for citizens to offer officials gifts for services.
Twenty-two per cent believes bad public service pay justifies ”extra payments”, and 23% that ”extra payments and favours” improves government.
This, the survey says, suggests Eastern Cape public servants lack understanding of what corruption means.
It links such attitudes to former homeland rule in the province. Writes PSAM director Colm Allan: ”Because individuals were appointed [in the bantustans] to public sector jobs on account of their personal loyalties … the notion of entitlement to a wage without having met pre-defined responsibilities became widely entrenched.”
Other shock findings are that:
Three out of 10 officials had witnessed political patronage, nepotism or theft of public resources. A third witnessed the award of jobs or contracts to political allies, and 29% theft.
Fourteen per cent had witnessed an attempted bribe and 12% the acceptance of a bribe.
Twenty-three per cent believed that ”most” or ”almost all” provincial officials were corrupt.
Fifty-eight per cent were unsure that they would be protected if they reported graft.
The PSAM notes that the survey was conducted at a time of unparalleled government anti-corruption initiatives in the Eastern Cape — an Anti-Corruption Forum in Premier Makhenkesi Stofile’s office and the legislature’s Network Against Corruption, launched in 1999 and 2000 respectively.
The survey paints an unflattering picture of Stofile’s role in the collapse of these initiatives, and in the fight against corruption generally.
In October 2000 legislature speaker Mkangeli Matomela had written to the premier urging an inquiry into the private ambulance service of government official Bevan Goqwana. Stofile accused the speaker of being ”partisan” and ”a political critic of government no matter what the facts are”.
As part of the standoff, both anti-corruption forums were disbanded, the PSAM says.
In addition, Stofile had publicly defended Goqwana’s business interests on grounds that they were guaranteed by the Constitution, before promoting him to the post of health MEC.
The PSAM points out that Stofile’s wife, Nambita, acknowledged landing contracts with provincial departments. Despite his ultimate responsibility for appointing members of the provincial tender board, Stofile had denied any conflict of interest.
When the Executive Members Ethics Code, which prohibits such conflicts, was brought to his attention in March last year, he was quoted as saying the code was in draft form and had not been passed. It was gazetted into law in July 2000.
The PSAM also says the Eastern Cape auditor general reported in September last year that Stofile had irregularly used R20 000 of taxpayers’ money to pay for his dependants’ private travel.
Stofile’s justification was that ”the provincial cabinet had unilaterally decided to exempt themselves from the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook pertaining to private flights”.