About 340 cases of corruption had been identified in the Eastern Cape since a joint task team was established to tackle this scourge, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said on Tuesday.
”This has helped to prove we are serious about we do,” she told the National Press Club in Pretoria.
Of the 340 cases, five had been finalised. Sentence was pending in nine of them, 68 were before court and 171 were under investigation.
Another task team was dealing with 499 disciplinary matters, not all of which were corruption-related. The hearings of 48 of these had been finalised and 32 more were set for hearing, the minister said.
The task teams were established as part of a national government plan to address various service delivery and mismanagement problems in the Eastern Cape.
Fraser-Moleketi said: ”The intervention is about improving the lives of the people of the Eastern Cape. This is not simply a corruption-busting exercise.”
An interim management team was appointed in December to root out the province’s problems, especially in its departments of health, social development, public works and education.
The turn-around of these departments seemed to be on track, the minister said.
From the outset it was made clear that sabotage of the process or reluctance to participate would not be tolerated, she said.
”Action was taken where there were problems or resistance.”
The province’s premier, Makhenkesi Stofile, had helped in this respect. One of the major focus areas now was to fill critical vacancies. Plans were being made to offer allowances to encourage skilled people to work in rural areas, said Fraser-Moleketi.
Another area in need of attention was to strengthen management in the province’s administration. According to her, management comprised only 0,04% of the overall staff.
”We want to increase this to at least one percent.” – Sapa