Work to uncover and eradicate corruption in the 2004/05 financial year has saved the government projected future losses of nearly R3,5-billion, the Special Investigating Unit said on Thursday.
This was calculated on the premise that malpractices exposed during the year were likely to have continued on average for ten more years, unit head Willie Hofmeyr told reporters in Pretoria.
The largest proportion of the projected savings resulted from the unit’s success in stopping false claims to the tune of nearly R500-million a year from the correctional services department’s medical aid fund.
Corrupt practices unearthed in the year included government employees claiming welfare grants and getting bribes for issuing illegal drivers’ licences.
The unit’s work yielded cash recoveries of R12-million and savings of about R92-million for the year, Hofmeyr said. This should be seen, he added, against the unit’s current budget of about R50-million a year.
It managed to gather evidence for use in 45 civil, 165 criminal and 207 disciplinary proceedings.
Hofmeyr said government departments have committed to investing R220-million in fighting corruption over the next three years.
Of this, about R6-million would come from the Correctional Services Department, R22-million-from Social Development Department, R16,8-million from the Transport Department, and R6-million from the Eastern Cape Local Government Department.
The unit is mandated to investigate financial malpractices in the public sector and recover the money.
Its manpower has grown from 67 four years ago to a 200, rising to 550 by October next year. But Hofmeyr said more capacity was needed.
”It is not that the will is lacking to do it, but there is a lack of skilled investigators,” he told the National Press Club.
”There is a serious problem and we need a serious capacity to investigate.”
The unit has set itself a target of saving the government another R2-billion over the next year, and to work with the police to arrest more than 3 000 people.
In its investigations into the Department of Social Development, the unit has found more than 43 700 officials to be drawing child support, old age, disability and other welfare grants — more than half of them in KwaZulu-Natal.
This involved grants of about R180-million a year, Hofmeyr said. The unit expected to recover about R236-million in total, and save the department about R1,5-billion.
A total of 194 departmental officials have been arrested, of whom 83 were convicted.
More than 420 further arrests were to be made by November — including an official earning an annual salary of R260 000.
Of 10-million social grant beneficiaries in total, a ”conservative estimate” of five percent did not qualify, Hofmeyr said.
By the end of next year, the unit plans to have removed from the system unlawful grant beneficiaries pocketing about R500-million, and recovered abut R40-million in cash.
In the Department of Transport, the unit found about 15% of drivers’ licences issued at certain ”problem” licensing stations to be invalid.
It has referred 21 cases to the department for disciplinary action, and 734 to the police for arrest.
A total of 115 licence holders and 17 officials have been arrested so far, and 17 individuals were being prosecuted.
One of the officials nabbed, a traffic officer, received about R75 000 a month over five months for issuing fake licences, and owned three luxury cars.
In one instance, the unit found a Mpumalanga driving school to have forged 1 240 foreign licence conversions.
”It is quite a lucrative business,” the unit’s deputy head Faiek Davids said.
In an investigation into 13 Eastern Cape municipalities, the unit’s work has yielded 16 registered criminal cases, three arrests, six police investigations, four dismissals and six referrals for disciplinary action.
Malpractices included the irregular procurement of goods and services, the non-recovery of loans made by municipalities, irregular appointments, and councillors having an interest in front companies granted contracts they were unable to fulfill.
The unit has recovered R1,9-million in the province to date, issued summonses for R732 398, and had contracts to the value of R3-million set aside. – Sapa