Presidency pushes for faster implementation of SIU reports

The presidency wants to set up an internal structure to specifically monitor the implementation of recommendations made by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) — the state’s corruption-fighting investigating body.

This is amid growing concern about the tardy pace of prosecutions and disciplinary action against individuals implicated in wrongdoing by the SIU and other bodies.

“The presidency is currently considering establishing a structure that will monitor the implementation of the SIU recommendations,” deputy director-general in the presidency, Matsietsi Mokholo told MPs on Tuesday, without providing further details about the structure or when it would be established, and if additional resources would be required.  

Mokholo was part of a presidency team that appeared before parliament’s public finance watchdog, the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), to discuss all reports referred by the SIU, and how they have been processed to date.

She said the presidency is concerned that state institutions are generally slow to implement disciplinary action. Yet the law is clear that remedial action or disciplinary hearings must be implemented within the time limit of 90 days after reports are tabled.

Most recently, the SIU released a report linked to the government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak, which detailed how “businesses, individuals, state officials and politicians cynically exploited a public health crisis for personal gain”.​ But there is scepticism as to whether those implicated will be brought to book.  

SIU head Andy Mothibi recently told the Sunday Times that corruption could only be stemmed if all criminal justice agencies acted against those involved in malfeasance. Mothibi said he shared the frustrations about how long it took to put the corrupt behind bars.

Mokholo said the presidency, SIU and the auditor-general’s office were working on a plan to ensure that when the president released the investigation reports to state institutions, copies were also provided to the auditor-general for inclusion in audit plans. She said that would strengthen monitoring and would be highlighted in the audit outcomes of implicated institutions.

Minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele said: “For the presidency to enjoy credibility, it must not be enough for [the president] to commission an investigation, but there must be a system that ensures that the outcomes of the investigations are processed.”

“We are of the view in the presidency that ... it is only when there is certainty of proper punishment, censure, measures that a proportionate to any misdemeanour, that we would be able to send a message to those who are corrupt. So we are making that commitment.

“That is why we are saying that there must be a formalised mechanism of interaction between ourselves and all the state organs [in terms of implementing SIU recommendations],” Gungubele said.

MPs were, however, not impressed by the presidency’s submission.

“I am of the opinion the SIU is really doing a good job. So what really amazes me is the apparent lack of urgency in the presidency,” DA MP Alf Lees said. He called for a structural equivalent to the Scorpions, the disbanded directorate of special operations that investigated organised crime and corruption, and acted against high-profile individuals.

“[It] will get out there and get the work done and we stop hearing about all the challenges,” Lees said.

Scopa chair Mkhuleko Hlengwa said: “It is unacceptable that many SIU reports are completed, but then allowed to gather dust.”

“As far as I see, it amounts to wasteful expenditure,” he said, adding that Scopa would seek monthly reports on the implementation of the SIU reports.

SIU investigations are based on proclamations issued by the president, and the entities investigated have to foot the bill.

phakathib@businesslive.co.za