Title: Professional Ethics and Anti-Corruption
1Professional Ethics and Anti-Corruption
- Presentation by the
- Public Service Commission to the
- Portfolio Committee on Public Service and
Administration - Cape Town
- 15 May 2002
2Presentation on Professional Ethics and Risk
Management reports
- RESEARCH AND EVALUATION REPORTS
- Requirements for Blacklisting
- Evaluation of Hotlines
- Risk Management- Provincial Overview
- Review of South Africas National Anti-Corruption
Agencies - National Ethics Survey
- PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
- Explanatory Manual on Code of Conduct
- Whistle-blowing Guidelines
3Blacklisting
- Aims
- To identify existing legislation that supports
blacklisting - To establish the gaps in existing legislation,
- To consider the creation of an accessible
computerized national data basis of blacklisted
companies, and - To establish where such a data basis could be
appropriately based
4Blacklisting Research Methodology
- Comparative study of foreign countries,
international trends and best practices - Consultation with institutions implementing it.
- Determining the institutional, financial,
procedural and legal requirements for the
creation of a computerized national database - Propose efficient and effective mechanisms and
structures to detect companies involved in
corrupt activities and - Assess risks underlying blacklisting
5Blacklisting findings
- Key findings
- State Tender Board Act provides for a form of
blacklisting-restriction of persons/ tenderers - State Tender Board compiles a list of restricted
suppliers updated and circulated to all
departments. Distribution of and electronic
Access to list is problematic - Provincial Tender Boards tend to follow
procedures as set out by State Tender Board -
6Blacklisting findings continued
- PFMA and Treasury Regulations create basis for
system that can be equated with the Register of
Employees Dismissed used by the Banking Council
of South Africa - Some form of black listing occurs in national and
provincial departments- process is not uniform or
coordinated - Systematic programme of blacklisting is very
ambitious, initial implementation may be very
litigious
7Blacklisting findings continued
- Risks underlying blacklisting
- False, misleading or incorrect information
- Outdated information
- Information unlawfully obtained
- More information collated than necessary for
intended purpose - Collation of information infringes on rights to
privacy and not in line with the constitution
limitations and justification of reasonable and
justifiable in an open and democratic society
based on human dignity, equality and freedom
8Blacklisting findings continued
- Short to medium term measures to address corrupt
and unethical conduct by companies - Anti-Corruption pacts
- Supplier/Procurement codes
- Public Information programmes
- Whistle Blowing mechanism
- Administrative processes prior to blacklisting
9Blacklisting findings continued
- Options for housing of blacklisting facility
- National Treasury
- Office of the Public Service Commission
- Department of Public Service and Administration
10Evaluation of Hotlines
- Purpose of the report
- To assess the current situation in South Africa
regarding existence, operation and management of
hotlines covering public sector corruption - To draw from comparative experience and assess
how hotlines can be made more effective - To make recommendations on the feasibility of
establishing a national anti-corruption hotline
11Hotlines Findings
- EXISTENCE AND FUNCTIONING OF HOTLINES
- Only eight National Departments have established
hotlines - Trade and Industry
- Public Works
- Water Affairs and Forestry
- Home Affairs
- Correctional Services
- Justice and Constitutional Development
- South African Police Service
- South African Revenue Services
12Hotlines Findings continued
- Three provinces have not established hotlines
- Eastern Cape
- North West
- Free State Province
- Provinces with the most efficient hotlines are
those that are well resourced - Only one department (Trade and Industry) has
established International Best Practice on
Hotlines
13Management of information and cases
- In Gauteng, reported cases are captured and
compiled on a monthly basis. An estimated 54 of
the reported cases coming through hotlines were
solved. - In Northern Cape reported cases are captured and
callers allowed to remain anonymous. Calls are
not recorded - In Mpumalanga, 3600 calls were received in 2001.
Twelve criminal charges were laid against
individuals - In Western Cape Province there were a total of 83
recorded calls, resulting in 27 successful
disciplinary/criminal being prosecuted
14Hotlines Recommendations
- There is a need for the establishment of a
national hotline either in the Public Service
Commission or Office of the Auditor-General - A data management system should be established
for the national hotline to provide a coherent
recording of disclosures
15Hotlines Recommendations continued
- Training courses are needed to support the
specialized staff working on hotlines - A Standard Investigating Procedure should be
developed for the hotline investigation unit - There is a need for the implementation of
International Best Practice - Responsibility for day to day operations of the
hotline system must be at the appropriate
management level to ensure buy in of senior
managers and staff in the organization
16Risk Management Provincial Perspective
- First report on risk management practices in the
public service - Provides overview of the status of integrated
risk management in the public service - Emanates from consultative workshops held in
seven of the nine provinces in 2001. Workshops
were done in partnership with the KZN Provincial
Treasury - 224 senior and middle managers attended
17Risk Management Workshop Aims
- Provided officials with a theoretical framework
of risk management - Provided understanding on the roles,
responsibilities and relationships in the
application of risk management - Provided them with an overview of the risk
management experience in other provinces. - Provided an opportunity to discuss relevant
provincial barriers
18Risk management findings
- Awareness is high at the level of accounting
officers and internal audit components due to
legal imperatives of PFMA - Formal Commitment to risk management processes
exists at highest levels - Limited integration into strategic management
processes is taking place - Most fraud prevention plans are not based on risk
assessments - Departments lack capacity and resources to ensure
effective learning, provision of background
information, knowledge, skills and tools to
implement risk management
19Risk management Findings
- Consultants drive risk management processes.
Contents of reports not cascaded to lower level
staff - Officials at operations level (9-12) not
empowered to implement risk management practices - Treasury Regulations and private sector good
practice do not provide adequate framework for
the public service - 5 provinces have not repealed the Exchequer Act.
Some arrangements are in conflict with PFMA and
it leads to confusion
20Risk management findings
- Pockets of excellence exist in some provinces
- Comprehensive PFMA compliance monitoring system
was developed by the Eastern Cape. - Best practice was developed and implemented in
KZN and Western Cape - Accountability framework
- Role clarification
- Implementation principles and approaches
- Excel programs were developed to manage and
monitor risk
21Compliance by provincial departments April 2001
100 80-90 50-80 20-50
Gauteng, KZN N West W Cape Limpopo None Eastern Cape N Cape F State
22Audit of National Anti-corruption agencies
- Purpose
- To conduct an audit of agencies, entrusted with
aspects of the anti-corruption mandate - To establish the possibility of rationalizing
agencies with similar functions - To contribute towards the development of a
national anti-corruption strategy for the public
service
23Aspects of the assessment
- Aspects that were investigated
- Mandates
- Structural arrangements
- Legislative reform
- Resource constraints
- Public perceptions
- Case Loads
- Performance
- Coordination
24Mandates of Agencies
- Some organizations audited have very specific
mandates, e.g. Recovery of public funds and
assets (Asset Forfeiture Unit and SIU) - In other cases, mandates are broad and overlap
- Public Service Commission, AG and Public
Protector investigate maladministration - SIU and SAPS anti-Corruption Unit are the only
institutions focusing solely on corruption
25Resources of agencies
- Few bodies believe they have sufficient resources
- ICD only able to fill 100 of 500 desired posts
while the Public Protector could only fill half - Training is seen as a top priority by all
agencies - Levels of interaction with the public vary across
agencies. This area requires attention. - More needs to be done to determine client
satisfaction - Forum shopping occurs as a consequence of the
multiplicity of agencies
26Case Loads
- Difficult to obtain information on cases
- Only certain agencies have readily available
figures (Independent Complaints Directorate, SIU
and SAPS Commercial Crime Branch) - Significant backlogs that need to be dealt with
urgently. AG is busy with a project in this
regard - Cases land up at agency not best placed to deal
with e.g. Public Protector, PSC, ICD and
Directorate Special Operations
27Performance and cooperation
- Performance can be improved through better use of
shared resources - Interaction does take place between agencies-
specifically prosecuting authorities - No formal agreement regarding coordination of
case related information - Need for formal co-operation exists
28Single agency
- A Single agency will not be appropriate at this
stage - Real concerns exists about the location, funding
and mandate - Not merely encouraged because existing mechanisms
are not functioning optimally - Priority to obtain current agencies with some
rationalisation and formalising coordination
arrangements - Complimented by an audit on the capacity of
anti-corruption units in the various national and
provincial departments in 2002
29National Ethics Survey 2001
- Undertaken in partnership with KPMG, Transparency
South Africa - First ever survey of its kind
- Purpose to assess the ethical infrastructure in
place in public and private institutions - Provides snapshot of current ethics practices
- A total of 166 respondents participated 30
public service, 76 private sector, 60 civil
society respondents
30Ethics Survey Focus areas
- Ethics documents
- Ethics related evaluations
- Responsibility for the ethics function
- Resolution of ethics problems
- Reporting mechanisms
- Ethics training
- Performance evaluation
- Risk assessment
- Future ethics management
31Ethics Survey findings
- Flaws in basic ethics infrastructure- many
organisations have not integrated ethics
management practices into other management
processes - Few organisations train new employees on the code
of conduct - Many organisations do not assign ethics
management to a senior manager
32Ethics Survey findings continued
- Findings continued
- 54 of respondents had access to confidential
reporting mechanisms - 84 of organisations surveyed have written
documents outlining organisational values and
principles - Most organisations have codes of conduct and
whistle blowing mechanisms
33Explanatory Manual On The Code Of Conduct
- Serves as guide to employees to understand and
resolve ethical dilemmas in their daily work - Five focus areas
- serving government
- serving the public
- professionalism and integrity
- conflict of interest
- working in the service
- Produced 1 million pocket-sized booklets to be
distributed to all public servants
34Promotion and implementation of Whistle Blowing
mechanisms
- Guidelines have been produced in easy to use,
booklet format to serve as reference framework - Participatory and learning orientated workshops
(in conjunction with Open Democracy Centre) are
being conducted in the provinces - to familiarize public servants with the Protected
Disclosures Act - to implement best management practice on whistle
blowing mechanisms