Outsourced repairs trigger corruption fears
Onalenna Kelebeile | Tuesday April 29, 2014 12:01
A panellist from BCL mine, security superintendent Noah Makaba said government is likely to experience a serious challenge when it starts servicing vehicles at private garages.
He added that some of the problems the mine is experiencing include a situation where new parts are swapped with old ones only for vehicles to experience more defects later on. Makaba further added that low wages and late payments of workers by employers could breed corruption. Also, he felt that the practice of the police charging traffic offenders at the roadside creates room for corruption and advised that everything should be done at the office.
He said theft in the workplace, abuse of discretion, procurement fraud like price fixing and collusion with employees and suppliers forms part of corruption.
He added that culprits end up being arrested because BCL has policies and procedures in place. He added that some of the cases end up being referred to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). “Any employee involved in fraudulent acts faces dismissal at BCL and the same should apply within government,” he said.
Makaba was convinced that corruption can be stopped, but needs all stakeholders and anti-corruption units partnership.
A panellist from Department of Road Transport and Safety Naledi Mokotedi added that government’s silence on workers welfare creates an opportunity for corruption. She also said declaring of assets by workers as government demands, only applies to junior officers while top management do not respect this transparency.
Mokotedi added that the law fails to take bribers to task while those who receive bribes face the music.
“Staying in one salary scale for too long can also breed corruption. There are also loopholes in the Road Transport and Permit Act as it does not state how many permits should a person be issued with,” she added.
Mokotedi further observed that it remains a challenge for government to take a long time to review acts to address loopholes.
She said the way forward would be to take into consideration workers grievances and added that declaration of assets must be done by each and every government employee and disposal of those assets be clear because otherwise it creates an opportunity for corruption.
The anti-corruption panel discussion was held under the theme ‘Corruption Can Be Stopped - Actual Cases, Prevention Methodologies, Challenges’.
The council anti-corruption committee chairman Shadrack Sello said the brain trust was established to monitor all activities and identify loopholes that create room for corruption within the local authority.
“We are a developing country and we cannot leave the aspect of fighting corruption behind because it can affect the good standing and the collapse of the country’s economy,” he added.