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COUNTRY CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT REPORT

COUNTRY CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT REPORT. PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE: PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION 02 APRIL 2003. CONTENTS OF BRIEFING. Why a country corruption assessment Methodology Findings Process. WHY THE COUNTRY CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT.

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COUNTRY CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT REPORT

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  1. COUNTRY CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT REPORT PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE: PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION 02 APRIL 2003

  2. CONTENTS OF BRIEFING • Why a country corruption assessment • Methodology • Findings • Process

  3. WHY THE COUNTRY CORRUPTION ASSESSMENT • It’s been 6 years since the launch of the anti-corruption programme • time to take stock • General perception that corruption is rife • previous tools and surveys based on perception • media influential in emphasising public sector corruption • perception became foundation of our understanding of the problem • need to build confidence in our anti-corruption capacity and improve on public education • Problem of lack of information: • information has not previously been collected systematically and analysed • a large number of initiatives have not been reported on

  4. WHAT THE ASSESSMENT PROVIDES US WITH • Solid and objective baseline information that must serve as- • a first review of strengths and weaknesses of country’s anti-corruption efforts • a tool for policy review and policy improvements • a programme of action • a baseline from which to monitor progress • an opportunity for sharing experience globally, thereby strengthening the global fight against corruption • a platform for public education and communication

  5. METHODOLOGY • Assessment is objective and credible, adapted and used tools developed in other international studies • Done in partnership with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime under auspices of UN’s Global Programme Against Corruption • Surveys • household, business, public administration, other available data, mass media content and coverage analysis • Focus groups • Parliamentarians, unions, media, prosecutors and magistrates • Desk-top analysis • legislation, institutional capacity, criminal-justice data, departmental data, codes of conduct, training initiatives • Activities of civil society

  6. FINDINGS (AREAS COVERED) • General finding on information • How much corruption there is • Legislative framework • Institutional capacity • Management policies and practices • Reporting corruption • Partnerships • Other findings

  7. GENERAL FINDINGS ON INFORMATION • Gaps in our knowledge of corruption and the efficacy of anti-corruption mechanisms are still huge • We are still not in a position to- • provide consolidated statistics of corruption incidents (whether disciplinary, criminal or civil) • determine the corruption risk profiles and appropriate responses • A central database of incidents, risk profiles, measures taken to respond, successful strategies, etc. is required

  8. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (1) • Whilst we do not have consolidated statistics, the surveys reveal both the perception and experience levels • Household survey: • 41% believe it is one of the most important problems facing us • 35% thinks Government is doing well in fighting corruption in Government • 11% has experienced corruption (from 2% in 1997 in another similar survey) • Four most vulnerable areas are jobs (4.4%), welfare grants (2.3%), electricity/water (3.2%) and housing/land (2.6%) • Perception of most corrupt officials: police (37%), local government (28%), home affairs (27%) and customs (22%)

  9. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (2) • Business survey • this survey looked at confidence levels and the general crime impact in addition to corruption • 39% cited crime as the major obstacle to doing business, of these 64% mentioned corruption and fraud. 12% refrained from major investment as a result of fear of corruption • Levels of crime experienced: employee theft (49%), employee fraud (34%), outsider fraud (24%), approached to pay bribe (15%) and actual paying of bribe (7%). • Sectors experiencing most bribes: construction and agriculture, forestry and fishing • 62% businesses agreed bribery is becoming accepted business practice!!! (discrepancy: low experience of bribery, high perception)

  10. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (3) • Business survey continued • Vulnerable areas: customs (75%), procurement for government (74%), business licences/permits (68%), residence/work permits (65%), police investigations (60%) and business to business procurement (51%) • Perceptions of corrupt officials: police (36%), customs (31%), local government (officials/councillors (34/32%), senior government officials (32%), home affairs (29%) and employees in other businesses (29%) • Reporting corruption: most businesses deal with crime/corruption involving an employee internally, 15% reported bribery to SAPS. • Businesses have good internal corporate governance measures (eg. Internal audit, codes of conduct, risk committees)

  11. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (4) • Public Administration (this study measured client satisfaction and experience, the attitudes/experience of officials and the views of managers) • Client satisfaction: • General impression of public about service is positive, and cases handled justly, fairly and transparently, but service is slow • Number experiencing poor service: SAPS (4.2%), Health (12.2%) and Home Affairs (12.9%) • Number experiencing very good service: SAPS (22.4%), Health (14.4%) and Home Affairs (16.4%) • Attitudes of officials: • More than 66% were satisfied they were doing the best they could • 66% feel rules and procedures are well defined and implemented • Strong perception that nepotistic considerations influence employment decisions

  12. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (5) • Attitudes of officials: • Motivation for working in the Public Service: • Positive factors: dedication to serve, secure employment • Negative factors: potential access to unofficial funds (33%), Public Service a stepping stone (25%) • Between 20% and 50% of officials think the public always seeks a “back door” solution. • Home affairs: 33% admitted to having been approached with a bribe • Generally, officials feel whistleblowers are not protected

  13. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (MEDIA 1) • Based on media analysis for period November 2000 to December 2001 (1705 print media articles analysed) to determine: • who was responsible for exposing corruption, and what happened once exposed. • Types of corruption exposed: • bribery (32%), corruption/unspecified (29%), fraud (12%), theft (<8%), conflict of interest (<5%), nepotism (<5%) • Agents responsible for uncovering corruption: • official process (60%), civil society (18%), whistleblowers (13%) and investigative journalism (8%). (50% of the official processes were internal departmental investigations) • This gives confidence in official processes, but the low whistle-blowing and investigative journalism figures are worrying.

  14. THE EXTENT OF CORRUPTION (MEDIA 2) • Sectors where corruption occurred: • Police (14%), • transport/traffic (10%), • housing (8%), • public works and public enterprises (8%) • Other sectors less than 7% each • Provinces covered by articles: EC (30%), KZN (23%), Gauteng (12%)

  15. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK • Compared to global practice, our framework is solid and comprehensive, with advanced provisions (eg asset forfeiture). • Our framework covers criminalisation, transparency, redress/public recourse, witness protection and whistle-blowing, etc. • Weaknesses: • overlap in functions of national bodies • no clear responsibility for corruption prevention and public education • no arrangements for private funding of political parties • practical implementation of key legislation is lacking • (eg. Protected Disclosures Act and Access to Information Act)

  16. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY • Good capacity in courts, national bodies and departments exist, but: • efficiency of courts and skills of prosecutors and court officials need to be improved • explicit institutional capacity for corruption prevention and public education not vested with any body or department • co-ordination between national bodies needs improvement, linked with better role definition • departments are now starting to establish anti-corruption mechanisms and fraud prevention plans

  17. MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES • Required management policies and practices are in place, but managing discipline remains a weakness • As with other areas, the absence of solid information about incidences, remedies and risk profiles is not readily available and the impact of the policies cannot be measured sufficiently

  18. REPORTING CORRUPTION • Few departments have appropriate and functioning whistle-blowing mechanisms in place • Generally employees do not feel protected • The need for a well functioning hotline system (this could be a central or decentralised system) is urgently required, linked with implementation of the protected disclosures legislation • The witness protection system (now with the NPA) has been reformed and is working efficiently

  19. PARTNERSHIPS • Business and Civil Society need to play a more meaningful role • The role of unions, professional associations and political parties in corruption prevention and public education is under-utilised • The National Anti-corruption Forum has performed unsatisfactorily, but has now revitalised itself, and this holds much promise for future anti-corruption work

  20. OTHER FINDINGS • The Anti-corruption Co-ordinating Committee, consisting of 14 departments/agencies, has made progress with implementation of the Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy, but it requires consistent support and participation of member departments/agencies • A coherent anti-corruption strategy for Local Government is required

  21. CONCLUSION • The Country Corruption assessment proves that much is being done to fight corruption • Actual experience of corruption is significantly lower than the perceptions of corruption. This does indicate low confidence levels. A dedicated public education and communication drive must address confidence levels and corrupt behaviour • Comparatively, our legislative framework holds up to the best in the world, but implementation still hampers full roll out • The report provides the opportunity to showcase our efforts and framework, recognising that much still needs to be done

  22. PROGRAMME OF ACTION • Priority 1: Prevention of Corruption Bill (Act) • The Bill is in Committee stage and needs to be fast-tracked • The Bill would put in place a basis for successful and dedicated investigation and prosecution • The classification of crimes in the Bill would also provide the basis for data collection and analysis, and the basis for the case management systems for law enforcement agencies (addressing much of the information problem) • Implementation of the Act would also require various policies to be put in place, (eg. in order to criminalise acceptance of gifts, there needs to be a clear gift policy) • The ACCC is conducting an audit of required policies

  23. PROGRAMME OF ACTION • Priority 2: Corruption Management Information System (C MIS) • This is a medium term project for which a TOR have been developed • A fully fledged C MIS will take up to end 2004 to implement • Priority 3: Departmental capacity • Proposals are on the table, departments have already submitted their inputs to ACCC • Proposals to be submitted to Cabinet • Envisaged implementation of Minimum capacity in departments is July 2004 • This area cannot be divorced from hotline system

  24. PROGRAMME OF ACTION • Priority 4: Hotline system • Current system of provincial and departmental hotlines functioning unevenly • Major problems are related to case management (recording, tracking, reporting back) and capacity to take reports forward • Hotline system strongly linked to departmental anti-corruption capacity • Two schools of thought: (1) one hotline (2) – issue is access to report, hotlines one of many mechanisms, linked to departmental and national agencies’ roles/capacity • National consultative workshops on options during March, proposal to Cabinet by July 2003

  25. PROGRAMME OF ACTION • Priority 5: Partnerships • CCA Report basis for engagement • Discussions have been held with Unions on enhancing their contribution in the fight against corruption • Proposals for discussions with professional associations – April 2003 • National Anti-corruption Forum to define its programme of action in response to CCA report • Priority 6: Continued implementation of other requirements of Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy • Ongoing and includes many smaller projects like pre-employment screening

  26. PROGRAMME OF ACTION • Priority 7: Roll-out to Local Government • DPLG to be requested to have a draft strategy (for Cabinet consideration) on the table by July 2003 (ACCC will assist, and DPSA has secured funding to assist) • Priority 8: Intensify Public Education Campaign • Direct interaction with the broader community • Intensify communication campaign, both to build public confidence and change behaviour • Ongoing, driven by DPSA

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