“Too often, the culture in the public service… is to ratchet up salaries, spend on frills, travel in luxury and spend more on marketing the agency than in fixing the service.”
|||As Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka prepares to defend his lavish spending to Parliament and the public protector, a new report into public service corruption released this week laments his department’s “slow provision of feedback and investigation of alleged corruption”.
The report by the Public Services Commission, which monitored calls to the government’s corruption hotline between 2004 and 2009, states that of the 245 reported cases of corruption, including abuse of government resources, mismanagement of funds and fraud and bribery, only three had received feedback and just two had been closed.
“This is despite the fact the Public Services Commission held two meetings with senior managers and the minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs regarding the submission of feedback on the investigation of cases…”
This was a cause for concern because allegations of corruption in the municipalities were reported on a regular basis, the report said.
Meanwhile, Shiceka this week said he was working on his response to queries by the presidency and the public protector about his spending. He has been on sick leave since February.
Shiceka’s spending of allegedly more than R1 million, including flights, luxury hotel accommodation and the use of state resources to build his private home in the Eastern Cape, is the latest in a line of extravagances by cabinet members.
When he was elected in 2009, President Jacob Zuma created six new ministries, expanding cabinet to 34 ministers and 28 deputies. At the end of last year, he added four deputies, making this the largest cabinet since 1994.
Former president Nelson Mandela had 28 ministers and 12 deputies, while his successor Thabo Mbeki led a cabinet of 28 ministers and 21 deputies.
According to the Independent Commission for Remuneration of Public Office Bearers, a minister earns more than R1.8m, a deputy nearly R1.5m and the president more than R2.3m. Deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe earned about R2.1m, but having briefly served as president, is entitled to a presidential pension.
Each minister is entitled to nine staff members, while a deputy minister is entitled to six. Zuma’s cabinet shuffle at the end of last year ballooned cabinet’s wage bill to an estimated R118m.
A provincial premier is entitled to a salary of more than R1.6m, and an MEC about R1.4m. A member of the provincial legislature earns in the vicinity of R750 000 a year. At local level, a mayor or executive mayor earns more than R900 000. A full-time councillor earns about R350 000 a year.
Traditional leaders are also entitled to a salary and a king gets more than R800 000 a year.
The DA calculates that Zuma’s government has incurred R4.5 billion in wasteful expenditure – including the cost of luxury vehicles, trips, inauguration and budget vote parties, advertising, 2010 World Cup tickets, conferences and instances of inflated tenders.
In 2009, a ministerial task team to look at savings and trim ministerial and departmental budgets amid the world economic recession comprised Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane and Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi.
In this year’s budget each department identified ways they had cut costs. Consultants, business-class flights and catering at official events were affected the most.
Those savings amounted to R30.6bn for the national coffers. Gordhan said it was part of an “important process of moving money to priorities”.
“Too often, the culture in the public service… is to ratchet up salaries, spend on frills, travel in luxury and spend more on marketing the agency than in fixing the service.”
And when news broke of excessive spending on cars, Chabane promised the task team would look at this too.
The penchant of some ministers and senior government officials for luxury vehicles and accommodation also triggered a review of the ministerial handbook and executive ethics code. The handbook outlines the benefits and privileges a minister is entitled to. The ethics code outlines the kind of behaviour expected.
After well over a year, cabinet announced the amended executive ethics legislation would be posted on the justice department’s website for public comment.
But Gordhan’s spokeswoman, Lindani Mbunyuza said this week she could not comment on whether any of the team’s findings had resulted in changes to the ministerial handbook.
“Departments have been tasked to continually assess the role, purpose and effectiveness of programmes and public entities, and whether relevant outcomes can be attained at lower cost,” she said.
Last week, the head of Idasa’s Political Information and Monitoring Service, Judith February, said the ministerial handbook wasn’t working.
“This situation demands a decisive response. One should not lose sight of the wider fact that executive self-regulation on matters of privilege is simply not working,” she said. - Sunday Tribune
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/government-wasted-r4-5bn-1.1060831
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