Crime control better: Mkhize

29 November 2005

Barbara Cole

Fraud, corruption and crime is being effectively dealt with in the provincial government and the situation is under control and even improving in some respects.

"This is because fraud and corruption is taken seriously and being dealt with transparently," said Dr Zweli Mkhize, KZN Minister for Finance and Economic Development

The minister was the guest speaker at the PriceWaterhouseCoopers breakfast in Durban this morning on the global economic crime survey.

"There is no culture of denial in the provincial government of the type apparently to be found in other countries," he said.

Mkhize said that one positive result of the survey's otherwise disturbing findings on the extent of economic crime in South Africa, was that it dispelled the myth that crime and corruption was largely confined to the public sector.

Fraud and corruption was endemic to our society as a whole. The perception that crime was largely confined to the public sector was partly fuelled by people in the private sector who made money by doing work in government.

If one had to analyse the problem of economic crime in the provincial government, "one has to start with the procurement of goods and services".

"If one accepts the findings of the survey that 83% of SA companies were victims of some form of economic crime in the last two years, then it is a racing certainty that this has impacted on the delivery of goods and services to the public sector," Mkhize said.

Thus the provincial government itself becomes a victim of economic crime perpetrated by the private sector and this happened with or without the collusion of corrupt officials.

These economic crimes took many forms from theft of public money through overcharging, double invoicing, delivery of sub-standard services, or under supplying, kick-backs and so on.

"The impact of this deprivation is just as serious as if the goods had been misappropriated or stolen," the minister said.

The provincial government was taking many counter measures he said. The minister made it clear to Black Economic Empowerment suppliers that the government would not blindly apply the principles of preferential procurement without ensuring that it has value for money.

"In this way, inefficient and non performing suppliers will in time be weeded out," he said.

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