South Africa is ready to consolidate its National Anti-Corruption Strategy

14 September 2019

Fighting corruption in South Africa is one of Government’s key priorities.  This priority is articulated in the National Development Plan (NDP) which tasks the country to develop a National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) and a supporting implementation plan.
The NDP further states that fighting corruption should involve all members of the society. The Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC) was established in 2014 with the mandate to coordinate and oversee the work of the state organs in combatting the scourge of corruption in public and private sector. The ACIMC is chaired by the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME).

The Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) which has representatives from various law enforcement agencies was tasked by ACIMC to develop the NACS.  The ACTT established a Steering Committee to drive the work of drafting the NACS, implementation plan and the monitoring plan. The Steering Committee conducted initial research and consultation process and public consultation to ensure buy-in from members of the society. Furthermore, the Steering Committee undertook public consultations in provinces to get additional inputs into the draft strategy. The Provincial Consultative Process included stakeholders’ from labour, civil society, business, government and the general public.

Following the extensive consultative process and in line with the NACS Roadmap, a multi-stakeholder Reference Group has been established to provide overall strategic advice on the draft NACS and to ensure that the Strategy covers all aspects of fighting corruption in the country. The Reference Group, which consists of representatives of government, labour, civil society, business and academia will be tasked with processing the NACS for approval by Cabinet and other key stakeholders.

The first meeting to constitute the Reference Group took place on the 13 September 2019 at the Union Buildings, Pretoria. In attendance at the first Reference Group meeting were representatives from government, organised business, academia, labour unions and broader civil society organisations.

Advocate Andy Mothibi, Head of the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) set the scene for the meeting of the Reference Group and asked all the invited members to put their hands on deck to ensure that the Strategy is a national response towards fighting corruption. He further thanked all the representatives for availing themselves to be part of the reference group. The main outcome of this first Reference Group meeting has been the election of Interim Chairperson of Mr Robert McBride (DPSA) and Co-Chairperson, Mr David Lewis (Corruption Watch).

For more information: www.gov.za/anticorruption 
Report Corruption: National toll-free anti-corruption hotline
Contact: 0800 701 701