With red tape around the approval of business licenses also linked to corrupt officials soliciting kickbacks, government is committed to rooting out corruption and holding public servants to higher ethical standards, the Deputy President said on Thursday.
He said this when responding to a supplementary question during a hybrid sitting of the National Council of Provinces.
“We must on the outset say as government we are committed to only not only root out corruption, but to strengthen the environment in which public representatives and officials alike perform their duties and their responsibilities to the highest standard of ethics and integrity.
“The code of conduct requires government departments to establish ethics committees and to appoint ethics officers as a means of strengthening good governance and ethical conduct in the public service,” he said.
ANC NCOP delegate from the Eastern Cape, Mandla Rayi, had asked the Deputy President if there were programmes aimed at reskilling and retraining public servants about this new approach. This as he said red tape in government around the approval of licenses and other business-related applications is both a systemic and a deliberate act by some government officials who are soliciting bribes and kickbacks.
“Furthermore, as part of government’s efforts to ensure public service employees are at all levels displaying the highest level of integrity and accountability, the National School of Government provides various training programmes to officials in the public service which are targeted at improving the delivery of services and bringing back the integrity of the state,” Mabuza said.
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Deputy President Mabuza said government understood the negative impact of inefficient business processes and regulatory barriers on business investment and activity.
To overcome these challenges, the Presidency has prioritised the coordination of government measures regarding the ease of doing of business in South Africa.
“As communicated by the President earlier this week at the Africa Mining Indaba, these regulatory and administrative efforts anchor our economic recovery and reconstruction efforts.”
He said the Red Tape Office will deal with policy and regulatory matters that are coordinated at national government level, and also focus on the resolution of provincial and local functions, in partnership with the Presidential Coordinating Council.
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