On the progress made concerning the high turnover, I think you will remember that when we introduced the turnaround strategy, we were at the point of celebrating Sita's 10 years of existence. We indicated that in the 10 years of Sita's existence we had had the reality of a high turnover, where we had had more than 14 chief executive officers. We said that in the turnaround strategy we needed to look into the business of Sita and address what was not attracting people to stay in the organisation, given that Sita is one of the best-paying employer organisations. So, the progress in as far as this is concerned is that we can assure you that we have stability regarding the Sita staff complement. Thank you very much.
Release of strategic report by anticorruption interministerial committee
80. The Leader of the Opposition asked the Minister in the Presidency - Performance Monitoring and Evaluation as well as Administration in the Presidency:
(a) Why, in light of the fact that the fight against crime and corruption is one of the government's 12 priority outcomes, has the strategic report by the anticorruption interministerial committee that was established in November 2009, not been made public and (b) when will it be released? NO2319E The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY - PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION: Speaker, yes, the ANC government has prioritised the fight against crime and corruption. The ANC government has also identified corruption as a key threat to achieving government objectives; hence our intense focus on it.
The President has shown commitment and leadership since coming to office and has demonstrated this commitment practically. With the support of Cabinet, he established a number of structures to deal effectively with this problem.
The interministerial committee and the anticorruption task team are amongst a few. These structures are supported by the law enforcement agencies, such as the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, the Asset Forfeiture Unit, and the National Prosecuting Authority. They are also working with key departments, such as the national Treasury and Justice and Constitutional Development, including the Police.
As the President said during his address to media owners earlier this month, in the last financial year he issued 18 proclamations authorising the SIU to conduct investigations, the highest ever in the history of this country.
In total, the SIU is currently investigating procurement contracts to the value of about R10 billion and conflicts of interest involving officials estimated at a value of about R5 billion. The SIU is also working closely with the Department of Police to investigate procurement irregularities in the building of 33 police stations worth approximately R330 million. Investigations are also under way in the national Departments of Rural Development and Land Reform, and Public Works, the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni Municipalities, and in the Western Cape.
In KwaZulu-Natal the anticorruption task team, together with the SIU, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, has identified land reform farms to the value of about R60 million that might have been transferred to private individuals unlawfully. Farms valued at about R36 million have been recovered for the state.
The anticorruption task team has also been working with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to probe municipalities under the banner of Operation Clean Audit. A total of 362 cases were received for investigation. To date, 291 arrests have been made. Of these, 167 are public servants, while 124 are members of the public. All have appeared in court. This effort has achieved 155 convictions, made up of 77 public servants and 78 members of the public. We are indeed making progress.
With regard to the interministerial committee, the work of the committee is to co-ordinate government efforts in this regard. The committee is also meant to ensure that all law enforcement agencies and departments are working together and doing work in a co-operative manner to rid our nation of this scourge. Let me make this clear: This is a Cabinet co-ordinating structure, and it reports to Cabinet. All structures of government and agencies account for their activities through annual reports and other existing parliamentary processes. The responsibility of this committee is to ensure that all these structures are functioning properly and are able to do their work without any problems.
Through this structure, we are able to guide the law enforcement agencies and departments to prioritise specific areas which we believe will lead to success and which we believe will lead to ways of removing problems around our economy. There is, amongst others, supply chain management at all levels of government. We have dealt with mining licences; identity theft, including fraud; social grants and cyber crime. However, all institutions have a responsibility to fight corruption in their own areas of work. Corruption is a scourge that is threatening our efforts to lead our country to prosperity. This government will not rest until it has removed this cancer from our society.
We are making steady progress as a country, and we call on the nation to join hands and deal with this problem. We also take this opportunity to ask anyone in our country who has any information that can assist in this effort to report that information to the relevant enforcement agencies. I thank you.