The SIU was established by the President in terms of the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunal Act, Act no. 74 of 1996 (SIU Act) to investigate corruption and maladministration in the public sector. It is an independent statutory body that is accountable to the President and Parliament in terms of its activities.
The SIU’s primary mandate is to recover and prevent financial losses to the state caused by acts of corruption, fraud and maladministration.
The SIU can only investigate when the President has issued a proclamation authorising such an investigation. SIU has the power to investigate, litigate (civil matters) and refer matters (criminal and disciplinary) to other state agencies. These other agencies can arrest or prosecute matters of a criminal nature and they include the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Services (SAPS).
Since 2001, the President has issued 85 proclamations mandating the Unit to conduct investigations into national, provincial and state-owned entities (70 proclamations plus 15 extensions). Currently, there are 25 ongoing
investigations.
SIU currently has 25 active proclamations. This graph depicts the governmental breakdown of active proclamations
The Unit focused on the following major investigations since 2005:
- National Department of Transport investigation in respect of the irregular issuing of drivers and learners licences and the registration of stolen vehicles on the National Traffic Information System (E-Natis).
- National Department of Social Development (SASSA) investigation into the administration of social grant benefits due to suspected fraud, corruption and maladministration.
- National Department of Housing investigation into the loss of state funds that were allocated to low-cost housing schemes.
Procurement matters under investigation valued at R7 billion
The Unit has had to refine its operations to focus on more complex, procurement type investigations as the allegations pertaining to these types of irregularities appear to be on the increase. The current value of procurement matters under investigation is approximately R7 billion. These investigations are more complex than the matters that the Unit had focused on previously and so take time to produce the desired results. The experience gained in these procurement investigations continues to position the Unit as a key member of the multi-agency efforts against corruption.
These efforts include being part of the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) which comprises the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/Hawks) and the NPA (Prosecutors and Asset Forfeiture Unit), among others.
Breakdown of the types of investigations
Approximately R16 billion future losses prevented
The Unit’s focus on process-driven investigations over the past 10 years has been very successful. The three major investigations mentioned previously have resulted in the conviction of 26 277 individuals. The biggest contributor was the SASSA investigation with 24 959 convictions, with a significant portion being government officials who were found guilty for collecting social grants to which they were not entitled.
To date, the Unit has prevented future losses to the value of R16 billion.
Prevention of future losses is the approximate value of future savings to state institutions resulting from our interventions. This means that if the Unit was not mandated to intervene, the state would have lost this amount to corruption and maladministration. The value of the savings, i.e. the amount of money that was not paid out (actual savings) based on our recommendations since 2001, amounts to R1.6 billion. These recommendations included removing irregular beneficiaries from the low-cost housing and Social Pensions (Socpen) systems.
Arrests in high-level corruption cases
In two procurement matters, the SIU investigations have led to the seizure of assets amounting to approximately R97 million in the Department of Public Works KwaZulu-Natal and Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality investigations.
By March 2013, the Unit had already made a significant contribution to the ACTT by referring 39 cases of 90 prioritised cases. The cases referred by the Unit amounted to R5.75 billion. 53 arrests had been made out these cases. 18 cases were still in court and one had been withdrawn.
Delivering on its mandate
The Unit will continue to invest in its employees, processes and technology to be able to build capacity and to be able to deliver on its mandate.
These investments are also aimed at accelerating performance. As part of the Unit’s long term vision in line with the National Development Plan, the Unit aims to improve its contribution not only to the national efforts but to regional and global efforts against corruption and maladministration.
Contact
www.siu.org.za
