SIU developing a risk and prevention framework to curb corruption

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says a National Corruption Risk and Prevention Framework is currently being developed.

The SIU, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Hawks appeared before Parliament’s Trade, Industry and Competition Committee to give an update on alleged corruption and maladministration at the National Lotteries Commission.

SIU Head Andy Mothibi took MPs through the importance of preventing corruption.

“We are busy preparing and developing the National Corruption Risk and Prevention Framework which will cover quite a number of areas, because as a country, we need to really sift up in really implementing and prevention side of corruption as envisaged in the National Anti-Corruption strategy. Honourable chair, we do have the required skills be head by agencies such as SIU to investigate, forensic to ensure legal outcomes. We do have forensic data analytics, forensic accountants’ investigators, civil investigators, forensic legs and cyber forensics.”

Mothibi also touched on the blacklisting of companies found to be involved in wrongdoing.

“We ensure that any company that is involved in state business and involved in wrongdoing, we have to make sure that they are blacklisted so that they are restraint from doing business from the state. The bottom line says systemic recommendations. This is where as the SIU when we investigate and we find there is systemic weaknesses, we point that our to state institutions to ensure that we improve together with the state institutions to ensure that we improve, together with the state institution we would refer to the accounting authority at NLC to find that the systems to be improved and to work together to ensure that the improvements are brought to bear.”

Meanwhile the National Prosecuting Authority has told MPs how it’s relations with the SIU, SAPS and the Hawks has been strengthened.

Deputy NPA Head Rodney De Kock elaborates, “We have entered into various MOUs with the SIU and with the SAPS and the DPCI, so that this mechanism of referral is well understood by the officials within our repetitive agencies. How is it supposed to work and we captured this in an MOU. We signed the MOU in December 2022. And that MOU was quite innovative in that it introduced a mechanism that if the SIU believes in a particular investigation, they need additional capacity or capability or they need a prosecutor to be involved at the earliest possible stage. We now have the ability to provide a prosecutor at the various earlier stage, and that practice that we followed in many of our more prioritised commercial or corruption investigation.”