Committee to help Gauteng fight graft

Gauteng will establish an integrity-management unit headed by a retired judge in a bid to curtail corruption.

Gauteng is to establish an integrity-management unit headed by a retired judge to tackle corruption, says Premier David Makhura.

At its most recent conference, the ANC in the province admitted corruption was one of the causes of its poor performance in the 2014 general election, when its support slipped by nearly 10 percentage points.

Makhura said the committee would be an anti-corruption and integrity-promotion committee led by civil society.

However, the unit’s establishment was delayed because the retired judge Makhura wanted to appoint had been given another responsibility.

The premier did not say who the judge was.

The committee would be named in July.

Makhura made this announcement in his speech when he tabled the budget for premier’s office on Wednesday.

He said his office was the driver of good governance in the province.

Over the next 22 months, his government would focus on six priority areas: economy and infrastructure investment; education and youth development; health; fighting crime; human megasettlements; and public transport.

“We have set very clear targets and tight time frames and delivery systems for all departments which become delivery agreements for MECs [members of the executive council] and performance agreements for HODs [heads of department].”

The premier said he would release these delivery agreements to the public in July so residents could hold the Gauteng government accountable.

The province would focus on building an accountable, responsive government that managed public finances prudently, creating a corruptionfree province.

It would work with the private sector and other social partners to improve the performance of major sectors with regard to employment, empowerment and exports, he said.

WE HAVE SET VERY CLEAR TARGETS AND TIGHT TIME FRAMES AND DELIVERY SYSTEMS

According to Makhura, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released in May showed that the Gauteng economy had created 81,000 jobs during the first quarter of 2017.

“More interestingly is the fact that year on year, our economy created 290,000 jobs between May 2016 and May 2017.

“This tells the story that intensive work we are doing with industry leaders is bearing fruits,” Makhura said.

Gauteng would also look at making politics more constructive and transformative and have greater impact, he said.