Civil servant with integrity needed

COME next week, Kenneth Brown, South Africa’s chief procurement officer, will leave the national Treasury.

Brown, a 34-year civil service veteran, is widely hailed as a corruption buster.

His role as the gatekeeper of the public purse is said to have saved the country billions of rands of potential losses through a deeply embedded culture of inflated tenders.

His supporters commend him for being the prudent hand responsible for scrutinising and clamping down on state contracts which do not adhere to the rules of government procurement.

For example, Brown’s investigation was responsible for the decision by Treasury to block Eskom from giving the Guptas’ Tegeta Resources a R855-million extension on a coal contract without going to open tender.

Naturally, his work has earned him scores of enemies. Brown was one of the four senior Treasury officials targeted for redeployment when Des van Rooyen took over the department in his brief stint as finance minister a year ago.

It has also emerged that Brown had received death threats since 2013 after he introduced measures to fight wastage and graft in the government’s tender system.

Earlier this year, Jimmy Manyi, a staunch supporter of President Jacob Zuma, accused Brown of corruption, pointing to documents which he claimed showed suspicious payments made into Brown’s bank accounts. The matter is being investigated by the Hawks.

If found to be corrupt, Brown must face the full might of the law.

If not, these accusations must be understood as part of a broader campaign to discredit public servants seen to be a stumbling block to the looting of state funds.

This is why the appointment of Brown’s successor is so crucial.

Over and above being qualified and competent, the integrity of the next custodian of the government’s buying power is equally paramount.