Corruption Watch got 11 whistle-blower reports a day in 2020

CORRUPTION Watch (CW) has criticised politicians, public servants and business people for “sticking their hands into the public purse” after it was revealed that the organisation received about 11 whistle-blower reports a day during 2020.

CW said yesterday that the nonprofit organisation’s annual report, titled From Crisis to Action, reflected that in 2020 the public was increasingly outraged by rampant corruption in relation to the procurement and distribution of essential goods and services, including relief packages as well as cases of police and army brutality.

“It is therefore not surprising that in 2020, CW recorded the second highest number of reports of corruption received in a calendar year since its inception in 2012, and importantly, the highest number of reports implicating the policing and health-care sectors,” the organisation said.

A total of 4 780 incidents of corruption were reported to CW last year, and on average 11 complaints were received daily from across South Africa, the report revealed. The majority of reports came from Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

“It is with anger and sadness that we also have to report that the corrupt took advantage of the public health crisis to loot the procurement necessitated by Covid-19, and even stooped as low as to steal from the various relief programmes,” said David Lewis, the executive director of Corruption Watch.

According to the report, the most frequently reported forms of corruption during 2020 were maladministration at 17%, procurement corruption at 16%, and fraud at 15%.

These acts of corruption included compliance issues, procurement irregularities, the soliciting of kickbacks, and fraudulent activities in various state institutions, agencies and departments, as well as businesses.

The organisation added that of these reports, 11% were allegations of corruption in the SAPS, 6% point to corruption in schools, 4% to corruption in the health sector, and 3% to corruption in the awarding of driver’s licenses.

CW also received 149 reports relating to corruption in the health sector during 2020.

The total number of reports related to Covid-19 corruption was 418.