Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says government will continue to crack down on companies like Bain, which contributed to the widespread looting and corruption that took place during the years of State capture.
The Minister was speaking during the tabling of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Cape Town on Wednesday.
He said the State Capture Commission has made it clear that protecting the public purse from corruption is critical to restoring honesty in service delivery.
“As has been done with Bain, we will continue to take punitive administrative action against companies and individuals who have actively facilitated corrupt and irregular procurement activities.
“As noted by the commission, to enable service delivery we should protect honest accounting officers and authorities who make decisions in good faith from criminal prosecution and civil litigation.
“In this regard, we will strengthen the auditing and preventative control systems, to enable managers to manage, while putting mechanisms to hold them accountable,” he said.
To enhance the fight against corruption, the budgets of law enforcement agencies are also set receive a boost.
“This 2022 MTBPS proposes additional resources to the budgets of the National Prosecuting Authority, the Special Investigating Unit, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the South African Revenue Service, to further improve the capability of the state to investigate and prosecute sophisticated financial crimes,” Godongwana said.
The Minister highlighted that combatting crime remains key in the path towards economic growth.
In light of this, he said over the next three years government will be adding some 15 000 more recruits to the police service.
“Crime is a safety, economic as well as a social issue. A safe environment is important for full participation in economic and social life. This makes fighting crime a key pillar of enhancing economic growth.
“Many South Africans live in fear in their homes, in their places of work and in places of recreation. In response, we are allocating additional resources to our security forces to take the fight to those that threaten our peace as a nation,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
