....A new number 0800 701 701 for whistle-blowers operated by CoGTA has also been launched...

FRAUD and corruption workshop meant to educate residents about the dangers of embezzling public funds has yielded the desired outcomes as it outlined the ramifications of such criminal acts leaving some community members of the town to only fear the consequences but also struck civic duty to play their role in reporting these activities. 

This was after the arrival of a marked Hawks vehicle at the Greater Kokstad Municipality building, the Town Hall, which sparked fear and talks within the municipality buildings as to who was going to be jailed on the day.

However, in this case, the Hawks were invited to be part of the workshop to educate communities about the dangers of fraud and corruption and how it affects the entire society in hindering service delivery. 

But the key point was to educate the society to ensure they form part of a fight against corruption by reporting and preventing any elements of fraud that may seek to rear their ugly heads.  

Furthermore, this is the Greater Kokstad Municipality’s stance in the battle to prevent any elements of corruption, which has seen one senior official axed from the institution for alleged bribery.

The event was in line with launching the Anti-Fraud toll-free number 0800 701 701, which is operated nationally by the Department of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA).

This is one Municipality rated number in the province in handling the public purse and refusing to risk its corruption-free free track-record, which is in accordance with its mandate of delivering services to the community.

Despite the unpleasant start to the event, the Greater Kokstad Municipality Mayor, Councillor MNL Madikikizela confirmed to have received messages from worried people questioning the presence of the Hawks in the Municipality premises.

“I calmed them down to say they were attending the Municipality workshop that sought to uproot elements of corruption and to empower members of the community and stakeholders with pertinent knowledge about fraud and corruption,” said Cllr Madikizela.

He said they fully understand the buzz caused because in many instances Hawks do not come with a smile instead, they always catch the untouchables and deal with serious cases involving embezzling large sums of money.

“However, in our case, we did not have to be worried as we all know that we have nothing to hide and the issue of ethics becomes the primary objective in our institution,” said Cllr Madikizela.

He added the main purpose of the day was to fight crime and corruption since it is a known fact that in many cases corruption robs services delivery programmes of the government meant for communities. 

He said corruption presents a major threat to economic growth, it steals from the poor, drains the resources and undermines public trust. “It is the reason why we are always committed to zero tolerance approach against fraud and corruption,” said Cllr Madikizela.

Evident in their stance in the fight against corruption, they developed policies and documents to be adopted in the 2024-2025 financial year such as a fraud prevention and anti-corruption policy/plan, fraud risk register, and whistleblowing plan to assure residents that Greater Kokstad is a zero-tolerance Municipality.

He encouraged members of the public to report anonymously any acts of corruption assuring them that the recently launched whistle-blowing strategy is more sophisticated than the previously launched one where some whistle-blowers felt unprotected since it was operated locally.

“This one is operated elsewhere where we do not know and a whistleblower will be dealing with people s/he does not know,” said Cllr Madikizela.

He said as they are starting a new financial year, they want to work as a collective under the theme “GKM rooting out fraud and corruption” so that corruption should smell unpleasantly in Kokstad

Cllr Madikizela said measures against corruption will be taken against everyone from the junior to senior officials. Members from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and Hawks led by Brigadier Shezi, Mduduzi Mlotshwa and Bongani Khuzwayo from the office of the KwaZulu Natal Premier presented their roles and how the community could work with Municipalities and Government to end corruption. 

By Andile Moshoeshoe