Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has recommended that a National Charter against Corruption be adopted by government, the business sector and relevant stakeholders and that an independent Public Procurement Anti-Corruption Agency (PPACA), including a council, inspectorate, litigation unit, tribunal and court, be established.

"It is more than time to take steps to restore broken trust and the first step which needs to be taken in that direction is for all sections of society to jointly endorse a national commitment to eliminate corruption in public life and in the procurement of goods and service," he said in the first of three reports detailing the findings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

The report recommended, firstly, that government, in consultation with the business sector, prepare and publish a National Charter against corruption in public procurement and for such a charter to include a code of conduct setting out the ethical standards that apply in the procurement of goods and services for the public.

"Every procurement officer in the public service shall, on assuming duty, be required to sign a commitment to observe and uphold the terms of the National Charter. Every natural or juristic person tendering or contracting to supply goods or services by way of public procurement must sign a like commitment to uphold and to adhere to the terms of the Charter and its code of conduct," the report states.

Further, the content of the National Charter and the code of conduct should be widely publicised and given legal status and effect by an Act of Parliament, Zondo recommended.

The second recommendation proposed the creation of an Anti-Corruption Agency as an independent body subject only to the Constitution and the law, which has jurisdiction throughout the Republic, which is impartial and must perform its functions without fear, favour or prejudice.

It was recommended that the agency be financed from money that is appropriated by Parliament, fees payable to the agency by all tenderers for public procurement contracts and money received from any other source.

"The Competition Commission, with its attendant Tribunal and court, provides a useful precedent because it shows how effective such a multi-functional body can be in creating systems and in implementing safeguards to protect economic activity from particular abuses," the report highlighted.

"The [Anti-Corruption] Agency or Authority, like the Competition Commission structure, must include specialised departments with particular mandates but which collectively represent a comprehensive response to the challenges which arise."

"South Africa requires an anti-corruption body free from political oversight and able to combat corruption with fresh and concentrated energy. Public trust will not otherwise be re-established in the procurement system. The ultimate responsibility for leading the fight against corruption in public procurement cannot again be left to a government department or be subject to ministerial control.

"What is required are specialised oversight and monitoring authorities which operate upon the basis that they are independent in the full and untrammelled sense, meaning that they are subject only to the Constitution and the law. This also implies that the choice of officials who will lead and staff such bodies is not left in the discretion of government. Such appointments must be in accordance with a transparent procedure in a public process," the report stated.

Decades of frustration exposed the flaws and weaknesses in the public procurement system, which have been exploited by criminals to inflict lasting damage on the South African economy. The promise of service delivery so fundamental to the betterment of our society has not materialised, it said.

"The years of frustration teach us lessons which we cannot ignore, including the realisation that the public procurement sector cannot defend itself against those who control the levers of political and state power.

"The excessive decentralisation of our sprawling procurement system which has outrun the collective capacity to manage or operate it efficiently. The absence of the robust, detailed and intrusive monitoring of the system undoubtedly facilitates corruption and inefficiency and helps to mask abuse," the report stated.

Additionally, the report said the exclusion of meaningful private sector involvement in formulating policy and in the implementation of policy weakens the procurement system, lessens its transparency and facilitates corruption.

"The absence of accountability makes the system unworkable, corrupts those who operate within that system and establishes and embeds criminal relationships involving commercial entities and public officials and, implicates political party funding.

"The process of reform requires a coherent and comprehensive plan of action which needs to bring the public and private sectors together in a joint initiative to restore proper standards and discipline within the procurement system," the report stated.