The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and the German and Swiss Embassies have launched the South African – German – Swiss Cooperation on the Transparency, Integrity and Accountability Programme (TIP), which will take a multi-sectoral approach to the prevention of corruption in South Africa.

“Public procurement systems can be beneficial for all stakeholders, including the government, private businesses, civil society, academia and citizens at large, but this only happens when it is fair, transparent and well-functioning.

“As a result, the programme we are launching will also bring together key stakeholders to join their efforts for integrity in the sphere of public procurement,” says Ambassador of Switzerland to South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Mauritius and Namibia Nicolas Brühl.

TIP supports State and non-State actors to contribute to the implementation of the National Anti-corruption Strategy (NACS) in a whole-of-government and societal approach. This includes a contribution towards the implementation of Strategic Pillar Four of the NACS that seeks to improve the integrity and credibility of the public procurement system.

“This programme in its focused, multi-stakeholder approach and explicit support to prevent corruption marks a new level of cooperation building on decades of strong bilateral programmes.

“I am pleased that our partnership with South Africa now extends to Switzerland on the implementation of the TIP and the focus on strengthening open public procurement,” says Ambassador of Germany to South Africa, Lesotho and eSwatini Andreas Peschke.

The three governments already cooperate in different fields, such as renewable energies and energy efficiency for a greener future, as well as career development for employment, with great success, the ambassadors note.

DPME capacity development coordination chief director and TIP steering committee co-chair Stanley Ntakumba has acknowledged the commitment of the involved governments, as well as of several stakeholders supporting the programme.

During the launch on June 20, speakers from civil society organisation Corruption Watch, academia represented by the Public Affairs Research Institute, business represented by the National Business Initiative and government bodies represented by Office of the Chief Procurement Officer in the National Treasury and the Special Investigating Unit committed to a collaborative approach to fighting corruption and are looking forward to continuing fruitful discussions to build trust and strengthen relationships.

TIP is implemented by sustainable development international cooperation organisation the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.