South Africa’s government was not serious enough about overcoming corruption in the public sector, which made it difficult to adequately protect whistle blowers in the country, South Africa’s Auditor-General Terence Nombembe said on Monday.

Speaking at the 2013 Public Sector Forum, hosted by the The Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa, he urged whistleblowers to speak up about malpractice in government institutions and indicated that reporting such allegations through the right channels was integral to fostering best practice.

“Claims must first be lodged with an external auditing capacity from where it must be reported to a secondary channel to be addressed. We need to establish working relationships to overcome matters of intimidation and malpractice,” Nombembe told delegates at the forum.

Schalk Human of the National Treasury’s capacity building unit suggested that an emphasis on the transparency of processes and ensuring the legitimacy of claims could go a long way towards protecting those who strived to expose corruption in the public sector.

He added that auditors in South Africa would have to take a collective stand against corruption.

“Whistle blowers are not alone; there are investigative units that are institutionalised, such as the Special Investigations Unit. So, a valid technical case can stand in the court of law and I think that should instil some confidence in whistleblowers that there is institutional capacity to deal with corruption in a proper way.

“Solid [legislative backing for] forensic audit investigations is also imperative to deal with [the protection of whistleblowers], but I do feel that government can apply its mind better in this regard,” Human said.

He admitted that, although South Africa had various policies and legislation in place to fight corruption, poor compliance and implementation hampered success.

Adding to the challenges were the poor quality of departmental fraud prevention plans and a lack of capacity in government to deal with issues of fraud and corruption.

Incentivising Government Managers

Meanwhile, Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts chairperson Themba Godi indicated that, fundamental to overcoming many of these challenges, was ensuring that those at management level found it in their best interest to run cleaner structures.

“We get the impression that the public sector is viewing compliance as a mechanical thing; they are not complying because they think it would improve their processes,” he stated.

Godi added that political leadership would have to play its part in instilling this vision in public institutions.

“The general auditor will then be seen as a true assistant in achieving the objectives of the State,” he noted.