The South African Communist Party (SACP), alongside various organisations, have asked government and Parliament to take urgent measures to enhance oversight mechanisms against corrupt individuals who are looting the State.

A joint declaration was signed, in which the organisations urged government to prevent further wasteful expenditure, stop the looting of State resources and speedily prosecute those implicated in corrupt activities.

The organisations are the SACP, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Liliesleaf Trust, the Young Communist League of SA, Cosatu Young Workers, Joe Slovo Foundation, the Harry Gwala Foundation, MK National Council, the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition and the NEDLAC Community Constituency Covid-19 Front.

Recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote a letter to the members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) urging all those implicated in the corruption scandals to step down.

The ANC has now taken a decision that any official charged with corruption and other serious crimes step aside from their positions.

Meanwhile, the organisations are calling for government to strengthen intelligence systems to proactively clamp down on theft and the destruction of public infrastructure.

“Build and deploy capable State capacity to investigate all areas where such theft and destruction have taken place, and bring the perpetrators to book. The evidence gathered at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture must be used, without further delay, to prosecute those implicated in corruption and other forms of wrongdoing,” they said.

Assets associated with corrupt acts must be seized by the State through asset forfeiture processes, they further suggest.

Furthermore, they are calling for regular lifestyle audits at all levels of government, specifically focussing on accounting authorities, officials involved in tender or procurement processes and leaders.

They are also calling government to review the tender system and close loopholes and build the internal capacity of the State.