Cape Town - The City of Cape Town City is tightening protection measures for those who lift the lid on corruption in City Hall, but a whistle-blower has scoffed at its move as lip service.
City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the City’s leadership was reviewing its policy for whistle-blowers. Though Tyhalibongo said this was informed by growing corruption in councils elsewhere, crime fighter and whistle-blower Hanif Loonat said the metro had corrupt officials that were protected in the upper echelons. Whistle-blowers were not protected and authorities were speaking with a forked tongue.
Loonat previously reported a mega corruption case to the City. It is before the courts.
“Tell them (City officials) I say they’re bulls***ting us. They’re pulling (the) wool over our eyes,” Loonat told the Cape Argus in response to the policy.
“The City has been in denial (about the corruption case). The charged official, who is in court, is still being deployed in positions. It tells me they’re scoffing and laughing at me. I have no confidence that they are serious.”
The window for public comments on the new draft policy, titled “Draft fraud prevention policy and response plan and on the draft whistle-blowing policy”, closed on August 31.
The document suggests new guidelines for reporting fraud, guides whistle-blowers, seeks to foster “a culture which facilitates the disclosure of information in good faith” and promotes “the eradication of criminal conduct and other improprieties within the organisation”.
The document’s timelines show that it will be submitted to the mayoral committee (Mayco) and council for approval on September 26.
Tyhalibongo said: “The decision (for the updated policy) has been made by the City administration and the political leadership who support clean governance and is committed to a zero-tolerance approach on fraud and corruption.
“Municipalities were required to take all necessary steps to reduce the risk of fraud, and the City is thus proactively sharpening its policy tools to give effect to the administration’s zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption.”
Tyhalibongo said the most notable changes suggested by the policy are that “public money and programmes must be safeguarded and cannot be lost to fraud and corruption”.
“We are seeing, elsewhere in the country, how this destabilises government and society and the devastating impact it has on service delivery. The updates to the Fraud Prevention Policy clarify the roles and responsibilities of everyone, from politicians to staff to contractors and suppliers in the management of public funds,” Tyhalibongo said.
Asked how many whistle-blower complaints/reports are currently before the administration, he said: “This information is not available currently. All due processes are followed in terms of whistle-blowing legislation and policy.”