Anti-corruption advocacy organisations Corruption Watch and Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) have come out guns blazing condemning racism claims made by the Black Business Council (BBC) that they are anti-transformation.
Joining the organisations in their criticism is budget advocacy non-government organisation (NGO) Budget Justice Coalition (BJC).
The advocacy groups were responding to allegations made by BBC president Elias Monage in an article that Sunday World published at the weekend.
BBC accused some NGOs including Corruption Watch, Outa, BJC, the SA Institute of Race Relation (IRR), and Coronation Fund Managers, among others, of sabotaging black businesses, thereby subverting government’s transformation project and acting as gatekeepers in the world of business.
BBC’s accusations were met with strong objections by the NGOs.
Monage’s initial claims had already opened a can of worms on the matter related to Public Procurement Bill that is before parliament’s standing committee on finance.
Outa said it is refuting Monage’s accusations, saying it believes in the importance of transformation and transparency within the business sector and procurement transactions with the government.
“For this reason, we support the objectives of the Public Procurement Bill and are committed to ensuring that government procurement processes are carried out fairly and in a manner that addresses transformation, ensures transparency, and tackles corruption,” said Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage.
“Outa operates independently, with over 95% of its funding being generated from thousands of monthly donations made by ordinary citizens and SMMEs [small, medium and micro enterprises].
“There is certainly no funding from big business that sets out to subvert the country’s transformation and procurement goals.
“Our work is aimed at tackling maladministration and corruption in the public sector, as well as to give input to government policies that ensure greater efficiency and less waste of taxpayers funds, from which all sectors of society, especially the poor, are able to benefit from government’s financial allocations.”
Duvenage said Outa was invited by the BBC to attend its annual summit on June 30 where he was introduced to Monage and BBC CEO Kganki Matabane.
Said Duvenage: “There was certainly no mention made to Outa about its supposed transformation sabotage agenda by them nor has there been any invitation to discuss concern of this nature with us.
“We welcome open and productive dialogue and discussions with the BBC and other stakeholders to address any concerns or misconceptions they may have in regard to their allegations.
“South Africa has significant unemployment, poverty and inequality problems, which should not be the case after three decades of democracy and have got substantially worse over the past 15 years.
“It would appear the policies and programmes introduced by government to date have not achieved the intended outcomes.
“Our experience is that far too many ‘tenderpreneurs’ and people connected to the ruling party appear to be making a lot of money, at multiple times the value that South Africa should be paying for infrastructure development, maintenance, and the provision of goods and services to the state.”
Duvenage explained further: “This in turn is having a devastating impact on the country’s financial situation.
“Our comments and submissions on amendments to the Public Procurement Bill seek to address the lack of transparency and inefficiencies and wasteful expenditure that continuously pervades public sector procurement in South Africa.”
He added that Outa will welcome an invitation from BBC to discuss its concerns and share inputs for solutions, as opposed to “bad-mouthing and loose unsubstantiated statements” against civil society organisations that work to root out corruption and maladministration.
Corruption Watch said in its presentation in parliament that public procurement, a process by which the government contracts for the provision of goods, services, and infrastructure, presents one of the biggest corruption risks in modern society.
The group said monitoring public procurement and advocating for reform of South Africa’s public procurement system is central to its work.
“Procurement integrity is also recognised as one of the six pillars of South Africa’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-2030,” reads a submission by Corruption Watch.
“There appears to be a proclivity for pushing bills through late without providing sufficient time for a meaningful public participation process to unfold.
“We raise this point because, for a bill as technical as this one, and for one that will have such far reaching socio-economic consequences, 24 days [being the number of days provided for public comment] is insufficient and constitutionally unreasonable.
“Public participation cannot be rushed because shortened time periods mean that not all of those who want to participate in the process are able to do so.
“Public participation processes have, in certain instances, been treated as a ‘tick-box exercise’ with public comments being received and summarily ignored.
“In legitimate democratic processes, laws should reflect the will and the interest of the people that parliament represents.
“Ignoring public submissions means that they may not adequately be representing the diverse perspectives and concerns of constituents.
“It can lead to a further erosion of trust between lawmakers and the people of South Africa.”
Corruption Watch also urged legislators to provide adequate time for public participation process to unfold and for legislators to meaningfully engage with the submissions made by the public on the bill.
Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh said: “The whole modus operandi at Corruption Watch has been about empowerment including the promotion of equality and transformation and fighting poverty, while fighting corrupt system.
“We don’t know what BBC is actually implying, because we have a diverse funding base and we are transparent about who our donors are.
“There was a lot of pushback in parliament against NGOs that were critiquing the Public Procurement Bill.”
BJC’s chairperson Motlatsi Komote said her organisation has noted with concern a rhetoric being employed against civil society by some in the private sector and within government when it questions and or raises concerns.
“The rhetoric does not come with substantiating facts but is merely accusatory. The motivations behind BBC’s attacks on BJC and others cannot be speculated on,” said Komote.
“Only BBC can answer for what is clearly a misguided reaction to a submission that promotes the protection of South Africa’s fiscus against corruption and secrecy. The coalition is currently unfunded.”
The BJC stated that its procurement submission made key submissions in regard with unifying the regulatory framework, satisfying state capture recommendations among others.
Explained the BJC: “The bill’s introduction follows extensive deliberations by the State Capture Commission. It is imperative that this legislation addresses and closes the legislative gaps that have allowed rampant corruption in South Africa.
“The bill does not adopt and embrace key recommendations made in the Zondo report, such as an independent anti-corruption agency, clear and binding transparency provisions, and professionalisation of public procurement, among others.
“Therefore, the bill stands as an improvement in form but not in substance. It gives certain institutions wide powers to issue binding instructions, regulations, non-binding guidelines, and model policies.”
It continued: “There is, therefore, still a risk of public procurement being regulated by too many regulatory instruments, taking us back to the status quo and undermining the objectives of the bill – to unify the regulatory framework.
“The submission highlights a notable shortcoming in the bill’s proposed institutional arrangements.
“There is no independent institution that will effectively monitor and exercise regulatory oversight over public procurement personnel and processes.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
