Premier

In response to the above question, we are reporting on the forensic investigations completed for the specific financial year. “Completed” has a specific meaning in this context. Many complaints received by the Western Cape Government have nothing to do with this sphere and refer to other spheres of government or institutions. These are referred to the relevant authority and filed as “completed”.  These also include allegations referred to departments (as they do not relate to fraud, theft or corruption but rather management issues[1]), allegations referred back to the Public Service Commission due to their not being relevant to the Western Cape Government[2] and allegations referred to municipalities for investigation[3] as Provincial Forensic Services do not have a specific mandate to investigate municipal allegations.  The number of forensic investigations completed for each financial year is as follows:

 

Financial Year	Number
2009/2010	121
2010/2011	116
2011/2012	126
2012/2013	145
2013/2014	275[4]
Total	783

The scope of each forensic investigation differs significantly based on the allegations received.  Once an allegation is assessed, it is categorised in broad categories.  The categories of allegations of the above matters were as follows per financial year:

 

Allegation Category	2009/ 2010	2010/ 2011	2011/ 2012	2012/ 2013	2013/ 2014	Total
Alleged Conflict of Interest	2	2	2	3	6	15
Alleged Corruption	13	13	12	25	43	106
Alleged Fraud					16	16
Alleged HR Irregularities	11	9	14	22	18	74
Alleged Theft	9	15	8	12	27	71
Financial Irregularities	28	33	39	53	53	206
Nepotism	3	2	4		14	23
Non - Compliance					2	2
Other	17	6	8	9	44	84
Procurement Fraud	38	36	39	21	52	186
Total	121	116	126	145	275	783

 

During 2009/10 a small number of investigations were outsourced to reputable service providers amounting to R409 786.  Our financial system does not keep a history of the transactions dating back to this period. This information would be available from National Treasury.

 

During 2010/11 and a portion of the 2011/12 financial year individuals from various professional services firms were seconded to the Forensic unit to augment the capacity in the unit, amounting to R9 821 924 and R14 446 331 respectively.  As indicated above, the history is not available on our financial system to provide you with the required detail.

During 2011 a public tender process was followed for the complete outsourcing of the forensic services of the Western Cape Government after a business decision was taken to abolish the unit.  Deloitte was the successful company and was appointed with effect from 1 December 2011.  This contract expires on 30 November 2014.  The following expenditure is recorded on our financial system per the 2012/13 and 2013/14 financial year:

 

2012/13	R16 331 021
2013/14	R14 752 482

Please note that, due to certain departments requiring additional resources[5] for which they were willing to pay, the total payments made to Deloitte was more than the above amounts.  These were recovered from departments using the interdepartmental claims process resulting in a reduction of the expenditure on the financial system due to an accounting entry.  The actual amounts paid to Deloitte prior to the accounting entry relating to the interdepartmental claims were as follows per financial year:

 

2012/13	R24 522 285
2013/14	R26 993 073

Deloitte is a partnership incorporated in terms of SA Law and the list of their partners/directors is available from them on request[6].

Due and relevant procurement processes were followed in all instances.  For the outsourcing transaction, a tender was advertised publicly and a rigorous evaluation and adjudication process followed.

Already addressed in [c].

The findings vary significantly depending on the allegations and outcome of the investigations.  For reporting purposes the outcome of the investigations are categorised in broad categories.  The category of the outcome of the investigation relating to the above matters were as follows per financial year:

 

Investigation Outcome	2009/2010	2010/2011	2011/2012	2012/2013	2013/2014	Total
Fraud and or Irregularity	13	49	52	27		141
Fraud and/or Corruption	1		1	4	20	26
Fraud and/or Corruption / Irregularity and/or Non-compliance			5	18	23	46
Fraud and/or Corruption, Theft, Irregularity and/or Non-compliance					2	2
Incorporated/Duplicate	8	8	5	16		37
Irregularity and/or Non-Compliance	2	4	4	12	33	55
No Fraud &/ or no Irregularity	19	15	22	4	12	72[7]
Only preliminary investigation required	3	1	5	27	103	139[8]
Non Compliance				2		2
Referred	75	39	32	35	79	260[9]
Theft					2	2
Theft and/or Irregularity and/or Non-compliance					1	1
Total	121	116	126	145	275	783

In the past financial year Provincial Forensic Services has reported to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts as well as the Standing Committee on Premier, Gender, Disabled and Youth on a quarterly basis.  Further briefings were made as and when requested.

Should prima facie evidence exist for a criminal case, a criminal matter is registered with SAPS.  Where disciplinary action is recommended, the respective Accounting Officer has the authority to decide whether or not to institute disciplinary action as well as the type of discipline to be instituted (i.e. sometimes progressive discipline could be instituted).  If the decision is to institute formal disciplinary action, it is handed to the relevant Employee Relations Unit, who will deal with the matter in line with the disciplinary code and relevant labour legislation.

The number of disciplinary recommendations made per financial year is as follows:

 

Financial Year	Total recommendations
2009/2010	15
2010/2011	56
2011/2012	207
2012/2013	148
2013/2014	160
Total	586

 

The number of criminal cases registered per financial year is as follows:

 

Financial Year	Total Number
2009/2010	9
2010/2011	27
2011/2012	34
2012/2013	38
2013/2014	45
Total	153