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24 May 2023

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s anti-corruption policy has been hailed as a commitment to government’s ambition of zero tolerance for corruption.

Speaking at the launch of the policy on Tuesday, the permanent secretary in the ministry Mr Thato Raphaka said the policy had instruments whose goal was to enable detection and determent of corruption and unethical work behaviour.

“Government has set the tone by putting in place the necessary measures for corruption prevention through the establishment of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). Corruption has devastating and corrosive effects on the progress, stability and development of a country,” he warned.

Mr Raphaka further said corruption impeded economic growth by discouraging foreign direct investment, creating distortion in resource allocation, increasing the cost of doing business and public spending.

He said this was in addition to reducing the quality of services and public infrastructure and the volume of tax revenues as well as encouraging the misappropriation and misallocation of scarce resources.

“It is, therefore, critical for any aspiring high-performance organisation to have measures that seek to promote the culture of honesty and accountability as this will not only enhance stakeholder confidence but also positively contribute to the organisation’s social spectrum,” he said.

Mr Raphaka therefore, encouraged the ministry management to lead by example by supporting the implementation of such policies, which he said would hopefully accord all critical stakeholders an opportunity to engage on issues relating to corruption with an understanding of its consequences.

He also encouraged employees to refrain from unbecoming actions and unfair practices that were meant to mislead the organisation for financial and personal gain, the overall cost of which, he said, were job losses as well as financial and reputational damage which lead to weakened public confidence.

He further implored the ministry management to formulate an awareness and communication plan that would continuously remind all stakeholders of the existence of the policy and educate them on what it sought to achieve.

Mr Raphaka also appreciated other stakeholders in the fight against corruption, such as the DCEC for cordial working relationships.

For his part, the acting senior assistant director for corruption prevention at DCEC Mr Mogolodi Rantsetse hailed the launch of the policy as a milestone in the fight against corruption. He said corruption was a cancer that should not be allowed to fester.

“The anti-corruption efforts by the ministry is an illustration that the fight against corruption could only be won through collective efforts. Corruption can lead to disregard for good governance and rule of law, which will ultimately lead to poor socio-economic wellbeing and security of our country,” he said.

He said DCEC had adopted a three-pronged strategy of education prevention and investigation, which birthed initiatives such as the corruption prevention committee.

“Such committees have been very successful in committing employees to take up the fight against corruption, efforts which we are truly grateful for,” he said. 

Mr Rantsetse also stressed the need to keep changing tactics and strategies to outpace corruption which he said was becoming complex by the day.

He said efforts by the ministry to update its policy were commendable and urged officers to make the policy their daily operational procedure. 

He also assured the commitment of his organisation to working with ministries to achieve zero tolerance culture for corruption for the greater good of the nation. Ends