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BL Premium reports that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the state’s corruption-fighting investigating unit that has been weighed down by a dire shortage of skilled forensic investigators, wants its funding model to be reviewed.
It has warned that the current structure poses a major risk to its operations. The SIU falls under the Department of Justice & Correctional Services and has recently led hundreds of investigations into Covid-19-related procurement and tender irregularities. Investigations are based on proclamations issued by the president, and the entities investigated have to foot the bill. However, such entities argue that they do not ask for the probes and often the extra spending cannot be accommodated in their budgets. The unit has been struggling to recover R619m of debt, mainly from municipalities and provincial governments, which is likely to hurt its finances and its ability to pay for top talent. The funding challenges mean that the SIU could struggle to recruit the forensic investigators and accountants it needs to handle the enormous number of probes, which often involve sophisticated crimes. The SIU has a total of 630 approved posts, but employs just 532 people at present. There are 50 vacancies in its core programme, which includes investigations. It is unclear what the proposed new model would look like, but it is likely to include an increased annual allocation by the state.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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