The extent of business done by employee or spouse-related companies at provincial level from April 1 2005 to January 31 2007 amounted to about R540m, the auditor-generals report noted. Corruption of another R76m involving national departments was also revealed.
The worst-affected provinces were Limpopo, where R269m was paid to companies and close corporations related to about 929 government employees, and Mpumalanga (R116m and 573 employees).
Holomisa believed corruption had become institutionalised and so well- known that the report was not revealing anything new. We have been saying for the last 15 years that this issue of tenders is replicated within the same family, he said referring to the African National Congress (ANC).
Power usurped from directors- general by political heads a long time ago had to be restored to them, Holomisa said.
They were issued instructions as to who should get the tenders.
Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said revelations of tender-rigging by about 2000 public servants were a prime example of how the ANCs closed, crony society and the politicisation of the public service has put personal advancement ahead of the public good.
He said the DA would be vigilant in ensuring that those involved were brought to book.
The situation now prevailing was one in which state entities become nothing more than siphons for the transfer of public money to serve personal interests, Trollip said.
The Department of Public Service and Administration told auditor-general Terence Nombembe it was investigating whether or not to extend the requirement for financial disclosure of interests now applicable only to top-level staff to lower levels of staff as well.
The Public Service Commission has also established a dedicated directorate to scrutinise the completeness of financial disclosure forms and the management of conflicts of interest.