JOHANNESBURG — Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi on Thursday called on representatives of South Africa’s property sector as well as members of the public to work with the government to expose corruption.

It is in all our interests to stamp out this culture of corruption, a practice which has brought this country to the brink of disaster, the Minister said at the launch of his department’s Expedited Lease Renewal Process here Thursday.

Acknowledging that poor governance and controls have led to much of the chaos in the leasing environment, Nxesi said: If you have information that officials are not acting ethically, please let me know. If you want to remain anonymous, we also have a phone line for whistle blowers.

We are now operating against the backdrop of a new political environment. I am not going so far as to say that the new dawn has arrived, but there is certainly renewed hope and confidence amongst our people.”

He emphasised that the government was committed to rooting out corruption, professionalising the organs of government to strengthen service delivery, generating investment and creating jobs and driving real socio-economic transformation in the interests of all people.

Stressing the need to engage with the big landlords when it comes to leasing properties in the big cities, Nxesi said: We are also putting in place a procurement regime, which is transparent, to deal with corruption.

Our economic circumstances as a country, as well as pressure from National Treasury, dictate that we fight corruption and State capture, which was a massive drain on public funds. At the same time, we have to improve the way we do business to contain costs and generate income.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK