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Dear Weslander – Your Assumptions Around Corrupt Officials Are CORRECT

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The Weslander news publication in Vredenburg, Western Cape recently highlighted corrupt officials in the municipal building control departments.

Today’s Weslander front page confirms what many in the industry have long suspected – municipal corruption in building control is alive and well in the West Coast. This is not an isolated incident. SACAP (South African Council for the Architectural Profession) has also raised concerns this year, highlighting that municipal officials may not engage in this nut continue to do so.

There is one official within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality that has a very similar modus operandi – delay, cite nonsense by-laws and then insist on certain additions to plans that must be done by a business in which this official has a majority interest.

Architects in the know now just go to this municipal official’s counterpart in Kariega who is a straight arrow and approves the plans WITHOUT the demanded amendments.

There are unfortunately also private service providers that seem to be able to get anything (dodgy) approved in record time as well – lest we think that the corruption is only one sided.

There are a number of versions of this Corrupt System:

  1. Plans submitted by private professionals get delayed unnecessarily, making it seem like architects and consultants are incompetent.
  2. Meanwhile, municipal employees push through their own plans quickly – often charging clients privately for work done during municipal hours.
  3. This kills fair competition, discourages investment, and undermines the public’s trust in the municipality.
  4. Municipal Officials insist on amendments/additions to plans that must be done by firms in which they have a majority interest.
  5. Municipal officials get paid to ‘look the other way’.

What these municipal officials are doing is unethical and illegal as it violates multiple municipal and professional regulations:

  1. The Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) – Prohibits public officials from engaging in unauthorized financial activities and conflicts of interest.
  2. The Code of Conduct for Municipal Staff Members (Municipal Systems Act, Section 4 & 5) – clearly states that municipal employees must not use their positions for personal gain or engage in private work that conflicts with their public duties.
  3. SACAP Regulations – Registered professionals must uphold the integrity of the profession, and municipal employees cannot engage in private work that undermines the public interest.

Put it another way – if you are employed by an electrical contracting firm and tout for business to be done after hours (or even during working hours) from clients of your employers firm you will be summarily dismissed when found out. Even more so if you use company issued assets to do your private work with!

The principle of fairness also applies – Why do businesses and professionals work hard to earn a living, only to see corrupt officials collect public salaries and profit on the side at the expense of fairness and economic growth?

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.