Bhisho corruption-busting now the national pilot

Abstract

A slick ‘MassMart-like’ national pilot program for ethical procurement and monitoring, backed by a high-tech group of national government agencies kicked off last month in the Eastern Cape health department where proponents claim it will cut fraud and wastage by up to 80%.
The provincial department, chosen for its unrivalled success in corruption-busting and steady return to functionality, has for two years been led by canny former Port Elizabeth businessman, Dr Siva Pillay. It may prove the crucible for some sorely-needed national alchemy, if talking to Pillay and some of his value-driven ‘social compact’ practitioners is anything to go by.
Coming off a R424 million budget cut (2012/13), Pillay initially appears a bit too sanguine for someone upon whom so much depends – until he starts to outline how and where his ‘working smarter,’ approach has already saved well in excess of this amount.