Only 0.2% of companies and individuals flagged for corruption have been blacklisted

ActionSA has announced plans to lodge a formal complaint with the Public Protector over what it calls a “spectacular failure of consequence management” by the National Treasury.

This comes after revelations that only 0.2% of companies and individuals flagged for corruption have been blacklisted.

According to a Presidency briefing to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on 16 September, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) recommended that 467 individuals and companies be added to Treasury’s Restricted Suppliers Register.

Yet, more than a year later, only one has been blacklisted.

“This is not a bureaucratic paperwork problem but a systemic breakdown,” ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said in a statement, warning that suppliers implicated in corruption continue doing business with the state unchecked.

In terms of existing legislation, it is the responsibility of the accounting officer within a procuring department or entity to initiate a request for blacklisting a supplier or any related individuals.

Once such a request is submitted, the National Treasury records the restriction on its centralised database.

At the time, Treasury attributed the gap between the SIU’s recommendations and the number of suppliers actually blacklisted to the failure of accounting officers to act, either by neglecting to impose restrictions when warranted or by hesitating to make firm requests.

In its presentation to SCOPA, the Presidency admitted that SIU referrals are not being converted into supplier blacklistings.

The Presidency said delays stem from accounting officers failing to request restrictions and from a legislative gap: the 2024 Public Procurement Act does not empower Treasury to act when departments neglect to do so.

Call for accountability

The figures point to wider accountability failures: of 1,278 disciplinary recommendations made by the SIU, only 44 dismissals have taken place, according to the SCOPA presentation.

ActionSA has placed the blame at the door of three key institutions:

• Accounting Officers in government departments and state-owned entities, who are legally bound to enforce SIU recommendations but often fail to act;
• National Treasury, which oversees the Restricted Suppliers Register but has not ensured SIU referrals are translated into blacklisting;
• The Presidency, tasked with tracking SIU recommendations and coordinating enforcement across the state, which ActionSA accuses of lacking the political will to follow through.

“I am angry for every South African and the SIU. People have died in the fight against corruption and this revelation is nothing more than a joke,” said Beesley.

ActionSA’s complaint to the Public Protector will allege systemic maladministration and demand urgent reforms to prevent corruption-implicated suppliers from continuing to benefit from state contracts.

“While President Cyril Ramaphosa has recently admonished ANC councillors for dereliction of duty, it is his Presidency and his Executive that are responsible for this failure,” said Beesley.

“If the Executive will not act, independent institutions must.”

The party said it will also pursue parliamentary action to force ministers and accounting officers to account publicly and take corrective steps.