Lerato Mbhiza
President Cyril Ramaphosa said during his Sona said stolen funds are being recovered from those who were involved in crime and corruption.
“Freezing orders of R14 billion have been granted to the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit for state capture-related cases, and around R8.6 billion in corrupt proceeds have been returned to the state.
“A restored and revitalised SARS has collected R4.8 billion in unpaid taxes as a result of evidence presented at the Commission, while the Special Investigating Unit has instituted civil litigation to the value of R64 billion” he said.
Ramaphosa said the government is taking steps which include new legislation to strengthen the ability to prevent money laundering and fraud and secure our removal from the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force.
“With the assistance of business, we have set up a digital forensic capability to support the NPA Investigating Directorate, which in due course will be expanded to support law enforcement more broadly” he said
The Legislation is currently before Parliament to establish the Investigating Directorate as a permanent entity with full investigating powers, Ramaphosa said, while he acknowledged that more work needs to be done to eradicate corruption completely.
The President also confirmed that about 5 000 police officers had been deployed during his 6th administration’s last Sona on Thursday, adding that they have focused on equipping law enforcement agencies, which had been systematically weakened, to do their work effectively.
“We have strengthened the ranks of the police through the recruitment of 20,000 police officers over the last two years and another 10,000 in the year to come” he said.
He added that SAPS have launched Operation Shanela as a new approach to target crime hotspots, which resulted in over 285,000 arrests since May last year.
“The Economic Infrastructure Task Teams that are operational in all provinces have had important successes in combating cable theft, damage to critical infrastructure and illegal mining”.
“Through close collaboration with the private sector, we have seen a reduction in security incidents on the rail network”.
The President said the government launched the new Border Management Authority last year to improve the security of our borders, and have already stopped over 100,000 people who tried to enter our country illegally.
He added that the Economic Infrastructure Task Teams that are operational in all provinces have had important successes in combating cable theft, damage to critical infrastructure and illegal mining.
On corruption Ramaphosa said More than 200 accused persons are being prosecuted and more are under investigation.
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