Hon Speaker, the Constitution and other laws governing the conduct of public office bearers and public servants provide clear guidelines as to what public officials may and may not do in exercising state power.
Should it be alleged that a public official has broken the law, the SA Police Service, SAPS, and the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, should investigate and, if there is enough evidence, prosecute the alleged perpetrator of the offence. We also have the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, which investigates corruption and maladministration in government and reports to the President and Parliament.
In addition, the Public Protector and the Auditor-General are provided for in Chapter 9 of our Constitution. The Public Protector has the responsibility to investigate conduct that is alleged or suspected of being improper or to result in any improper conduct or prejudice in state affairs or in public administration within any sphere of government.
In the case of the Auditor-General, there is the duty of auditing the accounts, the financial statements and the financial management of state bodies. These institutions play an important role in determining whether any member of the public or an official has abused state power.
There are also a number of other bodies who have the responsibility to investigate abuses of power by officials in specific sectors, such as the Inspecting Judge in the case of Correctional Services, the Inspector- General of Intelligence with regard to intelligence matters, and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Ipid, in the case of the SA Police Service.
What is important is that anyone with evidence of abuse of state power must report such abuse to the bodies that I have mentioned above so that the allegations can be investigated and, if found to be true, the perpetrator can be sanctioned accordingly. I thank you.