Chairperson, the hon colleagues who spoke before me have indicated that the first report was tabled by the Auditor-General in 2006 and that we had a new report that we considered in July 2008. We all know what the report indicated. It indicated that senior managers failed to declare their interests and so did certain Ministers.
Now the question to ask hon members is whether it is the duty of the Auditor-General to find these things out. Well, the answer, my friends, is not blowing in the wind. The answer lies with the fact that directors- general or heads of departments have failed in executing their own responsibilities to ensure that senior managers within their departments complete declarations of interests and everything else that is necessary. It also lies in the inability of the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Public Service Commission to have the same understanding of what remunerative work means. We hope that by the time we discuss this later on, they will know exactly what remunerative work means.
The sterling work of the Office of the Auditor-General has helped to identify many areas which need to be tightened up to ensure that there are continued investigations as to whether or not some of the transactions in which government employees who did business with government departments were fraudulent.
Members of Parliament have to disclose their interests, and this is a public document. Why should government officials' interests not be declared publicly as well? They sit on procurement committees; we don't. In municipalities, you find that the officials look at tenders, but don't have to declare their interests.
When it comes to moonlighting - and the SAPS and the Health Ministers are not here - you find that many members of the SAPS and nurses are moonlighting. They work for government, for pension and everything else, but they go and work for private hospitals and security companies in the evenings. When are we going to put a stop to moonlighting?
We also need to ensure that those who are employed in state-owned enterprises declare their interests publicly. This is because state-owned enterprises seem to be becoming a cash cow for many people who either worked in government or have knowledge of what is happening in government. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]