The National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape have declared their workplace a corruption free zone.

Celebrating anti-corruption day on Wednesday, Rodney de Kock, director of public prosecutions in the Western Cape, said it had to start with them.

He said while the overwhelming number of men and women in the NPA’s office were dedicated to their jobs, there were some exceptions.

“We have had one or two individuals over the past 10 years that involved themselves in activities that they should not have. What we’ve done there is to take immediate action against them – they were suspended and dismissed,” De Kock said.

He said there was still one matter against an NPA employee currently before the Bellville court.

“Our approach in the province and in the prosecution is one of zero tolerance. So we take really stern actions against people in our own ranks who may make themselves guilty of corrupt tendencies.”

Free of corruption

De Kock said prosecutors were in the forefront of upholding the rule of law and they always had to demonstrate such to the public.

“The message we are sending out is the prosecution itself is free of corruption,” he said.

The NPA celebrated the day with a short march against corruption around their building before formal proceedings. They reflected on some of their successes fighting corruption in public and private sectors.

Advocate Xolile Jonas said in the past five years, they had finalised 86 cases of private corruption in the Western Cape. Those included 75 convictions and 11 acquittals.

He said their cases took time to investigate because of the paper trails involved, especially in dealing with companies.

Talking about some of their successes, he made an example of former Fidentia director, J Arthur Brown, who was sentenced to an effective 15 years in jail by the Supreme Court of Appeal. News24