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Anti-corruption efforts awarded in South Africa

17 September 2015

Zanele Mxunyelwa, the National Treasury's head of specialised audit services, was named the 2015 Certified Examiner of the Year at a gala dinner of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) held at the Sandton Convention Centre, on 15 September.

"As South Africans, we have a responsibility to prevent fraud and corruption. It is a struggle that must be fought by all of us," Mxunyelwa said. "With our well educated future generation who understand the impact of fraud and corruption in hindering service delivery, I strongly believe that we will eliminate this scourge."

She joined the National Treasury in 2010, and took it upon herself to set up the first forensic investigation unit for the country. "We are responsible to conduct forensic investigation for all spheres of government and co-ordinating all investigations and feed them to the Anti-Corruption Task Team," Mxunyelwa said.

"We are also assisting the country to investigate foreign bribery. My unit is capacitated with advocates, chartered accountants, cyber specialists and there are 10 forensic firms that are assisting us throughout the country. I believe that we will conquer and we will succeed."

The significance of the award, she added, was increased awareness from the public about the National Treasury and its work in fighting fraud and dishonesty.

"No one talks about the National Treasury in terms of dealing with fraud and corruption in the country. No one knows that we exist; no one knew where to report fraudulent activities. Now that we've won the top awards, it means people will know that there are effective fraud busters at the National Treasury."

Congratulations on fighting a good fight

"While we congratulate [Zanele Mxunyelwa] for her tireless efforts, we also need to warn those who are planning to get involved in the corrupt and fraudulent activities to refrain from doing so before our law catches up with them," said Communications Minister Faith Muthambi at the event.

She commended the National Treasury for winning the ACFE corporate member award. "We congratulate the National Treasury for their efforts of saving millions if not billions of rands of the taxpayer's money."

#ACFE gala dinner. CFE of the year award goes to Zanele Mxunyelwa. National Treasury going home with a second award 🎉. Congratulations!

— Claudelle von Eck(@CvonEck)September 15, 2015

Zanele Mxunyelwa receiving CFE of the year award at ACFE Gala Dinner#fraudconf@ACFESApic.twitter.com/lGyoL3d64f

— Morne Britz (@Morne_73)September 16, 2015

About the ACFE

The ACFE is recognised as the only professional body for fraud and forensic examination practitioners in South Africa.

"As a non-profit professional body we exist to improve the level of professionalism and positively influence the quality of advice delivered by our members," reads the company website.

Source: SAnews.gov and SAinfo reporter