ActionSA said on Tuesday it will submit a complaint against National Treasury to Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka, alleging systemic maladministration and failure to implement Special Investigating Unit (SIU) consequence-management recommendations.

This follows a Presidency briefing to Parliament, which the party said revealed failure of consequence management as the country pushes back against corruption.

“Of 467 individuals and companies recommended by the SIU to be added to National Treasury’s Restricted Suppliers Register, only one has been listed,” said ActionSA Member of Parliament Alan Beesley.

The Presidency’s tracking showed 1 278 disciplinary recommendations emanating from SIU investigations, yet only 44 dismissals have resulted.

“That means the system routinely allows implicated suppliers and officials to escape accountability and continue doing business with the State,” he said.

The party wants Treasury to explain why SIU referrals have not translated into listings or systemic corrective measures, and Beesley said it would look at parliamentary remedies to compel Ministers, accounting officers and the Presidency to account publicly and to take corrective action.

“The procurement reforms discussed in government explicitly considered empowering Treasury to act where accounting officers fail to act, but that power was not retained in the final Act, creating an enforcement gap that Treasury must now address,” he said.

ActionSA accused President Cyril Ramaphosa and his executive of “failure in government”.

“While President Cyril Ramaphosa has recently admonished ANC councillors for dereliction of duty, it is his Presidency and his executive that are responsible for this spectacular failure.

“If the executive will not act, independent institutions must. ActionSA will not allow SIU recommendations – which exist precisely to protect the public purse – to be shelved while dishonest suppliers continue winning contracts,” he stated.