JOHANNESBURG - The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has a new man at the helm, but Leonard Lekgetho is no stranger to the organisation.
After spending nearly two decades in various strategic roles at the SIU, Lekgetho has taken over as the unit’s new head, with a clear set of priorities.
His permanent appointment was announced by the Presidency earlier this week.
At the top of his agenda are digitisation, stronger governance, skills development and greater collaboration with law-enforcement and government agencies.
Lekgetho says the SIU must modernise its operations to make its investigative processes more efficient and keep pace with increasingly sophisticated forms of corruption.
“One of those priorities is digitisation, where we really want to make sure that our processes are properly digitised.”
He also wants to strengthen governance within the organisation, saying decisions must be defensible and officials must be held to high standards of integrity.
“We must be able to defend the decisions that we make.”
Lekgetho says collaboration will also be critical, acknowledging that the SIU cannot tackle corruption on its own.
The unit has also established a Cybercrime Academy to develop specialised skills that remain in short supply in South Africa.
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Lekgetho says building those skills through training will be essential as corruption and financial crime become increasingly digital.
But while the new SIU boss is setting out an ambitious agenda, he says the organisation needs more financial resources to sustain and expand its work.
According to Lekgetho, the SIU has recovered more than R30 billion for the state over the past 11 years, while spending about R3-billion over the same period.
He says that track record makes a strong case for greater investment in the unit.
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