Bart Henderson is a leading forensic auditor and CEO of Henderson Solutions, an enterprise risk management firm.

Political analyst Justice Malala recently wrote about what he perceived as a “sickening subversion” of our institutions. This was in reference to the early release of Jackie Selebi and Shabir Shaik, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority dragging its feet on providing the Democratic Alliance with the evidence that led it to the conclusion that it should drop corruption charges against president Jacob Zuma.

I don’t think there is any doubt left among the general populace that our institutions are well and truly subverted.

The SAPS has been turned into a tasteless parody, while the National Intelligence Agency, along with the South African Secret Service, is an instrument of fear turned on the populace they are intended to serve.

South Africa is increasingly finding itself slipping in development behind countries on the continent, which a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable.

The ICT sector is but one area.

The Auditor-General, in his latest consolidated general report on provincial audit outcomes, writes: “[Government] Departments and public entities rely heavily on IT systems to perform their statutory financial management, reporting and administrative functions.

“Furthermore, these systems enable the automation of business processes and transaction processing, which contribute to effective internal control. The information processed and stored on IT systems is vital to the accuracy and reliability of the financial and performance information used by management for planning, monitoring and reporting.”

The state of ICT in government can only be described as “shocking”.

The controls designed to mitigate the fi nancial risks are inadequate, certain key monitoring controls were not properly implemented by departments, even though guidelines and policies in this regard had been developed by some provincial treasuries and the offices of the premier.

It’s not that these defi ciencies exist, it is the sheer magnitude and scope of non-conformance. It’s as if we have poured hundreds of billions down a black hole.

There are few areas of government where a greater case for investigation, on a massive scale, by the Public Protector can be made than ICT.

However, for me at least, the Public Protector itself is losing shine at an alarming rate. The sheer volume of cases being referred to the Public Protector of late is turning that institution into an organisation as inefficient as any it investigates.

When one considers the seriousness of some of the cases under investigation by the Public Protector, delays in outcomes can have major repercussions.

One would think under Zuma, strengthening the capacity of the Public Protector would have been one act the general public would have applauded.

Instead, we see, for instance, the investigation by the Public Protector at the request of deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe into allegations of bribery and corruption against his partner, Gugu Mtshali. Mtshali has allegedly been implicated in soliciting a R104 million “bribe” to obtain government support for a South African company trying to clinch a R2 billion sanctions-busting deal with Iran.

The Public Protector announced under intense media scrutiny the intention, on 20 March 2012, to investigate the matter and in a press release committed to provide the outcome of the preliminary investigation not later than 15 April 2012.

I wrote to the Public Protector on 11 June 2012, enquiring as to the status of this investigation and was notified by written response, on 13 June 2012, that the preliminary investigation has been concluded and the Public Protector is writing a report.

It is six weeks later and still no provisional report has been forthcoming. This is no ordinary investigation and certainly no ordinary case.

How did a self-confessed arms dealer and sanctions-buster, dealing by his own admission with a pariah state, come to offer a bribe and record a conversation that stemmed from a meeting he solicited, and a cause of action he initiated; and how did he come to be working for the CIA and FBI?

How did he manage to operate under the radar of our own security agencies?

This year will decide whether Zuma gets a second term or not, with Motlanthe being the only credible obstacle to these ambitions.

This Public Protector’s report is much more than simply an enquiry into an allegation of abuse.

The Public Protector’s investigation report will either vindicate or implicate Mtshali and this will serve to affect public perception regarding Motlanthe.

In reality, this is but one of quite literally hundreds of investigations and investigation requests handled by the Public Protector that are simply not being expeditiously concluded.

Consequently, the “sickening subversion” Malala talks about is more insidious than simply institutional function, but extends to the subversion of institutional functionality, especially so in ICT.

Malala points to two institutions he terms “sickeningly subverted”: the NPA and the Parole Board, and poses the question whether there are any others.

Yes, the Public Protector – by woefully inadequate capacity and resources, and a gargantuan case load arising from a crisis in confidence in due process.

However, there is also a sickening subversion of institutional functionality in the area of ICT that, according to the Auditor-General at least, is pervasive throughout provincial government.