Page 188 - SAMRC Annual Report 2023-24

FRAUD AND CORRUPTION

The SAMRC has zero tolerance for unethical Each SAMRC employee is required to declare any
business conduct, in particular fraud and corruption interest and potential conflicts of interest on an
and is committed to fighting fraudulent behaviour annual basis via an online declaration of interest
at all levels of the organisation. The SAMRC Fraud system. All outside work, financial and private
Prevention Policy addresses fraud risk management interest, and any other business activities, including
both proactively and reactively, and the Fraud gifts, must be declared when completing the
Prevention Plan developed includes a fraud strategy SAMRC staff annual Online Declaration of Interest.
as one of the outputs of the plan. Internal controls, Failure to disclose interests, or the wilful provision of
including our policies and procedures, also play a incorrect or misleading details can lead to charges
critical role in fraud mitigation. of misconduct.

A key control within SAMRC is an online whistle- In addition, a code of conduct for Supply Chain
blower hotline where staff can report fraudulent Management (SCM) practitioners and other role
activities/incidents, and knowledge of perceived players is in place, whereby conflicts of interest
and alleged irregular or unethical behaviour are declared on an annual basis in addition to the
in a confidential and controlled environment SAMRC-wide annual online declaration process.
anonymously. The webpage, ‘Report fraudulent
activities at the SAMRC’, is available to all staff via Code of conduct
the SAMRC Intranet home page. Staff who have The SAMRC acknowledges that research excellence
knowledge of an occurrence of fraud or corruption, must be underpinned by the highest standards of
or who have good reason to suspect that a fraudulent ethics and integrity, to ensure that research is reliable
or corrupt act has occurred, have a duty to promptly and trustworthy. The principles of honesty, scientific
report any reasonable suspicions. All reported rigor, consistency, transparency, and accountability
cases are directed to the appropriate governance are key to maintaining research integrity and trust in
structures Fraud Prevention Plan and are treated research conducted by the SAMRC researchers and
with the utmost confidentiality to protect the rights collaborators.
of both the whistleblower and the alleged party.
The SAMRC adheres to the minimum national
Minimising conflict of interest benchmark of norms and standards for conducting
responsible and ethical research set by the National
The SAMRC’s commitment to high standards of Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) and other
business conduct and ethics is set out in the SAMRC’s applicable laws, regulations, policies, and practices.
values and is supported by the Board approved The SAMRC recognises the importance of the
Code of Business Conduct Framework Policy Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and
(Code). In this regard, the SAMRC’s commitment to Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Any
the Code provides a framework of ethical practices information about natural persons is processed in
and business conduct that are applicable to the line with the eight conditions of lawful processing
Board, employees and external stakeholders, such of personal information as outlined in Protection
as suppliers. of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Furthermore,
access to information held by the SAMRC can be
The Code is available to all employees on SAMRC’s accessed in line with the SAMRC PAIA manual which
in-house intranet and to external stakeholders on is available on the SAMRC website.
the SAMRC external website. In an event where
an employee breaches the provisions of the policy, The SAMRC’s commitment to research integrity is
this will be addressed in terms of the SAMRC’s reflected and embedded in its institutional systems
Employment Relations Policy. by establishing two Research Ethics Committees

186 SAMRC ANNUAL REPOR T 2023-24