Gauteng entrepreneurs have revealed how their businesses have been suffering due to demands for bribes by corrupt government officials.
“It’s been emotionally draining watching our businesses struggle, not because of a lack of effort, but because of gatekeeping and corruption,” Queen Lebese, owner of Tavern Tots and Tots in Lotus Gardens, Pretoria, told Vutivi News.
Lebese was speaking after the Gauteng government launched a clean-up operation targeting corruption within its economic regulatory bodies.
“At one point, I stopped applying for contracts and licences altogether not because I didn’t qualify, but because I couldn’t stomach the unethical requests. When you are told unofficially that your paperwork is ‘incomplete’ unless you pay a favour, it chips away at your confidence and dignity,” said Lebese.
“I’m encouraged by this clean up. If it’s followed through properly, it can create a system where merit matters, and that’s all most of us have ever asked for.”
The operation comes after serious allegations of fraud and unethical conduct at the Gauteng Liquor Board (GLB), the Gauteng Gambling Board and the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA).
A committee of inquiry and a legal expert have been appointed to investigate the allegations, particularly those involving the fraudulent issuing of liquor licences, bribery and abuse of power by public officials.
According to Gauteng economic development department, five employees of the GLB were criminally charged, prosecuted and dismissed after being found to have taken bribes to fast-track liquor licence applications.
“We recognise that SMEs are the backbone of our township and provincial economies, and they cannot thrive in an environment polluted by corruption and inefficiency,” said finance and economic development MEC Lebogang Maile.
“This intervention is not merely about rooting out individual wrongdoing, it is about restoring institutional integrity so that honest, hard-working entrepreneurs are no longer sidelined by gatekeeping and bribery.
“Our commitment is to build a regulatory system that supports, not stifles, small business growth and that begins with accountability, transparency and fairness at every level.”
Mpho Moeketsi, who runs a tavern in Katlehong in Ekurhuleni, agreed that it was time that the government took action.
“For years, we felt like we were forced to ‘pay extra’ just to get basic services. It wasn’t just about money it was about dignity. The system was rigged against honest businesspeople like us. This gives me hope that we’ll finally be treated fairly,” she said.
Moeketsi had waited over a year for her trading licence, despite submitting all documents and meeting all requirements.
“Each time I called, someone hinted that I needed to ‘make a plan’. I refused. But I saw others get approved in two weeks because they had connections or paid bribes,” she said.
Thuli Zwane, a youth entrepreneur and owner of Bontle Décor and Caterings Company, lashed out at the corrupt officials.
“Corruption doesn’t just steal money, it blocks opportunity,” said Zwane.
“It makes you think twice about growing your business. It creates fear. We welcome this action because if institutions don’t have integrity, how can we?”
The department has handed over cases to the SAPS’s specialised Firearm, Liquor and Second-Hand Goods Unit. As a result, disciplinary action was taken, criminal proceedings followed, and affected departments are now being restructured to ensure accountability.
“This is not just about punishing the guilty,” said Sipho Dlamini, a street vendor turned tavern owner in Phomolong, Mamelodi.
“It’s about showing that government values ethical business. We want to grow, pay tax and employ people, but we can’t do that if the system is corrupt,” he said.
The department has promised that new safeguards and digital systems will be introduced to improve application transparency and remove the human interference that often enables bribery.
