Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) officially launched the “Tip-Offs Anonymous Hotline” anti-fraud hotline during the recent SMME Pitso. The hotline is a tool that stakeholders, including customers and the public can use to report any unethical conduct. Launching the line, Senior Manager of Deloitte; Brian Watts explained that whistle blowing will promote good corporate governance and ethical business conduct in line with the Authority’s values.
“Five percent turnover is lost to fraud, and 50 percent of fraud cases go undetected, while 14 percent of those identified are sourced internally. Tip- Offs Anonymous line is put in place as a deterrent to fraud and promotes a culture of zero tolerance towards these crimes.”
He said Tip-Offs Anonymous supports an ethical workplace culture and empowers staff, customers and the public to report unethical behaviours and practices in a safe and confidential manner – free from the threat of victimisations and retribution. The Tip-Offs Anonymous service is available for stakeholders to use and report any cases of fraud, corruption, harassment, theft, abuse of property and any other workplace related crimes.
He said too often, these crimes are undetected and go unreported, resulting in financial losses to organisations and eventually to the detriment of the taxpayer. Brain Watts from Deloitte Consulting told the pitso that the highest detection method of fraud, theft and corruption is through tip-offs and it is in this regard that LEA has implemented this important tool to combat fraud. The Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) was established by the Small Business Act of 2004 to carry out on behalf of the Government of Botswana – and more specifically the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) – the mandate of entrepreneurship and enterprise development in Botswana.
Through the guidance of the Quality Management System Standard, the high quality of service is standardised in all the branches and clients are thus guaranteed excellent service in the whole LEA branch network, regardless of location. The 13 branches are in Francistown, Gaborone, Ghanzi, Kanye, Kasane, Masunga, Maun, Mochudi, Molepolole, Ramotswa, Selibe-Phikwe, Serowe and Tsabong.