Argentines are questioning the government’s handling of an H1N1 flu outbreak that has killed 60 people amid confusion over the number of cases and accusations that officials acted too slowly.

Across the globe an emerging El Nino weather pattern threatens to cause droughts and floods and trigger a spike in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from burning forests.

The Public Service Commission flagged potential corruption as one of the areas the public service needs to focus on ahead of next year's Fifa World Cup.

It also mentioned capacity problems in the emergency services and the processing of huge numbers of visitors to the country as potential problem areas.

Releasing its eighth annual State of the Public Service report, the commission's director general Odette Ramsingh said: “Despite progress, there are areas of concern.”

She said many of the public service's building blocks were in place, but “we need to lift the bar. As public servants we need to be beyond reproach”.

The monitoring body found during visits to police stations there was a lack of awareness among senior police station officials on the details of the National Safety Plan for next year's games.

They found that although there was public participation in the poster design for the games, service delivery protests indicated that people wanted to be more involved in the formation of public policy.

They suggested greater public participation in the arrangements for the soccer spectacles, especially since public funds were used in the hosting of the event.

The increase in business opportunities could increase opportunities for corruption and bribery and the commission advised vigilance in this area.

Ramsingh said although the level of reporting of financial interests was at 80 percent, the commission wanted it to be at 100 percent.

“Eighty percent of senior managers have disclosed, but until we get 100 percent, we will always be concerned. What are they hiding?”

The report said the construction industry was perceived to be the “dirtiest” in underhand activities.

The report said that poor compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act suggested that documents were not meeting the requirement to supply information, and this could not rule out the possibility that requests for information about the games from the public were not always properly handled.

With the exception of Gauteng and Mpumalanga, all provincial departments of public works and transport received qualified audit opinions for 2007/08, raising concerns about their ability to promote accountable resource utilisation.

The commission said vigilance was needed in both the public service and private sector.

They noted that the department of home affairs would increase the number of immigration officers to 1668 from 814 to process visitors' travel documents.

But they said the department must ensure the credibility and quality of the documents, and improve the time it takes to manage the entrance of visitors.

There was also concern over capacity problems in the emergency services with shortages of medical equipment and vehicles, and concerns over the response time of attending emergency calls.

They did not examine the potential for strikes but believed workers were testing vulnerability and how the strikes could be used as a bargaining tool.

The departments noted in the report had been told of the findings.

Sapa

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