Staff Writer 
The Gauteng Provincial Government is working hard to cultivate a culture of clean, accountable, transparent and active citizenry. 
The province has put in place proactive systems and processes in place to fight corruption in the province. 
These include establishing integrity management units in all Gauteng government departments, regular fraud and ethics risk assessments to determine policy gaps and areas for improvement, promoting organisational values, and ethics capacity building.
Other interventions include ethical decision-making training, leadership style assessments, and code of conduct training in collaboration with Gauteng City Region Academy and the National School of Government. 
Thus far, Gauteng Provincial Government has collaborated with the Chapter 9 institutions; Special Investigative Unit (SIU), the Auditor General, Public Service Commission (PSC), the Public Protector, and the State Security Agency (SSA).
Their work is complemented by the civil society advisory panel on ethics, the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Council.
Delivering his first State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday evening at the Johannesburg City Hall, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said the SSA that was authorised to conduct lifestyle audits in the 6th administration on all Members of the Executive Council (MECs) found no conflict of interest. 
The new MECs will undergo a similar process, announced Lesufi.
In addition, the provincial government is subjecting its public servants to lifestyle audits. 
This phase will include the Director General, Heads of Department, Chief Executive Officers of GPG entities and officials in high-risk areas like Supply Chain Management and Finance.
Lesufi told the Members of the Provincial Legislature that government remains committed to releasing the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) reports and implementing the recommendations of the final investigation reports.
"We have put measures in place to address the identified weak internal controls and refer matters to the Special Tribunal to assist with the recovery of funds lost to the State."
Turning to the local government, which has been plagued by poor financial management, Lesufi said working with the municipality, the provincial government is developing tangible programmes to assist Emfuleni Municipality with its challenges by appointing a capable Municipal Manager and Chief Financial Officer.
The premier committed to intervening in the Tshwane Municipality, which he described as "bleak and collapsing" as a matter of urgency.
In Khutsong in the West Rand, where the community is living in fear as sinkholes that are damaging their homes, water and sanitation infrastructure, Lesufi said the government reached a stage where we have to declare a state of disaster.
"If we do not act, this community will be swallowed by sinkholes," he said.
 While the national government is preparing the necessary paperwork for the declaration, the provincial government is establishing a permanent Emergency Disaster Site, early detection of sinkholes, provision psychosocial support to affected families, running a public campaign about the dangers of sinkholes and urging communities to dangerous areas to migrate within a reasonable time to areas made available.
Government is also supporting the work of the scientific team from the African Centre for Disaster Studies.
The team is assisting the province in finding a workable solution immediately to prevent loss of lives and ensure food security and the well-being of our residents.