There is a new and commonly used phrase in South Africa in discussions about fighting corruption. It is said that ‘corruption is the cancer that is eating away at our society’. This statement is true, but is fast running a risk of losing its meaning and seriousness if little effort is put towards the fight against corruption. Corruption is one of the critical threats to South Africa’s growth and development and an even worse threat to the fight against poverty. As a point of departure, it may be useful to first define corruption, though this has been extensively explored and studied of late.

Definitions of corruption can vary from culture to culture; different societies often have different views on what corruption is.
The truth of  the matter is that not all societal norms are necessarily consistent with good governance. Asian values, for example, are said by some to be significantly contrary to both democracy and free markets. A common thread that cuts across most cultures and norms is the understanding that corruption refers to any activity that is intentionally conducted for personal gain, at the expense of government. It is defined as the misuse of power for private benefit, and usually involves money changing hands. In most cases, especially in South Africa, the rich and corrupt become even richer at the expense of the poor.

There is a growing empirical literature based on comparative country studies, emphasising that corruption lowers investment, capital productivity, capital inflows and many other macro-economic data that are relevant to public welfare (Lambsdorff, 1999). In short, corruption
costs government millions year after year, money that could have been spent on delivering basic services and improving the lives of the less fortunate.

This article seeks to highlight the extent of corruption in the country and looks briefly at government’s response and strategy. It draws on examples of countries in Africa to show that corruption is not just a unique challenge to South Africa but one that threatens to hold back the entire continent of Africa. It further outlines the roles of different organs of society in the fight against corruption.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION

There is a general consensus amongst citizens and government in the country that corruption has to be fought at all costs. Government put in place an Anti-corruption Strategy that seems to have disappeared from the public domain over the years. One notes, however, that the process of developing the strategy was all inclusive with participation and input from key and relevant civil society organisations. It nonetheless seems to have disappeared and lost steam over the years. On the other hand, the President in each of his speeches commits government to the fight against corruption albeit falling short of giving concrete strategies and mechanisms that will be put in place to achieve this. The disbanding of the corruption fighting unit, famously known as the Scorpions, was meant to usher in an improved special investigation unit and to achieve notable inroads in the fight against corruption. Of course, one commends the efforts of state institutions such as the Public Protector, National Prosecuting Authority, Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the HAWKS and many others for their efforts especially because they work under a hostile and difficult environment.

In spite of all these efforts, corruption in South Africa has taken a turn for the worse. As if the arms deal, the oilgate, Shabir Shaik and the ‘Jackie Selebi and friends’ saga were not bad enough, we continue to see worse shenanigans involving senior politicians and high profile government employees. Reports of tender irregularities by the Public Protector implicating Public Works Minister and Police Commissioner come as no surprise when one tracks back how half-heartedly government had committed to the fight against corruption. While the Public Protector’s report on the irregularities in lease deals for the Police offices calls for President Zuma to act accordingly with respect to the implicated high profile people in the report, the public continues to wait in anticipation for the President to make up his mind about what he intends to do - or not do - about Minister Shiceka, whose corrupt activities were uncovered by the national media. Discussions about the establishment of a media tribunal and moves to give powers to junior government officials to classify as secret information that which should be in the public domain are equally worrying.

It would appear as though government commits to the fight against corruption mostly in speech and to a very limited extent in deed. Of course, one notes the efforts made such as the National Anti-corruption Forum where Public Servants are to report acts of corruption. However,  the call centre shows that our investigation operators seem terribly busy and hardly ever have time to answer the phone and there is very little monitoring done as to the usefulness of this system. The truth is that if people report corrupt Public Servants and nothing ever gets done, they soon lose faith in the system. No concrete studies have been done on the usefulness and effectiveness of the Anti-Corruption Forum so no one can claim that it works well, but judging by the rise in corrupt activities in the Public Sector, one can safely draw conclusions. Then there is the Auditor General and all his disclaimers which have now become the order of the day in municipalities. It is surprising to note that the performance bonuses of key municipal officials are not linked to Financial Management measures within the municipality and therefore are not influenced by the report of the Auditor General, so a municipality can get a disclaimer from the Auditor General and its senior managers get their bonuses.

A study conducted in 2002 as the baseline for the development of the Anti-corruption Strategy urged and advised then that government should “a) prohibit corrupt employees from employment in the Public Sector, and b) prohibit corrupt businesses and agents of such businesses from doing business with the Public Service for a period of a maximum of 5 years”. It has taken almost 9 years for the government to finally heed this advice and to listen to the voice of civil society and amend the Structures Act accordingly.

DEFINING THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE FIGHTS AGAINST CORRUPTION

We have looked at some of the things that Government is doing to combat corruption, now let us focus on what the public is doing. There are only a handful of civil society organizations working on issues around corruption. In the Eastern Cape alone- big as the province is - there are only three organizations that come up in Sangonet’s database as having corruption as one of their focus and it is the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM), Afesis-corplan and Black Sash. This is cause for concern considering that the Eastern Cape is one of the Provinces where corrupt activities are on the rise. The citizens’ role in the fight against corruption is to act as a watch dog. It is to use the legal means available to resolve things, obtain public documents from government such as reports, i.e. Auditor General’s report, reports on investigations that were funded through public funds, scrutinize IDPs and Budgets, etc. It is also to monitor public services, raise awareness, contribute to the implementation of international and national anti-corruption instruments, and to create networks, etc.

THE CORRUPTION IN MODERN DAY SOCIETY

Corruption appears to be a continental curse not only in South Africa but in the entire continent of Africa.

Scholars of the yesteryears trace its roots to the dawn of the post colonial era. Upon the dawn of independence post the colonial era, African states tasted independence including control of resources and administration. Gill Peter (1986) writes that it was not long when the first generation of African leaders assumed power that they started to fight about it, with many people wanting to lead and have a shot at the Presidency. Political parties started to mushroom at every turn, each with its own ideology and idea of how their individual countries were to evolve post-colonialism. Corrupt activities at that time were largely to advance and finance political parties and a struggle for political leaders to stay in power.

Surprisingly enough the first post-colonial leaders subscribed to the notion and ideology of ‘African Socialism’ led by then President Nkwame Nkrumah. This was seen as necessary to produce rapid modernization, to break the mould of poverty and to sustain growth. This ideology had as its pillars the communal ownership of land, the egalitarian character of village life, collective decision-making and extensive networks of social obligation (Meredith, 2005). Writing in his paper on African Socialism in 1962, Nyerere gave an idyllic account of the pre-colonial society stating that “everybody was a worker. Not only was the capitalist, or the landed exploiter unknown, capitalist exploitation was impossible. Everyone worked the land, hunger and starvation were unknown, and loitering was an unthinkable disgrace.” He further states that “in the old days the African never aspired to the possession of personal wealth for the purpose of dominating any of his fellows. He had never had labourers or “factory hands” to do his work for him. But then came the foreign capitalists. They were wealthy. They were powerful. And the African naturally started wanting to be wealthy too.” So, according to Nyerere we can blame the capitalists for our misfortunes and the fact that we as a people lost our unique values of uBuntu.

And so what happened to this notion of African Socialism?

Many people started to aspire for the Presidency because that meant power, control of the state and its resources; it meant wealth and many African leaders of the day wanted that and more. As many political parties were being formed, it meant that leaders had to use more resources to try and buy people’s loyalty and to use all means to stay in power. Adamifio (1982) in his memoirs describes the scale of corruption in Ghana at the time as “a howling monster threatening to wreck the whole nation”. He probably would write the same if he lived in South Africa today. He continued and stated that “party officials, ministers and members of parliament spent their time promoting family, clan and pursuing their own business interests while routinely collecting percentages from government contracts” (Adamifio, 1982).

In Nigeria, a coup organised by the Supreme Council of the Revolution to overthrow its government was done on the basis of ridding the country of corrupt officials. Soyinka Wole in his writing recalls a broadcast with Major Chunkwuma Nzeogwu and he quotes “our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent; those who seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers and VIPs of waste; the tribalists, the nepotists; those that made the country look big-for-nothing before the international circles; those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds” (Wole Soyinka, 1996).

The President, in each and everyone of his speeches, committed government to the fight against corruption falling short of giving concrete strategies and mechanisms that we will put in place to achieve this.

CONCLUSION

There are many other examples that one could use drawing from past experiences of African countries in trying to trace the roots of this problem. One finds it in every country and embedded in African culture and African society. It is a cancer that needs to be fought at every turn. It can not only be a fight left to the means and hands of government alone, though government’s heart is in the right place and fighting corruption may remain a key feature in speeches and keynote addresses, the South African public has got to stand up and also devise civil society led initiatives to fight against corruption.

The citizens have to get to a point of actively ensuring that they get the best from their elected representatives. That debate cannot be led by the ANC through its Secretary-General alone. Citizens have every right and a responsibility to ensure that public institutions are a reflection of the people’s aspirations. Tenderpreneurship must come to an end as well as the ascension into senior positions of power and influence of dubious characters especially at National level. Our leaders must be exemplary and must be people of high caliber and integrity. This is the fight not only of government, but that of the people of South Africa and Africa as a whole.

Therefore, in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment, the enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men and women in high places who loot the state in the name of Black Economic Empowerment, those who seek to keep our poor people even more poor and underdeveloped so that they can remain in offices as ministers, VIPs, councilors and government officials. Those who seek to keep South Africa backwards by their words or deeds. We must fight against all of these forces and only South Africa’s citizens can do that.


References: Achebe Chinua, The Trouble with Nigeria,  Heinemann, London, 1987 | Adamifio Tawia, By Nkrumah’s side, Collings, London, 1982 | Baqwa Selby SC, Anti-corruption Efforts in South Africa, South Africa, 2001 | Faniel Sahle Hablemichael, Anti-corruption Strategies in the South African Public Sector: Perspectivs on the Contributions of Complexity Thinking and ICTs, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2009 | Gill Peter, A year in the Death of Africa: Politics, Bureaucracy & Famine, Paladin, London, 1986 | Meredith Martin, The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence, Free Press, London, 2005 | Nyerere Julius, Freedom & Socialism: A selection from writings & Speeches, 1965 – 1967, Oxford University Press, 1968 | Sonyika Wole, The open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis, Oxford University Press, 1996 | Stone Martin, The Agony of Algeria, Hurst London, 1997 | Good Governance Learning Network, State of Local Governance Report: Ethical Leadership & Political Culture in Local Government, 2010 | Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy: Department of Public Service and Administration, 2002 | Southern African Forum Against Corruption (SAFAC), 2002