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19 September 2008

Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi addressed the tenth Inaugural Africa Conference of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners held at Sandton Convention Centre, earlier today.

"Corruption in both the public and the private sectors poses important socio-economic, governance and values and ethics challenges in contemporary South Africa. Corruption is detrimental to the soul of the nation, the institutions of democracy and the values and ethos of a young democracy like ours," noted Minister Fraser-Moleketi during her keynote address.

The minister elaborated, "Corruption is much more than the relationship between the bribe giver and the bribe taker. It has historical roots; it is systemic and goes beyond the individual to the structural and the institutional levels. By asserting that corruption is rooted in the forces of the market and in the pursuit of profitability, corruption often seen as "the price of doing business" must not be viewed as an intrinsic element of the value system of democratic capitalism. It is in fact anti-democratic and it undermines the legitimacy and credibility of democratically elected governments and of responsible and accountable civil servants and undermines good governance practices in the private sector."

The thrust of Minister Fraser-Moleketi's address focused on corruption as a direct impediment to Africa's development; which hurts the many and benefits the few. "It inhibits the ability of government to respond to citizens' needs and to utilise scarce resources in the most efficient and effective manner. It takes away resources from priority areas such as health, social development and education. It also hampers the continent's efforts to instil sound political, socio-economic and corporate governance," added the minister.

On the top of Minister Fraser-Moleketi's agenda was the strengthening of our National Integrity System (NIS) and the promotion of improved governance across all sectors of society. For this reason, the Third National Anti-Corruption Summit held during August this year adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a task team to consolidate and succinctly articulate the NIS.

The NIS as envisioned by the minister and the National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF) must be built on the following principals:

1. A strong code of ethics in the workplace,
2. The political will to enforce this ethos,
3. Transparency and accountability,
4. Rewarding exemplary conduct,
5. Managers should lead by example and they must abide by the highest of ethical standards,
6. Subjecting misconduct to disciplinary sanctions,
7. Training in integrity, conflict of interest and a democratic ethos, and
8. According a high priority to the public interest and serving the public.

Minister Fraser-Moleketi reiterated that the deepening of democracy and the strengthening of governance institutions was likely to reduce corruption because of enhanced transparency, monitoring and accountability mechanisms. The role of the private sector and of professional bodies and associations is integral to the success of a NIS, and should contribute to mobilising and raising awareness about the impact of corruption on democracy, ethics and development.

"Our primary objective should be to tackle the problem of corruption in its entirety, recognising it as a social problem. We should aim to respond to corruption with the same sophistication and agility with which it operates. Simply put, the participation by the private sector and by professional bodies and associations is critical in the fight against corruption and to ensure the highest standards of probity and of ethical and responsible business practices," concluded the minister.

The tenth Inaugural Africa Conference of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners was attended by over 350 delegates from 13 countries including; Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, United States of America, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom.

For more information, contact:
Ramona Baijnath
Cell: 082 308 2666

Issued by: Ministry for Public Service and Administration
19 September 2008