Corruption undermines growth and development by diverting resources away from development programmes, thus increasing poverty and inequality, Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said on Wednesday.
She was speaking at the African Forum on Anti-Corruption in Johannesburg.
”The sale of state properties, extensive ownership by the state of large corporations, the favouring of big conglomerates and the manner in which some huge tenders are awarded to national and/or international bidders has led to corruption in some developmental states,” she said.
According to Fraser-Moleketi there are seven premises to corruption:
- The free-market economy which is generating a rugged individualism that has led to the atomisation of society and given rise to a rampant pursuit of individual goals.
- The legitimacy and credibility of democratically elected governments and of responsible and accountable civil servants is undermined because of corruption.
- Corruption is about the interface of political and economic elites at a global, national and regional scale.
- The intentional preoccupation in the global-corruption discourse with bribe takers and bribe givers is disingenuous, ideologically loaded and simplistic, and certainly serves other agendas not linked to developmental goals.
- Corruption is systemic, and the focus must therefore be on effects rather than intentions, as the effects undermined the value system, the norms and the very cohesion of society.
- An anti-corruption strategy must be articulated by leaders in the political, economic and civil-society spheres and must engage all sectors of society on the basis of a core set of leadership practices and values.
- Corruption is a direct impediment to Africa’s development.
Fraser-Moleketi said the most effective antidote to corruption will be to strengthen the national integrity system, which will put issues of good governance in all spheres of society at the heart of the anti-corruption project.
”We have the opportunity at this conference to share our experiences, our successes and our frustrations in dealing with the challenges of corruption.”
A 2002 World Bank report on corruption put the financial costs of corruption at $148-billion a year, and stated that it increased the costs of goods by as much as 20%, she said.
She added that corruption can be traced back to the colonialism and Cold War eras.
The theme of the Conference is ”Towards a Common Understanding of Corruption — a call for Africans throughout the continent to work together to tackle corruption”.
The conference is scheduled to run from February 28 until March 2. — Sapa