Corruption has been redefined to include the private sector, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said at the close of Global Forum Five on Thursday.
”The broad definition of corruption has been redefined to include the private sector and society as a whole and not limited only to the public sector,” the minister said of the ”landmark” declaration made by the delegates in Sandton.
”The quest for personal wealth through corrupt means is rooted in the relationships between individuals and organisations involving practices that include theft, fraud, bribery, extortion, kleptocracy, embezzlement, nepotism, patronage and laundering of illicit proceeds,” the declaration read.
The declaration included a focus on the building of global national-integrity systems, and promoting legal cooperation in combating corruption.
Participants in the global forum were encouraged to accede to and ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
A spokesperson for the Global Forum organising committee, Professor Richard Levin, when asked how progress on implementing the declaration in participating countries would be assessed, said that would be dealt with in preparing for the next global forum.
”The ultimate responsibility of the international organising committee is to ensure that through preparations for Global Forum Six there is some sort of assessment that the declaration had been implemented,” he said.
Fraser-Moleketi said there was progress in the fight against corruption.
”This is not a losing battle … we are seeing a greater determination to combat corruption,” she said. – Sapa