Corruption is theft from the poor, South African Communist Party (SACP) secretary-general Blade Nzimande said on Monday.

"It [corruption] undermines our efforts as a country to build a better life for all by diverting the country's resources away from the workers and the poor to that pocket of small elite," he said at the party's anti-corruption seminar in Johannesburg.

He said that the Department of Higher Education, of which he is the minister, was paying particular attention to fight corruption in institutions of higher learning because some rich people were bribing student leaders to campaign for them.

"For instance, it has come to our attention that some of the legitimate struggles of students against the lack of adequate accommodation are being hijacked by some owners of large apartments who bribe student leaders to campaign for renting of a particular student accommodation as opposed to the other."

He said that young people were vulnerable to bribery because they were poor.

"They are the most affected by unemployment, and figures show that, for instance, of the 6,8-million 18 to 24 year olds in our country, about 2,8-million of them are neither in an education institution, employment nor training."

These, he said, were reasons to target youth in an anti-corruption campaign.

Nzimande said that the media missed the point in reporting about lifestyle audits.

"This is one of the reasons for instance why an honest call by Cde [Zwelinzima] Vavi and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) for lifestyle audits has been opportunistically appropriated by a sensationalist media, who have turned this into beauty contest, such that it could seriously undermine efforts to fight the scourge of corruption and the exposing of tenderpreneurs."

He said that systems within government, including the South African Revenue Service, needed to be strengthened to expose and crack down on corruption and unexplained wealth amongst public representatives.

"This cannot be left to the whims of the media who create heroes and villains in order to sell newspapers."

He also blasted the alleged investigation into journalists' private lives, saying that it amounted to an act of corruption.

"This is in itself... a corrupt activity, that can spread like cancer throughout all of society, beyond just targeting journalists.

"This is a dangerous activity that has the potential to take us back to a period where state institutions were being abused to pursue narrow political agendas..."

He was referring to an investigation into journalists spearheaded by the ANC Youth League.

He said that the existence of opportunities for the private accumulation of wealth, instead of societal accumulation of wealth to be shared amongst all, created opportunities for corruption.

He added that there was a need to explore alternative means to tenders, where feasible. "Not every government service must be converted into a tender. For instance, there are many government services that can be given to communities directly, non-profit organisations and cooperatives to run, without the involvement of middlemen through tenders.

"These may include school feeding schemes, housing cooperatives, agricultural schemes, and so on."

He said that tenders would always be there, so the SACP must watch against the "tenderisation" of the state.

"We should possibly also campaign for a system where before any decision on a tender is made, an assessment must be made on whether capacity to do such work directly already does not exist within the state or within communities that are the intended beneficiaries."

Former judge Willem Heath told the seminar that corruption was more rife in the private sector than the public sector.

"Corruption is committed by greedy rich people in the private sector," Heath said.

He said that R1,5-billion was being taken outside South Africa by rich people who avoided paying taxes.

He said that although corruption was rife, the majority of cases were not reported, leaving few cases to go to court. Among those that made it to court, the rate of conviction was very low.

"International syndicates study the laws of the country, companies and government departments for loopholes. When they come, they come prepared knowing where to start."

He told the seminar that there was a need for a team of experts to work with the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to ensure that corruption was uprooted.

Nzimande led participants at the seminar in a symbolic whistle blowing against corruption.