The battle against corruption is not only the responsibility of government, and should be supported by civil society and the private sector, Public Services and Administration Deputy Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said at an International Anti-Corruption Day summit, in Pretoria on Monday.

She said the entire South African society had a role to play in the fight against corruption. “The word corruption irritates me, and I hope it will irritate more people and mobilise them to fight against it. This word must disappear entirely from our vocabulary.

“Our country has lost an unquantifiable amount of money as a result of corruption; money that could have been used to uplift the poor people.”

Congress of South African Trade Unions general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, who was elected chairperson of the National Anti-Corruption Forum, stated that the forum “fully supported” the Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) call that government officials should be banned from doing business with their employing departments. “This call must be extended to every governmental leader.”

PSC chairperson Ben Mthembu added that the involvement of officials in private business entities was a worrying factor. “Some officials seem to conduct business with employing departments and the PSC is of the view that this acts as a breeding ground for corruption . . . which is robbing the country of food, water, education, health, housing and general development.”

Mthembu added that the PSC wrote a letter to executive authorities on a yearly basis, asking to be informed on both potential and actual conflicts of interest that  might exist in the public sectors. “We encourage these executive authorities to deal with such issues.”

He said 2 200 public-sector employees were found guilty of misconduct between September 2004 and end March this year, but that only 202 officials were prosecuted, while 16 were demoted and 1 504 dismissed.

Vavi added that in most democracies, people found guilty of misconduct would have offered to resign, but in South Africa, they waited for investigations to conclude.

Corruption Watch head David Lewis added that South Africa’s notion of innocent until proven guilty was null and void. “Every day people [in the corporate world], who have been found guilty of misconduct, are being dismissed without being found guilty in a court of law. Big fish are getting away with corruption, as was evident in the R10-billion social grants tender case.”

Lewis was referring to a South African Social Security Agency tender that was awarded to Cash Paymaster Services. Although found illegal and invalid by the North Gauteng High Court, it was not set aside, which meant that social grant payments would not be disrupted. “This is embarrassing to South Africa,” he said.