The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi said it would be a "fatal mistake" for the business community to see corruption as a problem which only affected the public sector.

"The private sector is deeply implicated as well, with millions of rands being lost in white-collar crime within businesses. Corruption is a massive problem that society as a whole has to unite, to overcome," Vavi said at the Business Unity South Africa (Busa) anti-corruption forum.

He added that a "disturbing culture of corruption" had taken root in the country.

"It is a culture which, I have to be frank, has been imported into our movement from the business sector. While of course the majority of businessmen and women, and we can say the same about our political leadership, obey the law and do not get involved in corruption, there is a capitalist culture which praises and rewards those who accumulate the most wealth and despises those who fail."

Vavi added that the business sector had always been run on the basis of survival of the fittest, where the "principle of dog-eats-dog" applied. "This culture has lead to the obscene levels of salaries, bonuses and perks for top executives, which has led to South Africa becoming the most unequal society on earth."

He added that the recent community protest around service delivery issues could also be attributed to corruption.

"Resources intended for the public good are being diverted to individual's pockets so that the poor are deprived of desperately-needed basic services. It is also the theft of our taxes that we work so hard to pay, in order to improve public service."

He further noted that within the public sector, high-ranking officials often created future business opportunities for themselves, then left public service to work in the same sector within a private company, to profit from opportunities they created as public servants.

Cosatu was demanding that at the very least, a five year cooling off period, after public servants left the public office, should be required before any positions within the private sector was accepted.

Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel agreed that corruption took place not only in the public sector, but also in the private sector.

"Recent corporate scandals, including price fixing, indicate that legal instruments are not fully complied with. The current global meltdown is a result of, among other things, noncompliance with corporate governance measures in the business sector."

Nel noted that if no action was taken against corruption, its adverse effects would be felt in different ways, by people throughout society, especially the poor who made up the majority of the population.

"Business gets compromised, democratic institutions and values are undermined, service delivery and sustainable development are hampered, which in turn leads to other problems."

He noted that a holistic approach was needed to deal with corruption, and the role of government was to provide a stable environment that facilitated the growth and development of business, in line with national and international standards and ethical norms and practices.

"Over and above the introduction of legislation to outlaw corrupt practices, there is a need to adopt sector specific measures to ensure that the intended message is communicated and necessary systems are established for us, as a country, to be victories in the fight against corruption."