Issued by: Office of the Deputy President Jacob Zuma
DURBAN 15 October 1999
Chairperson
The Mayor of the Durban Metro
Ministers,
Your Excellencies,
Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies & Gentlemen
Today marks the end of the deliberations and discussions on an issue that plagues many countries the world over. The last five days have brought together not only various governments but also non-governmental institutions. You have all come together in a quest to stem the rising tide of corruption in our countries. I am told that this has indeed been a most challenging and productive conference.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is important for us, on the eve of the new millennium, to examine the systems of government in our countries to ensure that we do not , ourselves, create the conditions for corruption to thrive. Countries of the world are gradually transforming to democratic systems of governance. In most countries these systems have checks and balances in place that sustain them and ensure that those entrusted with running public institutions are held accountable to the greater civil society.
In South Africa we have, amongst others, the Public Protector, an independent Auditor-General, ad hoc commissions whose main function is to ensure that personal interest does not conflict with public interest. Business should also come on board and lend their expertise to wider society. The triangular connection of government, business and civil society should always be kept in mind in this regard as corruption permeates all levels of our society. There is a need for us to find ways of making all three accountable to each other.
I have no doubt that this conference has gone a long way to find a common understanding of what constitutes corruption, how it erodes the moral fibre of society and what should be done, strategically, to reclaim the moral high ground. I would like to call upon religious institutions to play a role in restoring good moral values systems in our society. They, more than anyone, have a moral responsibility to carry the message.
I have no doubt that, in your deliberations, you have moved closer to finding strategies of tackling this scourge. The challenge now facing all of us is to ensure that these are translated into concrete programs of action. At this time we should ponder whether the conference will, in posterity, be categorised as a mere talk shop. As we come to the end, can we honestly say that it has not produced marvellous ideas without the concomitant willingness to carry them out?
This conference has also provided an opportunity for a variety of other sectors, particularly organs of civil society and the private sector to contribute to the debate. This is an important debate in which the need for partnership and coalition building has come out as a major strategy to fight corruption. The debate itself has been testimony to the fact that corruption is no longer a national or regional issue - in our global village, it now transcends borders.
From academic arguments to personal experiences, the issue of corruption has captured the minds of all the people that are committed to clean governance. There is a need to continuously send a message to those who thrive on corruption that we have the will to deal with them decisively. The extent of corruption in all spheres of our lives is such that even as we conclude this conference, an act of corruption is being committed somewhere in our country and in other countries all over the world.
Corruption is committed by them, it affects all of them and therefore, solutions for its eradication should come from all three of them. It is not sufficient to merely concentrate on one sector, i.e. the public sector. After all government employees are drawn from civil society.
As we make laws and regulations to underpin our democracies, we should ensure that our law enforcement agencies are adequately equipped to deal effectively with corruption. There should be harmony between the organs of state that have been put in place to fight corruption and the judiciary system.
Chairperson, allow me to say that I am encouraged by the Resolutions as contained in the Durban Commitment that emerged from your five days of intensive deliberations. I share your view that these resolutions will not be just another addition to an already existing stack of resolutions, policy documents and declarations, but will constructively guide us towards action against corruption. I sincerely hope that we will all rise to the challenge presented to us by this conference.
In conclusion I would like to thank Transparency International for having chosen South Africa and, in particularly, Durban as the venue of the 9th Anti-Corruption conference. We hope that this conference and others to come will eventually put us firmly on the road to the total eradication of corruption in our societies.
Thank you
J.G. ZUMA