“Corruption is not only a scourge that threatens the very fabric of our democracy and the future of our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it is an administrative failure and an act of cruelty and betrayal of the nation by evil alliance of the very same people we trusted to be our leaders – yet they are not, but unscrupulous individuals,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Public Service and Administration Minister, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi.<\/p>\n
The Minister was speaking at the International Anti-Corruption Day held in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg on Monday,9 December 2024, where he reaffirmed South Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collective commitment to tackle the pervasive threat that undermines democracy.<\/p>\n
The commemoration, led by the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, the Public Service Commission, and other key partners – unites all sectors of our society for a common purpose – which is to reaffirm the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to fighting corruption, to restoring integrity, and building a South Africa where governance is anchored on transparency, accountability, and the rule of law.<\/p>\n
According to the Minister corruption threatens democracy, hinders the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s development and perpetuates inequality.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It has been established that corruption is a global pandemic that slowly tackles the economic machinery of each country – exacerbating inequalities, eroding public trust and totally undermining the rule of law.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Corruption also distorts markets and hurt the poorest and the most vulnerable groups of society by disproportionately diverting funds intended for development and thus undermining our ability to provide basic services such as healthcare and education.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The scourge of corruption knows no boundaries as it impacts both developing and developed countries alike.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Evidence suggests to us that corruption affects countries at varying degrees irrespective of their economic stance,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Corruption in RSA<\/strong><\/p>\n In the country, Minister Buthelezi said the devastating impacts of corruption have been felt through its manifesting in governance deficits.<\/p>\n He said corruption has hindered service delivery, caused major impediments to investment, development and eroded trust in state institutions.<\/p>\n However, he said through collective action \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the nation can reclaim the values of integrity, accountability and transparency that should define the country.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>National Anti-Corruption Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n The National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), with its six pillars, provides a robust roadmap that represents a vital component in the collective effort to combat corruption.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At its core, the strategy emphasizes active citizenry as the heartbeat of accountability because citizens should not be passive recipients of governance – but they should be the custodians of democracy and vital agents of accountability and reform – when empowered, informed, and engaged.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Government of National Unity (GNU) recognises that lasting solutions require crossing political, social and economic divides.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Again, as a Minister for Public Service and Administration, we have also prioritised ethical governance and professionalisation in public service including merit-based recruitment to eliminate patronage and nepotism.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We also focusing on continuous professional development to instil values of accountability and integrity – while strengthening whistleblower protections and ensuring that those who expose corruption are safeguarded.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Efforts are also made in digitizing procurement processes to enhance transparency and minimize irregularities.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These reforms are not tailored for administrative adjustments, but they are the foundation upon which we rebuild public trust and confidence.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As government, we therefore call upon all sectors of society to join this fight because the cancer of corruption always festers when vigilance wanes.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We call upon civil society and labour councils to remain vigilant, join forces and act as watchdogs and champions of transparency,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Corruption is not only a scourge that threatens the very fabric of our democracy and the future of our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it is an administrative failure and an act of cruelty and betrayal of the nation by evil alliance of the very same people we trusted to be our leaders – yet they are not, but unscrupulous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4820,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4818\/revisions\/4820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dpsa.gov.za\/thepublicservant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}