Criminal Law News South Africa

The cancer of corruption must be eradicated: justice minister

Speaking at the Business Anti-Corruption Forum, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Jeff Radebe said that government has prioritised combating corruption because corruption undermines the integrity and efficacy of the country's institutions and programmes - particularly programmes aimed at empowering the poor.

"Imagine [ ... ] a scenario of a tender shoddily granted to some unqualified person to build houses, how that ultimately would then rob the poor of adequate or quality houses," Radebe said, praising the role that Business assumed in the fight against corruption. "Your role is essential for any victory or success against this scourge," he said. According to the World Bank, Radebe added, corruption is defined as "behaviour on the part of officials in the public and private sectors, in which they improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves and/or those close to them, or induce others to do so, by misusing the position in which they are placed."

"We must pay special attention to (possible loopholes that could lead to corruption) and creatively seek relevant solutions," Radebe concluded. "Also, we need to be perpetually on the guard against corruption." The virus of corruption mutates to tackle remedies that seek to combat it. It seeks creative ways to continue to exist despite being cornered. "In this sense, corruption [...] is like cancer that disables the efficacy of our institutional programmes to realise our goals, [...] we must all fight it to ensure we achieve a corruption free environment."

Read the full article on http://allafrica.com.

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