G Fraser-Moleketi: Global Forum V on Fighting Corruption and
Safeguarding Integrity

2 April 2007

Your Excellencies, Heads of State
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Your Excellencies, ambassadors and high commissioners
Heads of international organisations
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocols observed

Welcome to Global Forum V. South Africa is honoured to host the forum and to
ensure that all of you are well received. We appreciate that so many of you
have consciously chosen to participate in this global forum in spite of
competing commitments. We look forward to the outcomes of this conference and
are optimistic that our deliberations and discussions over the next four days
will be highly productive.

The importance of values and integrity

Mahatma Gandhi once said:

"The things that will destroy us are politics without principle, pleasure
without conscience, wealth without work, knowledge without character, business
without morality."

In so saying he emphasises the importance of values and integrity in
building sustainable social systems.

The Ghanaian novelist Ayi Kwei Armah, in his first and best known novel 'The
Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born' describes the life of an unnamed rail worker
who faces ongoing pressure from family and fellow workers to accept bribes and
involve himself in corrupt activities. The other workers who accept bribes are
able to build prosperous lives, while he and his family eke out a modest
livelihood as a result of his honesty. In his daily struggles he sometimes
views himself as a moral failure for not providing his family with the money
that would allow them to fulfil their dreams. His honesty also turns him into a
recluse and social misfit. In this superb novel, Armah takes the resentments of
an embittered society and paints a broad canvas that serves as a strident
critique of the impact of corruption on societies in general. Armah's anonymous
anti-hero works in a dim, suffocating traffic control centre where he monitors
the inconsistent routing of dilapidated trains he never sees. He has learned
the dispiriting lesson that freedom from colonialism does not mean freedom from
exploitation. He has learned that the interface between politics, bureaucracy
and economy can bring about the crudest forms of corruption. He has learned
that the corrosive hunger for money knows no ideology.

Africa Forum and the African discourse on corruption

A month ago almost 40 years after Armah wrote his novel, representatives of
over 40 States and governments in Africa gathered in Ekurhuleni, South Africa,
and asserted that Africans will be audacious enough to dream of a corrupt free
continent, when as a prelude to this forum we hosted the Africa Forum on
Fighting Corruption. What emerged from that forum was a consensus on a renewed
multilateral approach to fighting corruption based on a common understanding of
the importance of reasserting our common traditional egalitarian and democratic
communal values of humanity, ubuntu and ujamaa.

We believe that Africa forum has made a substantial contribution to the
corruption/anti-corruption discourse. I would like to thank Commissioner Joiner
for her invaluable contribution to the success of the Africa forum.

We re-defined the discourse of corruption by going beyond the simple
corrupter corrupted relationship and we consciously eschewed current approaches
which focus solely on perceptions and blame. We recognised that we need to
establish a system of measuring corruption which goes beyond perceptions and
league tables that focus on bribe takers and that corruption is a global
phenomenon which is rooted in history but its contemporary manifestations can
be located in an understanding of colonialism, neo-colonialism and
globalisation. We suggested that in the era of globalisation, many States have
become increasingly vulnerable to the power of multinational corporations.
Africa is determined to root out corruption and we decided to establish
partnerships across the globe without any strings attached.

As Africans we concurred that in developing a common understanding of
corruption, it is critical to focus on the complex interface between the
social, the political and the economic spheres of society. A broader conception
and definition of corruption must recognise that corruption is multifaceted and
takes place within all sectors of society as well as in the interface between
the public, private and civil society sectors.

One of the most significant contributions the African Forum made to the
discourse on corruption is our insistence on hinging our fight against all
forms of corruption on building integrity systems based on traditional
communal, egalitarian and democratic principles. Traditional African society
was forged on the basis of communal values. In the Nguni languages of southern
Africa it is said that 'umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,' "I am what I am because of
who we all are." This value system contrasts markedly with the values of a
rampant free market capitalism under globalisation with its emphasis on
individual wealth acquisition.

The values of ubuntu and ujamaa inform all of us of our humanity, they tell
us that we are human by virtue of the mutual support we give one another. This
is the key motive force in our fight against corruption. This is the spirit we
have committed ourselves to in order to create a socially cohesive and
inclusive Africa that is free of corruption. We all agreed we are defined by
our relation to others and that we must subscribe to the belief in a universal
bond of sharing that connects all humanity. What follows is that we
individually, collectively and as nation states must be judged by what we do
for others both in the public and private spheres.

Let us be mindful in our deliberations at this global forum that we cannot
develop by allowing a permissive environment for corruption to flourish.
Corruption is inimical to development, it perpetuates inequality, increases
wealth and asset gaps between rich and poor at national, regional, continental
and global scales. It reproduces conditions of underdevelopment and poverty. It
is morally wrong and offensive; it is illegal and cannot be tolerated. It must
be eradicated and we must collectively dedicate ourselves to its
eradication.

Corruption is a direct impediment to global development. It also hampers our
global efforts to instil sound political, socio-economic and corporate
governance.

Corruption is also fundamentally undemocratic; it undermines the legitimacy
and credibility of democratically elected governments and of responsible and
accountable civil servants. Under conditions of democracy, the State needs to
take the lead in combating, preventing, managing and eliminating corruption.
Corruption weakens democratic processes, public order and undermines the
ability to deepen social, political and economic modernisation and reform.
Corruption destroys trust and erodes both the sense of global citizenship and
the sense of shared responsibility as well as national citizenship and the
sense of social cohesion.

Building national integrity systems

The integrity of political, administrative and judicial systems is central
in the construction of national integrity systems. Corruption is more likely to
be found under conditions where policy failures have increased redistributive
pressures and where judicial systems lack independence or are weak than where
development policies have been successfully implemented by a meritocratic
bureaucracy and where the judiciary is strong and independent. The deepening of
democracy and the strengthening of governance institutions are likely to reduce
corruption due to enhanced transparency, monitoring and accountability
mechanisms. These are critical elements of national integrity systems that link
values and principles of good governance with the institutional structures and
practices that give effect to these values.

A national integrity system's values must permeate the institutions,
practices and principles of the State and civil society including the corporate
sector. These values include accountability, transparency, equity, efficiency,
developmentalism and fundamental rights and freedoms including freedom of
speech, access to information, democracy and participation.

The successful practice and implementation of a national integrity system is
predicated on strong leadership and the ability of leaders to set a vision,
based on the values of the society. Governments can create a national integrity
system infrastructure with laws systems and structures but ultimately
leadership must voluntarily submit to a higher code of probity, which goes
beyond strictly legal prescriptions. This submission to a moral code guarantees
the integrity and purpose of institutions of good governance and democracy.
Ethical behaviour cannot be assumed. Specific measures and institutions to
safeguard integrity and to promote ethics are required. The absence of these
measures and institutions or their ineffectiveness or manipulation paves the
way for unethical behaviour, including corruption.

Understanding corruption in a broader context

Corruption has often been projected as an African and "developing south"
phenomenon. Definitions of the problem have frequently been limited to the
abuse or misuse of public power or resources for private benefit, thus focusing
on the behaviour of politicians and those in the public service. Corruption and
bribery have also repeatedly been used interchangeably ignoring the fact that
bribery is a two way transaction involving both bribe givers and bribe takers.
Particular cultures, societies or people have been depicted as being inherently
corrupt. Solutions and strategies for combating corruption have been developed
as apolitical, largely legalistic and technocratic interventions that are
devoid of ideology and values. The result of this approach is that the role of
the private sector and civil society is rarely addressed, and the prevalence of
corruption in the developed north is seen as an abnormality.

Corruption more broadly defined includes transactions or attempts to secure
illegitimate advantage for national interests or private benefit or enrichment,
through preventing public officials or any persons or entities from performing
their proper functions with due diligence and probity.

Experience shows that corruption is prevalent in all sectors in both
developed and developing countries. People occupying the highest political
office and management positions in the public and private sectors as well as in
civil society organisations have abused their positions of authority and trust
for private gain. Those that are guilty of corruption have been exposed
irrespective of the sectors they come from. Governments have in cases acted
without fear or favour, and as in the case of the Government of Lesotho,
decisive State action has led to the prosecution of multinational corporations
which have been found guilty of paying bribes.

Africa forum confirmed the understanding that corruption is a societal
problem, which affects all sectors of society differently. In South Africa,
apartheid exposed us to the reality of systemic corruption which infused the
entire society and was used to sustain those in power. The collusion of the
elite with the ruling party amounted to a takeover of the state. The security
of the State and protection of the rulers shaped the institutions as well as
policies of governance and conditioned the behaviour of politicians, diplomats,
business people and the security services.

Apartheid was a criminal system maintained by criminal means with scant
regard for public or private morality or respect for human life.

Globally, corruption is not restricted to purely commercial transactions but
may also be present when citizens seek access to social services such as
health, welfare and education. A bribe may be demanded by a public official in
order to deliver the service or grant access to the service to which the
citizen is entitled and which the public official is obliged to deliver. The
failure to deliver leads to a culture where citizens feel compelled to offer
bribes in order to receive rights to which they are entitled, thus
strengthening the climate of corruption.

Reshaping the global discourse on corruption

The intentional preoccupation in the global corruption discourse with bribe
takers and bribe givers and particularly with bribe takers needs to be
challenged precisely because it overlooks the complexity of the social forces,
systems, processes and structures which underpin acts of corruption. It also
needs to be challenged because as democratic states around the globe continue
to strengthen the fight against poverty and underdevelopment, this
preoccupation detracts from the broad goals of democracy and development. It
also detracts from the centrality of the political economic interface in
shaping particular acts of corruption.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen in his book 'Development as Freedom' reminds us
that democracy as well as being an end in itself, plays a pivotal role in
giving people a voice and a constructive role in shaping values and norms. He
also persuasively argues that freedom is the ultimate goal of political, social
and economic organisation as well as the most efficient means of realising
general welfare. All social institutions including markets, political parties,
legislatures, the judiciary and the media must contribute to development by
enhancing individual freedom. Social institutions are in turn sustained by
social values. This is why values, institutions, development and freedom are
all closely interrelated. Sen links them together by questioning the
relationship between our collective economic wealth and our individual ability
to live free from poverty.

As I have previously indicated in reshaping the global discourse on
corruption we need to acknowledge that corruption is systemic and that it
undermines value systems, norms and ultimately the very cohesion of society
itself. While it may not be the intention of the corrupter to engage in
practices that undermine the values of the nation State and the values of
community, it has this effect, regardless of intent.

Corruption engenders perverse political dependencies, lost political
opportunities to enhance the wellbeing of the people and fosters a climate of
mistrust particularly of public officials. The losses that accrue from a
culture of permissiveness with respect to corruption include a loss of revenue,
loss of trust, loss of values, loss of credibility and legitimacy and a loss of
the democratic ethos and impulse within institutions and organisations. In
2004, Daniel Kaufmann, the World Bank's Institute's director for governance,
estimated that over $1 trillion dollars (US$1 000 billion) is paid in bribes
each year. The $1 trillion figure, calculated using 2001/02 economic data
compares with an estimated size of the world economy at that time of just over
US$30 trillion and excludes embezzlement of public funds or theft of public
assets. Kaufmann also noted that a calculation of the total amounts of corrupt
transactions is only part of the overall costs of corruption which constitutes
a major obstacle to reducing poverty, inequality and infant mortality in
developing countries.

The principles of democratic administration, transparency, accountability
and the rule of law form the basis of a more comprehensive understanding of
corruption. This is why we need to reflect on the functioning of our national,
regional and global political economies. In doing so we need to understand the
objective social forces that shape our nation states, our regions and our
continents and the material context in which corruption occurs.

Fighting corruption globally

Just as we create compacts between governments and civil society in building
national integrity systems, similar compacts are important in combating
corruption. We all need to ensure speedy ratification and accession to regional
anti-corruption instruments and the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption (UNCAC). We also need to build greater synergy and mutual support
between the Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity and
the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption. In the same spirit, we must ensure effective co-ordination and
harmonisation of reporting responsibilities with respect to all multilateral
instruments on preventing and combating corruption.

We also call on all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) member states to implement and enforce the provisions of the OECD
convention on the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business
Transactions.

A key element in the fight against corruption is asset recovery. We must
create conditions under which interstate and private sector co-operation is
fostered including access to witnesses, documents and entities within their
jurisdictions in the recovery and return of unlawfully appropriated public
resources and assets to states from which they were pillaged.

We need to strengthen national agencies that have anti-corruption
responsibilities including specialised prosecutorial and anti-money laundering
agencies. We must fortify sub-regional and regional bodies and international
organisations that have been established to fight corruption.

In order to support the fight against corruption and to assess material
progress, we need as a matter of urgency to institute new systems for measuring
corruption and anti corruption efforts which rise above the measurement of
perceptions. Measurement of actual levels of corruption as well as perceptions
should go beyond statistical modelling to include self assessment and peer
review instruments.

Conclusion

We can all agree that anti-corruption strategies must be articulated by
leaders in the political, economic and civil society spheres and must engage
all sectors of society on the basis of a core set of leadership practices and
values. If, as we have argued at the Africa Forum on Fighting Corruption,
corruption has a deep and lasting impact on the very core values of society,
then any anti-corruption strategy must articulate an alternative ethos and
value system.

Now is the time to infuse into the global discourse this African perspective
which emerges from our own understanding of our communal traditions of
fairness, justice and humanity. As we engage over the next four days we must
demonstrate to the entire world our dedication to fighting corruption. We need
to seize this opportunity of fostering collaborative work while recognising
that no nation is free of corruption, that it benefits the few and harms the
many. We also must agree that we need inter state co-operation on a number of
fronts free from any conditionality to be effective in our fight against
corruption.

In conclusion, I would like to return to Ayi Kwei Armah's 'The Beautiful
Ones Are Not Yet Born,' where in a world of haves and have nots the real losers
may be the half haves. They are the ones who come close enough to the rainbow
to count its colours and stretch out their arms toward the pot of gold they
will never touch. In penning his novel, Armah's heart appears to break as he
describes a dank, rotten hell of down payments and kickbacks designed to
generate an Eden of infinite desires. In apparent bemusement and with incipient
frenzy, he confronts his own creation, "the man" and asks whether there was not
something "unnatural in any man who imagined he could escape the inevitable
decay of life and not accepts the decline into final disintegration?" While
Armah scarcely allows his character the comfort of hope and leaves us wondering
whether he himself has any hope at all, he is at heart a dreamer who cries out
defiantly to the world because he has not yet found it worthy of the dreams he
would like to create. And yet, underlying the title of his book 'The Beautiful
Ones Are Not Yet Born,' lies an ocean of hope, yearning and dreams. As the
great Mahatma Ghandi once said, "we must become the change we want to see."

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
2 April 2007