South Africa’s anti-corruption legal framework seems to be stepping up to the task of dealing with the resilient phenomenon of graft. Likewise, the media are also playing its role by relentlessly reporting on transactions that need to be looked into to determine if all is above board when it comes to how public funds are used.
In the private sector the work being done by the competition commission further boosts the ongoing fight against corruption. Going after practices such as price fixing and other anti-competitive behaviour by private companies, the competition commission is building a reputation as an effective corruption busting body. The commission, for example, recently sanctioned banks for uncompetitive attitudes.
These institutions, however, cannot win the fight alone. In order to ensure that corruption is completely uprooted from our society, citizens need to take a moral stance that will boost the anti-corruption legal framework we have in place. Currently, we lack the moral indignation about corruption to support our anti-corruption instruments.