CORRUPTION is at a tipping point and SA needs to deal with the scourge decisively, says Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
“If it is correct that we all want an accountable state that operates with the highest level of integrity while being responsive to the needs of its citizens and residents, then we should all play our part to contribute,” she said, addressing the 13th International Winelands Conference in Stellenbosch yesterday.
“When we get out of the conference, the trajectory of our country depends on what each of us does. We have the power to determine the next phase.”
The theme of this year’s conference was Integrity and Governance: What is wrong? What is good? What is next?
About 100 people gathered at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies yesterday to hear Madonsela speak.
Throughout her 45 minute speech, she referred to a statement made by Nelson Mandela.
While addressing the opening of Parliament in 1999, Mandela said that when someone in power used public funds for his or her own benefit, “then we must admit that we are a sick society”.
“Our hope for the future deeply depends also on our resolution as a nation in dealing with the scourge of corruption.
“Success will require an acceptance that, in many respects, we are a sick society,” Mandela had said.
Madonsela said SA was in need of “selfless, committed and unwavering” leadership.
“That is what President Mandela was calling for,” she said.
“Corruption is endemic in our country, both in the public and private sectors.
“If we don’t deal with corruption decisively, it will not only impact on good governance but has the potential to distort our economy and to derail democracy.
“We are at a tipping point and President Mandela’s warning remains valid.”
She said it was appropriate that Mandela had likened corruption to a sickness.
“Indeed, others have called it a cancer. If we candidly view corruption as a cancer, we empower ourselves to deal with it as a nation the way we would deal with it if it were a cancer afflicting our body.
“We would isolate it and do all we can to get rid of it, with a view to saving ourselves from death or disability.”
Madonsela said the public protector was an important, but not central, player in the fight against corruption.
She said her office sought to address specific allegations of maladministration and also to act as a catalyst for systemic transformation in pursuit of good governance.
Madonsela said she had recently been asked what it would take to end corruption.
After some pondering, she had come up with three essential factors:
l Strengthening public accountability by empowering civil society to ask questions and promoting good leadership.
l Transparency, without which accountability would be impossible.
l Strengthening communication among enforcement or accountability agencies.
She also added that impunity must come to end.
“Otherwise all anti-corruption and anti-maladministration efforts are useless. There shouldn’t be protected people or holy cows.”
Madonsela left without taking questions. - Cape Times