PRETORIA – National Council of Provinces chairperson Thandi Modise has told the Speakers’ Summit of G20 Parliaments in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that “South Africa is taking corruption on, and I know we shall win this battle”.
Speaking at the summit on Thursday, Modise said South Africa had strong laws, policies and institutions to combat corruption, but she admitted these were sometimes inadequately enforced.
“Over the past months, however, there had been a series of parliamentary inquiries on public and private institutions and judicial commissions of inquiry into alleged corruption, state capture and other forms of abuse of office,” explained Modise of efforts by South Africa to tackle the problem.
“As parliamentarians, we must be relentless in committing to transparency and accountability. Integrity is a culture and a weapon we must entrench within our societies. Civil society and the media must continue to play the watchdog role to subject government to greater scrutiny.”
Modise said enforcing anti-corruption laws was essential but not enough, on its own, to completely combat corruption.