Corruption beyond tenders: A call for introspection in SA

If outgoing US President Joe Biden’s about-face in granting pardon to his son Hunter, who was convicted on gun and tax charges, is anything to go by, the scourge of corruption knows no bounds.

The insidious global scourge – continuing to infiltrate every level of society, degrading public trust, negatively affecting economic development and societal progress – came under discussion in South Africa this week, as we marked International Anti-Corruption Day.

We merely confine corruption to the illegal awarding of tenders to preferred entities, but the matter is much wider and embedded in society – requiring much broader intervention.

Listening to an inspiring speech by Public Service Commission chair Somadoda Fikeni, which took delegates at the anti-corruption dialogue by surprise and left them nodding, I got to realise how endemic corruption is in society.

Instead of pointing fingers at the usual suspects, Fikeni challenged delegates at the conference to turn the mirror to themselves.

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Not even Biden would want to be reminded how immoral it was to grant a pardon to his son – on the wrong side of the law.

Fikeni’s masterclass on corruption starts with you – a behavioural challenge on many things people take for granted.

In his effective presentation, he said South Africa was “a country that is so used to workshops and conferences in policy development and sometimes we mistake this for the real thing”.

“We are a country that is so fascinated with policies and systems, even if we have not implemented them. To ordinary people – they know that we flew here – we are going to sleep somewhere and we are going to claim S&Ts (subsistence and travel allowance) – and thereafter nothing happens?

“What right do we have when they think all of us have become that ecosystem of corruption?

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“Yet each one of us flying to this venue – considering money spent on us – would have helped a shoe cobbler to buy material or get a gazebo.

“Do we practicalise some of these things – to say we are a lucky few in the most unequal society? What is an ordinary grassroots person’s definition of corruption?

“When I say please Google for me any conference to take me abroad, I will buy some stuff for you too. I get there and never pitch on behalf of the country. If that is not corruption, what is corruption?”

He added: “We have spoken about corruption as if it is only about people meeting somewhere and waiting for that tender – not realising that this is a slippery slope.

“When the PA is printing you those tickets, realising that your flight is equal to her salary – travelling four times – we come back, reminding them of constitutional values and ethics.

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“Staff wonder what these people are talking about. Which world do they live in? As you go to the airport to make space for yourself in the lounge, they go to a mashonisa (loan shark) to borrow money they cannot pay back.”

What a rude awakening to the holier-than-thou.

National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council chair Firoz Cachalia reminded us about the importance of taking a deep dive into the state of corruption and draw lessons from other countries.

Whatever happens after the world has marked International Anti-Corruption Day, remains to be seen.