Roundup: S. Africans mark International Anti-Corruption Day

South Africans on Friday marked the International Anti-Corruption Day, with a vision for 2030 when there will be zero tolerance for corruption in the country.

Commemorating events took place in parts of the country in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

This year's commemoration saw another milestone reached through the initiation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), which is consistent with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

This is the first time South Africa is attempting the formulation of a national strategy encompassing all sectors of society, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said in a presentation of the initiation.

"In so doing we have to acknowledge that corruption is a problem which affects all of us," PSC Acting Chairperson Ben Mthembu said at an event taking place at the University of South Africa outside Pretoria.

With this strategy, South Africa has a resilient anti-corruption system in which anti-corruption agencies have the resources, credibility and powers to investigate corruption and their investigations are acted upon, Mthembu said.

As such, South Africans must learn to listen and engage with each other to be able to find a common purpose: that of dealing with the problem of corruption collectively and effectively, Mthembu said.

This can only be achieved with honest engagement and with good purpose, he said.

"Our vision for 2030 is a South Africa which has zero tolerance for corruption, in which an empowered citizenry have the confidence and knowledge to hold public and private officials to account and in which leaders hold themselves to high ethical standards and act with integrity," said Mthembu.

To mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, the South African cabinet issued a statement, outlining the achievements in fighting corruption.

Since 2014, South Africa has ensured the conviction of a total of 90 persons and legal entities for corruption and corruption related matters. Of the 90 persons convicted, 32 were in respect of cases where the total amount involved is five million rand (about 370,000 U.S. dollars) per case, according to the statement.

The total amount involved in the 30 cases was about 3.8 billion rand (about 279 million U.S. dollars). In the instance of the remaining 58 persons convicted where the amount involved was less than five million rand per case, the total amount involved was in the order of 188 million rand (about 13.8 million U.S. dollars), said the statement.

In addition to securing convictions, a mechanism that is employed by the corruption fighting agencies is the freezing or confiscation of assets of those suspected of involvement in corruption while their prosecution is pending or their cases finalised through criminal or civil procedures respectively.

Since 2014 to date, South Africa has been able to obtain 871 freezing orders totalling 7.65 billion rand (about 562 million dollars) as well as 1,089 forfeiture/confiscation orders to the value of 2.86 billion rand (about 210 million dollars), official figures show.

"Despite the progress we have made, it is indubitable that corruption continues to be a menace. This requires of us to escalate and deepen the measures we have put in place to counter corruption," Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said in a keynote address at the commemoration event at the University of South Africa.

Overcoming the twin challenges of corruption and lack of accountability in society requires a resilient system consisting of political will, sound institutions, a sound legal system, an active citizenry that is empowered to hold public officials accountable, he said.

The theme of this year's International Anti-Corruption Day is "united against corruption for development, peace and security".

Every year 1 trillion U.S. dollars are paid in bribes while an estimated 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars are stolen annually through corruption -- a sum equivalent to more than five per cent of the global GDP.

In developing countries, funds lost to corruption are estimated at 10 times the amount of official development assistance, according to the United Nations Development Program. Endite