South Africa Vows To ‘Name & Shame’ Corrupt Officials
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South Africa’s Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has promised to publish the names and details of all public service officials ever found guilty of corruption, reported AFP, in response to criticism that authorities had been too soft on graft despite a government-declared ‘war on corruption’.
South Africa’s Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has promised to publish the names and details of all public service officials ever found guilty of corruption, reported AFP, in response to criticism that authorities had been too soft on graft despite a government-declared ‘war on corruption’.
On Sunday, Radebe said that the names of convicted corrupt officials would be publicised within “the next few days”, though he admitted that officials were still “working out the details” on whether to use electronic media, newspapers, radio or television to publish the information.
“We want to ensure that the public is conscious about what has happened, because sometimes when people talk about corruption, when we say ’32 people have been convicted,’ it’s just a number. But if you can attach a number to actual persons, you will understand that this fight against corruption, we do it in a very meaningful way,” Radebe said, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
[quote]Authorities are naming and shaming the officials “so the public will know these rotten apples of South African society,” he added.[/quote]Earlier this month, President Jacob Zuma made clear that combating corruption at all levels of government was of paramount importance. According to the latest figures by the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa, South Africa has lost roughly 675 billion rand ($76.7 billion) to corruption since the end of apartheid in 1994, while the nation also slipped five spots in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index last year.
South African NGO Corruption Watch found that most cases of graft occurred at the municipal level. Complaints relating to local government (22 percent) trumped traffic police (14.4 percent) and education officials (11 percent) in 2012, the organisation said.
President Zuma, during his 2013 State of the Nation Address, defended his government’s efforts to tackle corruption, though he acknowledged that more still needed to be done.
[quote]“From my understanding we are trying our best to deal with corruption. If I look around in the world, I think there are very few countries that talk about corruption. It is not as if corruption is not there. We are reported more about because we are talking about it,” Zuma said, as cited by IOL News.[/quote]Related: World Corruption Special Report
Related: World Bank Publishes List Of Corrupt Companies & Individuals
“I have since 2009 signed 34 proclamations directing the Special Investigating Unit to investigate allegations of corruption, fraud or maladministration in various government departments and state entities,” he told Parliament.
“These resources are aimed at strengthening the capacity of these law enforcement agencies in our resolve to fight corruption,” he added, according to SA News.
Responding to a question on Sunday about whether publicising the names and details of convicted officials would pose legal problems, Justice Minister Radebe claimed that such fears were unfounded as the names were public knowledge.
“It’s public knowledge. The records of our courts indicate that, so there is no problem whatsoever to indicate those people…. Cases of freezing orders as well as forfeitures is (also) public knowledge,” he said.
Nonetheless, according to statistics provided by Radebe himself, only 32 officials have been convicted of corruption since 2004, out of 237 people arrested – with two acquitted, while the cases of the remaining 203 accused are still before court.
