The considerable lack of exemplary ethical leadership exhibited by South African politicians and senior public officials contributed immensely to corruption and breeding of corrupt practices in the country.

This observation was made by the former head of Heath Investigation Unit, advocate Willem Heath, in an address to the Durban branch of the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Heath resigned as the head of Heath Investigation Unit after sharp differences between himself and the government over the scope of his work.

'This says much about the integrity and credibility of our political leaders'

Speaking on the topic, "Corruption in South Africa?", Heath said the lack of exemplary ethical leadership exhibited by politicians and senior public officials meant South Africans had a major problem in its hands.

To illustrate this, Heath quoted examples of the Mpumalanga premier Mndaweni Mahlangu, who once said it was fine for a politician to lie, the "exploits" of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela which appeared in the news weekly, and the cricket scandal involving the former South African cricket captain, Hansie Cronje.

"The political exploits of our leaders that is currently taking place in Western Cape and being portrayed on television like a soap opera and, lastly, the arms debacle and the harmful perceptions created by the allegation of corruption and personal gain, illustrate some of the problems we have in South Africa," said Heath.

He said in the majority of these cases, nothing had been done to set a prime example of how South Africans should deal with people who were unethical or who engaged in irregular, fraudulent or corrupt practices.

"Standing alone this says much about the integrity and credibility of our political leaders on all sides.

"Examples of corruption are not limited to politicians and civil servants. Poor leadership and poor examples can be in all spheres of South African life," he said.

He blamed these on the lack of ethical behaviour, integrity and the maintenance of moral standards that permeated the South African society, saying these allowed the generation of corrupt practices.

"From this, the concept evolves that if our elected leaders can get away with the behaviour that is against the public interest then, I as a poorly paid servant or unemployed person, can also rely on the same standard of behaviour," he said.

With acknowledgement to Sipho Khumalo, Daily News and Independent Online.