Cape Town - The portfolio committee on justice yesterday made last-minute changes to the Prevention of Corruption Amendment Bill to ensure "the big fish" in the public and private sectors were specifically targeted and the police were not swamped by all kinds of petty allegations of corruption.

Chairman Johnny de Lange said the committee's recent decision to make corruption a reportable offence had major implications, not least for the criminal justice system.

The people "we are really after are actually the big fish", such as the managing directors or senior managers of companies and the directors-general of departments, and not junior workers who stole minor items and were usually easily caught out.

"The problem is that when you are in the top echelons, you get away, literally, with murder," he said.

If caught out, these top managers were usually given a golden handshake and told to move on. To save embarrassment, they were not charged.

To ensure it was these people who were reported and charged, the wording of some parts of the bill was changed to target senior managers "in positions of authority" in the government and the private sector and make it a duty for those who knew of their activities to report them.

The bill provides for companies and individuals who tried to "crook the government tender system" to be placed on a blacklist for between five and 10 years after they had been tried and found guilty.   

He objected to the suggestion that a blacklist be maintained on a so-called "central corruption register".

This wording, he said, would be "going a bit too far" and would send red lights flashing in every direction without actually dealing with the problem.

He suggested the title be toned down to reflect the fact that it dealt only with crimes involving tenders.

The blacklist would be maintained by the treasury and, unlike present provincial blacklists drawn up by officials, would be open to full public scrutiny to help the government and the private sector check that they were not dealing with a blacklisted company.

He hoped the two systems would evolve over time into a single blacklist that was open to full public scrutiny.

According to their own regulations, some provinces only gave out selected details of their blacklists, he said.

The bill, which, along with new anti-terrorism legislation, involves the private sector more fully in stamping out the twin scourges of corruption and the financing of terrorism, should be finalised by the national assembly next week before going to the national council of provinces for approval.

With acknowledgements to Lynda Loxton and the Business Report.