The new anti-corruption law due to be passed by parliament today is wide-ranging in its ambit and attempts to tackle corruption which was previously difficult to prosecute, including graft in gambling, sporting events, auctions and the criminal justice sector.

A long 18 months in the making, the complex bill, now called the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Bill, extends the current legal definition of what constitutes a corrupt practice in a bid to widen the net on corruption. It also provides for stiff sentences, which include life imprisonment.

Corruption in both the private and the public sectors costs the country hundreds of millions, and even billions, of rands depending on who you speak to, and adversely affects foreign and domestic investment.

The new bill states that any person who directly or indirectly "accepts, agrees, or offers to accept any gratification" from any other person to benefit himself or another person is guilty of the crime of corruption.

The person who makes the offer or inducement to another to commit a corrupt practice is also guilty of an offence. Under the previous anti-corruption law of 1992, only the public official involved in corruption was liable to prosecution. Significantly, the offence also applies to a person who influenced another to act in a corrupt manner.

In a departure from previous legislation on corruption, the bill says that if a person offers to perform a corrupt service for another - even if the person making the offer is not in a position to deliver the service - he or she will be guilty of the crime of corruption.

Steve Swart, African Christian Democratic Party MP of the national assembly's justice committee which crafted the law, said that this was one of the strong features of the bill since "a mere offer constitutes corruption", making the definition of the offence "much wider and easier to prosecute".

The bill goes further than the common law offence of bribery in that it states that it is a crime to offer or receive any form of "gratification" not earned. It also criminalises corruption in the private sector, which was not adequately covered in past legislation.

Hennie van Vuuren, senior researcher on anti-corruption strategies of the Institute for Security Studies, says the provisions which directly counter private sector corruption are very important because they fill a huge gap in legislation which allowed "private individuals and companies to corrupt each other with impunity often being rewarded for the practice".

"This creates cut-throat capitalism which is not in the interests of shareholders or the public at large," he added. He describes the new anti-corruption bill as a "very powerful instrument" to tackle corruption, and says it includes provisions that are "groundbreaking" when measured against international standards.

The bill places a duty on managers and directors in both the public and the private sectors to report corrupt colleagues and employees. If they fail to do so, they may be jailed for up to 10 years by the high courts and three years by the magistrate's courts.

They also have an obligation to report offences of theft, fraud, extortion, forgery or uttering involving more than R100 000.

The justice committee initially intended placing a duty on all members of the public to report corruption but watered down this provision.

This clause has prompted concern among human rights lawyers, who say it will turn us into a nation of informers, but Van Vuuren says that South Africa's corruption problem will not be solved "until we as society take ownership of the problem of corruption".

Van Vuuren points out that the problem with corruption is that it is very difficult to prosecute because there is often no material evidence, so unless "someone who has knowledge of the corruption speaks out", the crime will go undetected.

"Corruption is not a problem of government only," and any attempt to counter corruption will need the "co-operation of everyone p

Particularly those in the private sector", he added. Although corruption is not the country's biggest problem, it is the one common problem which undermines development and affects service delivery in sectors such as housing, health services and the criminal justice.

The problem with compelling the public, including bosses, to report corruption is that South Africa does not have a great record when it comes to protecting whistleblowers on corruption. Whistleblowers have been intimidated, fired and even killed after reporting wrongdoing.

Van Vuuren concedes that this is a problem and that the new parliament to be constituted next year would have to "urgently" revamp the Protected Disclosures Act, which protects whistleblowers.

One of the problems is that this act does not allow citizens to report corruption without revealing their identities. While such a provision may be desirable, it could be problematic since the authorities may be swamped with false and malicious reports of wrongdoing if completely anonymous whistleblowing is allowed, says Van Vuuren.

Another very significant provision of the bill, called the unexplained wealth clause, is that public officials who are obviously living beyond their means may be investigated and prosecuted.

Van Vuuren describes this clause as very important because public sector officials will have to prove their sources of income where it is clear that their living standards cannot be supported by a state salary. He says this will make it much easier to convict corrupt officials who receive kickbacks in state procurement deals, prevalent "in all tiers of government".

The authorities will require a court order to investigate unexplained wealth to ensure that abuse of this provision does not take place.

This provision has also prompted human rights concerns about privacy, but Swart says that the practice of investigating unexplained wealth has been "successfully adopted by revenue authorities to investigate undeclared tax revenue and there is no reason why a public official should not explain wealth that is apparently disproportionate to that person's past or present source of income or assets".

The bill contains provisions which give effect to the UN anti-corruption convention which will be signed soon, in Mexico, by public service and administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.

With acknowledgements to Andre Koopman and the Cape Times.