'Scourge' affects all countries

Corruption distorts human values and freedom and negatively affects the delivery of services to those most in need, President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday.

The president was speaking in Sandton, Johannesburg, at the 5th Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Protecting Integrity.

Opening the forum, Mbeki said: "Corruption in all its forms and manifestations constitutes a process that negates the democracy and development the ordinary people need to transcend the boundaries of their world of poverty, underdevelopment and disempowerment."

The conference, held for the first time on African soil, brought together delegates from over 100 countries to share knowledge and develop measures to end the global "scourge" of corruption.

Mbeki urged delegates to fight anti-corruption within a development and anti-poverty framework.

"Anti-corruption discourse, while obviously absolutely necessary, must not be seen as an end in itself. It must be firmly located within a development and anti-poverty discourse - a people's contract that binds the democratic state to the citizenry and promotes the value of human solidarity and public accountability."

Corruption was not necessarily caused by poverty

Rather it further entrenched poverty and negated the potential for development.

Mbeki reflected on the Western perception that corruption was "peculiarly African"... "something to do with the biological character of the African". He emphasised that the global discourse on corruption must begin with the recognition that it affected all countries, developed or developing.

Delegates heard that the World Bank estimated in 2004 that a figure of over $1 trillion was paid in bribes each year.

German Ambassador to South Africa, Harro Adt, speaking on behalf of G8 head Chancellor Angela Merkel, said a figure of a further $4 billion was linked to corrupt practices.

African nations demonstrated a "strong political will" to eradicate corruption and this was also an important priority for the G8, he said.

Ghana's Justice Minister, Joe Ghartey, welcomed the global nature of the forum in his address on behalf of African Union president John Kufuor. He said African countries often experienced difficulty recovering proceeds of corruption from banks outside the continent.and prosecuting corrupters who fled resulted in complex legal wars.

He added that the fight against corruption was not isolated and was often linked to organised crime and the drug trade.

"A holistic approach is required.

"The fight involves us all. This is the greatest public form of expressing a collective will to fight against corruption."

The chairman of the National Accountability Bureau in Pakistan, Shahid Aziz, told Sapa that combating corruption in a globalised world was challenging.

"Many identify Pakistan as a country with high levels of corruption. The main push and the money comes from people outside of the country - they are moneyed, well-connected globally," he said.

His country had recovered some two to three billion US dollars since the inception of its constitutionally appointed anti-corruption agency.

"Countries should create harmony between their anti-corruption agencies.

"They must be outside of government control but they must understand the compulsions of government especially as related to the economy," Aziz advised.

A recent survey by Markinor found that at least half the adult population of South Africa believed corruption was widespread among government officials.

Civil servants and managers of private businesses were seen as corrupt by more than a third of the 3500 South Africans surveyed.

Progress made by South Africa in combating corruption was well documented according to the National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF). - Sapa

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Cape Argus.