Mbeki questions fraud report

2008-02-14 17:01

Cape Town - Perceptions of the levels of corruption in South Africa were sometimes used to perpetuate "dangerous falsehoods", President Thabo Mbeki told Parliament on Thursday.

Quoting from a 2007 United Nations report he said perceptions did not necessarily reflect actual experience.

"Yet, the perceptions to which the UN report refers, which 'do not necessarily reflect the actual experience of corruption in the country', are sometimes fuelled by some among us, thus perpetuating dangerous falsehoods that impact negatively on our country," he said in his reply to the station of the nation debate.

He was responding to comments from opposition parties that the present government had plunged the country into crisis.

The impression should not be created that "we revel in playing the role of cheerleaders of bad news about our country".

Quoting from the country corruption assessment report, he said: "Perceptions and media have thus come to form the foundation for understanding the prevalence of corruption."

According to the UN report, South Africa's rating of 4.8 out of 10 on Transparency International's corruption index made it clear that the country was perceived as having fairly high levels of corruption.

"There is a general perception within the country too, that corruption is rife. Many people believe corruption has increased in the post-apartheid era during the period of political and economic transition."

- SAPA