Corruption costs SA 'R150bn pa'

2005-06-03 12:50

Durban - Public sector corruption costs South Africa between R50 and R150bn per year, an anti-corruption expert told the next leg of the Schabir Shaik case on Friday.

Hennie van Vuuren, from the Institute for Security Studies was called by the state to testify in aggravation of sentence for Schabir Shaik who was convicted on two counts of corruption and one of fraud on Thursday in connection with dealings relating to the government's arms deal and his relationship with deputy president Jacob Zuma.

"Law is only as good as the willingness of the state to implement anti-corruption measures," Van Vuuren told the court which was still packed after Thursday's judgment.

Shaik, who appeared more relaxed and was more talkative was back in court, accompanied by his wife Zuleikha and his brother Mo, Chippy and Yunis. He is in R100 000 bail pending his sentencing.

As an example Van Vuuren cited the department of social welfare where 40 000 public servants received grants to which they were not entitled.

Van Vuuren said that out of 4 000 South Africans surveyed only two percent reported corruption. The others did not believe that "whistle blowing" would be dealt with, if at all, by the state.

"That reflected a lack of faith in state institutions," said Van Vuuren.

Corrupt practises

In 2004, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya revealed that social grants scams cost the state R2bn a year and as much as R10bn may have been lost to corrupt practises in the first 10 years of democracy, he said.

Van Vuuren said the sectors most open to corruption were public servants, the construction industry, followed by the arms and defence industry. The impact of low salaries was not necessarily a factor they looked at while conducting their research.

Corruption thrived on the silence of the people involved in the act and therefore it was difficult to estimate the extent thereof. However, a conservative calculation showed that roughly 10% of all transactions per country were corrupt.

According to the African Union, corruption costs the continent at least US$150bn in "squandered wealth".

Van Vuuren said the World Bank argued that bribes in excess of one trillion US dollars were paid annually.

"Corruption, the abuse of entrusted power for private benefit, is one of the biggest developmental challenges facing the world today," he said.

"It is the poor woman and man who are too often the ultimate victim of corrupt activity perpetrated by members of the business and political elite, in a quest for conspicuous consumption - euphemistically known as 'living beyond ones means'".

- SAPA