African Anti-Corruption Day comes as SA grapples crime eroding public trust
Commemorated every year on 11 July the day marks the adoption of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) in 2003.
Now in its twenty second year, the convention continues to serve as a continental framework to strengthen accountability and integrity in public service. Some factors include:
As the continent recognises progress in the fight against corruption. South Africa grapples with this crime as one of its most urgent problems.
It erodes public trust, widens inequality, and weakens democratic institutions.
Even the South African Police Service is allegedly tainted.
While the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago has noted this he says they still continue their fight against corruption.
But they can not do this alone, he says
"We have created anti-corruption forums within different entities including the health sector and the local government but we need the whole society approac. Because when we work together we are in a position to fight corruption," he said.
Meanwhile reacting to allegations of corruption within the SAPS corruption watch attorney Nkululeko Conco says corruption filters down to the station level but also the involvement of gangs with police especially in the Western Cape.
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It is time those people were given a fair chance at public service. DM
