Improve governance to end corruption in SA

THE revelations at the Zondo commission are alarming, especially by leaders who were involved in bribery claims.

These revelations are an indication that our governance systems are broken and will need urgent fixes.

Every day we hear new information about how corruption has happened in South Africa. This corruption is an indictment that there is more that needs to be done by our government, political parties and society in dealing with this predicament.

Recently, revelations at the commission have resulted in the arrests of some high-profile people. I thought this corruption was only happening in the public sector, but the recent EOH revelations confirm that the private sector also had a role to play.

It is time not to deny or accept what happened, but rather a wake-up call for all of us to look at immediate solutions to stop this crime.

Therefore, the above forces me to ask this question: what has happened to those company bosses that supported this current fraud or crime?

Is it not correct that the players in these boards continue to serve on these companies' boards without any legal recourse?

I am suggesting the above because the people involved in those board committees do not face any consequences. Instead, they go to the next board.

It is critically important that we adopt zero-tolerance to corruption, and anyone implicated and charged for such crimes needs to be forced to vacate their office until they can clear their name. The action required will need to be taken irrespective of the involved person's seniority in government, business or society.

We can't be wearing kid gloves when we see that corruption destroys everything the country has worked hard to achieve.

The answer is no; we cannot allow ourselves to be consumed by corruption. It is essential, therefore, that we need to improve our governance systems.

The first casualties that I observed now are the whistleblowers who are not given enough protection, making people uncomfortable when they report such matters.

There is a greater need to ensure that there is protection for whistleblowers. Protection will, therefore, ensure that all the suspected fraudulent transactions are reported.