South Africa lags behind in enforcing international anti-corruption commitments

South Africa has once again failed to make any progress in enforcing key international commitments that are aimed at curbing the global export of corruption and making foreign bribery a crime, Corruption Watch reported today.

In its latest progress report, Exporting Corruption, on enforcement of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention (adopted in 1997), Transparency International announced today that only four of the 41 countries that are signatories to the convention are actively investigating and prosecuting companies that cheat taxpayers through bribery of foreign officials. The 41 countries signed up to the convention are responsible for about two-thirds of world exports and almost 90% of total foreign investment outflows.

According to David Lewis, executive director of Corruption Watch, South Africa is one of the eight countries classified as having limited enforcement, and in fact, to date has never initiated a prosecution or concluded a case involving foreign bribery. In 2013, for instance, no cases were commenced or concluded.

In addition, in spite of earlier recommendations from the OECD’s Phase 3 Report, no significant changes have been made to the legal framework regarding foreign bribery, and no case law has been introduced to provide further clarity on certain issues relating to intent. 

This only deepens concerns about South Africa’s passive approach to pursuing foreign bribery investigations, and the silence from government quarters in response to these findings and recommendations.

For more information:

David Lewis – 082 576 3748
Moira Campbell – 083 995 4711

Transparency International’s Exporting Corruption Report 2014 is available at: http://www.transparency.org/exporting_corruption. 

The full report can be downloaded from: http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/exporting_corruption_progress_report_2014_assessing_enforcement_of_the_oecd

Country reports can be accessed by clicking on the map.