Towards a Common Understanding of Corruption in Africa
| Published date | 01 July 2009 |
| Date | 01 July 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0952076709103814 |
| Author | Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi |
| Subject Matter | Features Section: Public Policy and Practice |
© The Author(s), 2009.
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0952-0767
200907 24(3) 331–338
Towards a Common
Understanding of Corruption
in Africa
The Honourable Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi,
former Minister of Public Service and
Administration, South Africa
Presented at the African Forum on Anti-Corruption, 28 February 2007
Abstract
Corruption takes place at the interface between the public and private sectors.
The corollary of this argument is that effective anti-corruption strategies must
be designed to both enhance democracy in the political sphere as well as
corporate governance in the private sector. Corruption has been manifest in all
historical epochs – the periods of colonialism, neo-colonialism and the Cold
War and in the contemporary period. In an effort to fight the Cold War
through proxy nations in the South, the global superpowers overthrew many
democratically elected regimes in Africa, Asia and Latin America and often
replaced them with malleable regimes. The legacy of the Cold War has
created an environment for the forces of Globalization, which are supra-
national in character to once again exploit the vulnerabilities of nation states.
By situating corruption in its historical context and by linking it to the
unregulated and regulated markets of capitalism, nationally and globally,
corruption can be seen as more than the relationship between the bribe giver
and the bribe taker. It has historical roots; it is systemic and goes beyond the
individual to the structural and the institutional levels. By asserting that
corruption is rooted in the forces of the market and in the pursuit of
profitability, corruption often seen as ‘the price of doing business’ must not
be viewed as an intrinsic element of the value system of democratic
capitalism.
Keywords
corruption, anti-corruption, good governance, poverty, development, national
integrity framework
DOI: 10.1177/0952076709103814
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Practice Director, Democratic Governance Group, Bureau for
Development Policy, 304 East 45th Street, FF-10th Floor, New York, NY 10017
331
Public Policy and Administration 24(3)
Seven Premises of Corruption
The first premise is that while corruption manifests itself in the relationship
between individuals and institutions, as a practice it is rooted in the operation of
market forces, the pursuit of individual prosperity as opposed to the common
good. Free market ideology has generated a rugged individualism that has lead to
the atomization of society and given rise to a rampant pursuit of individual gain.
This possessive individualism has undermined the goals and objectives of national
and community level development.
Underdeveloped capitalism has lacked an independent basis for accumulation
within the economy, making access to the state and its levers critical for capital
accumulation. A connection to the state has thus become a sine qua non for capi-
talist accumulation and the state connection has become a life and death struggle
for the elite. This has undermined democracy and spawned networks of corruption
that have pillaged public resources in the pursuit of personal wealth.
The second premise is that corruption is fundamentally undemocratic; it under-
mines the legitimacy and credibility of democratically elected governments and of
responsible and accountable civil servants.
The third premise is that corruption is about the interface of political and eco-
nomic elites at a global, national and regional scale.
The fourth premise is that the intentional preoccupation in the global corruption
discourse with bribe takers and bribe givers and particularly with bribe takers is
disingenuous, ideologically loaded, and simplistic. This discourse needs to be
challenged precisely because it overlooks the complexity of the social forces,
systems, processes and structures that underpin acts of corruption. It also needs to
be challenged because as democratic states in Africa continue to strengthen the
fight against poverty and underdevelopment, this preoccupation detracts from the
broad goals of development.
The fifth premise is that corruption is systemic, and the focus must therefore be
on effects rather than intentions. The effect of corruption is that it undermines the
value system, the norms and the very cohesion of society.
The sixth premise is that an anti-corruption strategy must be articulated by
leaders in the political, economic and civil society spheres and must engage all
sectors of society on the basis of a core set of leadership practices and values. If,
as is being argued, corruption has a deep and lasting impact on the very core values
of society, then an...
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