Rising Against Corruption

We should be encouraged when authorities and the media expose cases of corruption in the South African government and civil service. It is an indicator that our democratic institutions are still at work, even if imperfectly so when those in power close ranks to protect the corrupt.

On the other hand, of course, we must be alarmed at dishonesty among officials who administer funds from the public purse and coercion of citizens by some civil servants, including the police.

Corruption is commonly defined as the abuse of public office for private gain. Moral and legal codes have been developed over millennia to proscribe corruption.

It seems an intrinsic trait of the human condition to respond to the temptation of behaving dishonestly in order to get financial and other gain; it is part of our innate capacity for sin. Social scientists indicate this when they observe that crime and corruption are based on human weakness which spans cultures, geography and generations.

Even in the Old Testament, we find Moses admonishing the judges: “You must not pervert the law; you must be impartial; you will take no bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and ruins the cause of the upright” (Deuteronomy 16:19).

Most South Africans are rightly disgusted by the ethical deficiencies of our politicians and public servants, starting with a severely compromised president who cheerfully accumulates allegations of corrupt practices without providing adequate answers to them.

The government, under President Jacob Zuma and already under Thabo Mbeki, has done much to undermine the fight against corruption by closing down or otherwise clipping the wings of anti-corruption units.

It is evident that many of Mr Zuma’s choices of appointment to strategic positions have been designed to protect himself and his allies from proper investigation into unethical practices.

South Africa’s problem with corruption on the legislative level is not unique, of course. Even the corridors of power in the self-proclaimed “greatest democracy in the world”, the United States, is a kleptocratic cesspool, even if the processes of corruption there are more sophisticated than the blatantly executed plunder of South Africa’s public purse.

But in South Africa corruption infiltrates all levels of public service. Laws and rules are often bent and evaded by some government employees who will readily solicit and accept bribes.

That should not be tolerated: not by those who administer these civil services, nor by the colleagues of corrupt officials, nor by the public that is being shaken down.

From the ethical point of view, it is the individual’s personal integrity that protects organisations from corrupt practices. But temptation and opportunism can be overwhelming, especially in an atmosphere where dishonesty is tolerated and credible role models are not much in evidence.

It is within this culture of “getting away with it”, which is virtually a national sport in South Africa, that Christians find it a challenging prospect to teach and encourage the virtues of truthfulness, honesty, personal integrity and respect for the rights of others.

The Catholic Church’s many schools and institutions are contributing towards inculcating a strong sense of morals. We all need to make ever greater efforts to promote an ethical vision as we find corruption in politics, public service, sport, business and even in some parishes continues.

This involves also a refusal to offer bribes. In this, Christians may take inspiration from the imprisoned St Paul who refused to buy his freedom from the procurator Antonius Felix, who solicited bribes from the apostle (Acts 24:26).

In our schools, learners are told that respect for human life is an important Christian virtue, and respecting others and their rights is the practical way to exercise it. However, they must also be told that respect for their own person is of equal importance.

To respect oneself is to be and act as a unique individual who is answerable for his own moral behaviour. Answerability to one’s self is the same as responsibility to oneself.

Cecil John Rhodes once said cynically that every man has his price, and this idea certainly did not die with him. That is why we must work fervently to prove him wrong in the notion that corruption is inevitable.