South Africa's Minister of Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, on Monday said that corruption was especially corrosive for the developing world with funds to be used for the development and upliftment of the people being misspent.

"Some resources are lining the pockets of those thieves, or criminals, who feel they can take liberties with money to be spent on the upliftment of the poor or the economy," commented Fraser-Moleketi, while addressing a Fraud Conference, in Johannesburg.

She said that South Africa's fight against corruption could only be effective if government were to work in partnership with civil society and the business sector.

"The fight against corruption will always remain work-in-progress," Fraser-Moleketi said, adding that as new manifestations of corruption were revealed, the State and all role players would need to develop new tools, laws and policies to respond to the challenge of corruption.

South Africa was the 37th signatory, and the first African country, to become a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) Anti-bribery Convention working group.

"South Africa has invested greatly in anti-corruption policies," said Fraser-Moleketi, adding that the country's anti-corruption policies and legislation also complied with the material requirements of the United Nations convention against corruption, the African Union Convention on preventing and combating corruption, and the Southern African Development Corporation's anti-corruption protocols.

"As part of the global community, the auditors, investigators, and law enforcement personnel, we all have our role to play in the fight against corruption," said Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) South Africa chairperson Raj Dhanlall.

The ACFE South African chapter, and the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa jointly hosted the Fraud Conference.

ORGANISATIONAL REPUTATION

Meanwhile, organisational reputation consultancy firm, Repucomm CEO Deon Binneman explained the importance of a company or organisation's reputation, and what companies should do in the event of fraud exposure occurring.

He urged businesses to be prepared for any eventuality that could damage its reputation, such as fraud, by ensuring it has effective communications systems in place to deal with media enquiries, the public and shareholders.

Binneman stressed the importance of ensuring that managers were trained in reacting to a situation and effectively communicating with all stakeholders.

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