Corruption Watch on Thursday called on the CEOs of leading companies to explore opportunities for collaboration and involve business as an active partner in combating corruption.

“Corruption Watch’s very existence is anchored in the widely held belief that corruption cannot be effectively combated without active public participation. Business is a critical part of that public,” said Corruption Watch executive director David Lewis.

This followed the Tuesday conclusion of the civil society organisation’s first business colloquium, where Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan led the discussion on the role of business in fighting corruption.

He urged South Africans to develop a “counter-narrative to the prevailing story of corruption” and to be “innovative” in battling the stumbling blocks that undermined nation building and ethical citizenship.

“While the private sector is certainly implicated in corruption, so too are government, political parties and elected representatives and ordinary citizens. It is imperative that each of these sectors of society participate in combating corruption,” Lewis said

“Business is not collectively doing enough to curb corruption in respect of procedures or training and often cannot see a corrupt practice for what it is,” added JSE executive director John Burke.

A on-the-spot digital poll at the event had revealed that 79% of the businesses represented had experienced some form of actual or attempted corruption, with 72% of the those surveyed believing corruption had worsened over the past two years.

About 70% said they had lost a bid for business because of corrupt officials and 87% believed their competitors engaged in corrupt behaviour to seize unfair advantage.

The survey also found that 71% of the businesses had not pursued business opportunities in a market because of the likelihood of corruption and, while fewer than half had conducted a thorough due diligence to assess corruption risk, 52% of the respondents educated their employees to recognise and avoid and report corruption.