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South African Civil Society South African Civil Society Anti-Corruption initiativesAnti-Corruption initiatives

Prepared for:Public Service and Administration Portfolio CommitteeParliament, 26 March 2003

Prepared by: Hennie van Vuuren

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Presentation outlinePresentation outline:

• The potential contribution of CSO’s in fighting corruption.

• CSO-Anti-Corruption activity• The Media• Sectoral/Cross-Sectoral Initiatives• Mobilising and monitoring as a CS challenge• Corruption within NGO’s• Key challenges facing CSO’s• Recommendations

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IntroductionIntroduction

• Civil Society: includes all not-for-profit organisations and the media

• SA has as many as 98 000 Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s)

• SA Civil Society vibrant - but faces challenge of debunking myth that fighting corruption is to be equated with questioning the integrity of our democracy.

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The potential contribution of The potential contribution of CSO’s in fighting corruptionCSO’s in fighting corruption

• Promoting Accountability

• Blowing the whistle

• Promoting Service Delivery

• Sharing resources in the fight against corruption

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CSO Anti-Corruption activityCSO Anti-Corruption activity

• SA CSO’s which primarily focus on transparency and accountable governance are active in the following areas:

Advocacy Research Faith based organisations Membership organisations A silent majority of ‘other’ actors?

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AdvocacyAdvocacy

• The Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC)

• Transparency South Africa (T-SA)

• Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM)

• The Public Information & Monitoring Services (PIMS)- Idasa

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ResearchResearch

• Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

• The Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)

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Faith based organisationsFaith based organisations

• National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF)

• Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM)

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Membership OrganisationsMembership Organisations

• Trade Unions

• South African National NGO Coalition

( SANGOCO)

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The silent majority of The silent majority of anti-corruption CSO’s?anti-corruption CSO’s?

• Many more CSO’s may be involved in anti-corruption activities than we are aware of.

• CORE/Idasa survey of ‘the State of Civil Society in South Africa’ notes that 62% of respondents run programmes and projects in an area loosely defined as “Transparency and Governance”.

• Need to develop organic database of CSOs’ active in combating corruption.

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The MediaThe Media• SA fortunate to have a largely free press.• Often criticised for a harbouring ‘political motives’ in

exposing graft. • Sensational nature of some stories may influence

public opinion.• Survey: Investigative journalists expose 8.4% of

corruption cases.• Press are reporting good news stories as well.• Journalists under pressure from both politicians and

growing corporate nature of media industry.• Need to develop capacity of journalists to expose

corruption.

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Sectoral InitiativesSectoral Initiatives

• Has the potential to be a catalyst for developing a network of CSO’s active in combating corruption

• This goal has not been fully realised to date.

Cross - Sectoral InitativesCross - Sectoral InitativesNational:• National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF)

Provincial:

• Eastern Cape Network Against Corruption (NAC)-

(defunct)

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Mobilising and Monitoring Mobilising and Monitoring - a CS challenge- a CS challenge

• Capacity is required for civil society to effectively monitor corruption.

• Need to raise awareness amongst CSO’s of the role they can play in combating corruption thereby building a broad-based CS anti-corruption network.

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Corruption within CSO’sCorruption within CSO’s

• A cause for concern although often not highlighted in the media

• CSO’s are regulated by the requirements of the Non Profit Organisations (NPO) Act as well voluntary codes such as the SANGOCO code of ethics

• According to a PSC/T-SA/KPMG survey: - 88% of CSO’s surveyed have a Code of Conduct. - 72% of CSO’s have a reporting mechanism to protect employees who report ethical or legal violations

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Key CSO ChallengesKey CSO Challenges

• the loss of leadership skills from CS to business and government has been severe

• the diversion of donor resources from CSO’s to bilateral government to government agreements as well as a general reduction in the proportion of aid monies flowing to post-apartheid SA

• corruption does not always feature as top priority for all CSO’s .

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RecommendationsRecommendations

• Developing CS Political Will• Knowing who is doing what• Building CSO capacity• Building CSO Anti-corruption capacity • Promoting Internal Accountability• Growing the networks• Monitoring implementation• What next – the role of research

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South African Civil Society South African Civil Society Anti-Corruption initiativesAnti-Corruption initiatives

Prepared for:Public Service and Administration Portfolio CommitteeParliament, 26 March 2003

Prepared by: Hennie van Vuuren