{"id":102765,"date":"2025-12-10T23:03:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T21:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=102765"},"modified":"2025-12-10T23:03:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T21:03:53","slug":"international-anti-corruption-day-highlights-urgent-need-for-action-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/international-anti-corruption-day-highlights-urgent-need-for-action-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"International Anti-Corruption Day Highlights Urgent Need for Action in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read | 10 December 2025<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

South Africans urged to reclaim accountability as experts warn that corruption, both grand and everyday continues to erode essential services and trust in the state. \ud83d\udcf8<\/p><\/div>\n

On International Anti-Corruption Day, South Africans are once again confronted with the harsh reality of entrenched corruption across both public and private sectors. While globally observed, this day lands heavily in a nation where many feel \u201cthey have nothing to positively add,\u201d given what Advocate Stefanie Fick<\/a> from OUTA describes as \u201cthe impunity with which corruption takes place from the highest levels of government to the lowest scale workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fick notes that corruption is often buried beneath euphemisms – mismanagement, scandal, price-fixing,<\/em> and even corporate collapse<\/em> terms that \u201cdescribe what it actually is: corruption at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, despite the grim landscape, Fick offers a glimmer of hope. \u201cThe positive spin,\u201d she explains, \u201cis the people of South Africa.\u201d She credits civil society vigilance and a slowly awakening business sector for preventing a complete erosion of accountability. \u201cWithout civil society there wouldn\u2019t have been anything to be celebrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether any state-owned enterprises stand out as relatively \u201ccleaner,\u201d Fick cautiously notes improvements at Eskom, highlighting the welcomed period without load-shedding. \u201cWe can celebrate the fact that we haven\u2019t experienced load shedding but there\u2019s still a problem,\u201d she warns, citing high electricity costs and uneven access. She points to Transnet\u2019s slow shift toward private sector involvement as another sign of progress, saying this \u201cmay improve our rails\u201d and reduce strain on deteriorating roads.<\/p>\n

However, Fick is unequivocal about one core problem: implementation. Referring to commissions such as the Zondo Inquiry which cost nearly R1 billion she stresses that South Africa does not suffer from a lack of investigations, but rather from a failure to act. \u201cThe problem is implementation. We do not have the political will to make sure that recommendations are actually implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n

For ordinary citizens dealing with daily bribery requests, from traffic stops to Home Affairs queues, Fick\u2019s message is firm: \u201cCorruption takes two people. If we as ordinary South Africans say no\u2026 the other person can\u2019t commit corruption.\u201d She encourages whistleblowing, including through civil society bodies like OUTA.<\/p>\n

As local elections draw closer, Fick urges South Africans to remember the direct cost of corruption. \u201cIf we didn\u2019t have corruption at the local level, our roads would be fixed. Make your voice heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her closing reminder carries both hope and urgency: \u201cWe live in a beautiful country and we are beautiful people. We are worth fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Advocate Stefanie Fick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 10 December 2025 On International Anti-Corruption Day, South Africans are once again confronted with the harsh reality of entrenched corruption across both public and private sectors. While globally observed, this day lands heavily in a nation where many feel \u201cthey have nothing to positively add,\u201d given what Advocate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":102766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/international_day_against_corruption.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qJv","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 17:01:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}