'We are not a society of saints'

Abstract

In this article, the author illuminates the phenomena of corruption in the South African society. Not only does he illustrate that corruption needs to be contained, but he also suggests that companies, large and small, public and private are not doing enough to minimize the incidence of corruption. The author then proceeds to scrutinize four ways of restricting corruption:
- Legislation. Although he does not favour the option of legislation, he demonstrates that the introduction in the USA of the Foreign Corruption Practices Act led to substantial changes in company behaviour and practice.
- Behaviour. The author suggests that companies spell out in clear terms what is considered acceptable and legitimate behaviour and what is not. These policy guidelines must then be implementable in practice.
- Education. In the long term, the author suggests, society must be educated and re-educated in business ethics. Clearly, business schools would be the ideal instrument to carry the awareness into the business community.
- Audit. The author proposes that the audit is the best way of dealing with corrupt practices. Management must install the systems and internal controls; and must ensure that the internal audit team is composed of high quality people who will not deviate from their task objective. In this respect the computer - despite its own security problems - could be of great importance.