Umtapo Centre

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Democracy, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Training Course

Following the successful courses conducted in Limpopo for students from universities in Limpopo and Gauteng, two more courses will be held in 2015:

22nd - 27th November 2015 in Western Cape

30th November - 5th December in Eastern Cape


Steve Biko Seminar


The Annual steve biko seminar in collaboration with the Durban University of Technology (DUT) will take place on 18th September 2015 at the DUT from 09h30 - 15h00.


Enver Motala from NMMU will be the keynote speaker on Education for Liberation: Myth of Possibility?



Number of articles: 1

NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ANTI-CORRUPTION 2016-03-11

NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ANTI-CORRUPTION

UMTAPO hosted a NATIONAL symposium on anti-corruption with the support of the Embassy of Finland and the Durban University of Technology to provide a platform for individuals, civil society organisations, academic institutions, the public & private sector, and all anti-corruption groups to gather and plan collective, sustainable action to create a caring and ethical society.

The symposium exposed students, government officials, social movements and civil society to the dire need to define a new set of values to create a more humane society.

 UMTAPO brought together relevant stakeholders and expertise to address the symposium and to provide the backdrop upon which the beginnings of a strong anti-corruption movement could be built.

 While it is no longer shocking to hear that South Africa currently rates as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa, the question is: Are we as civil society and concerned citizens willing to act? Are we ready to act?

Professor David Macharia  from the University of Nairobi, Kenya and Patron of UMTAPO, officially opened the symposium. He said: “Corruption is eating right into the bones. Resources meant for the people are going into private pockets. Together we must say No To Corruption And Yes To Working Together to root out corruption wherever it rears its ugly head.”

 Speakers at the symposium included Deputy Public Protector, Advocate Kevin Malunga, who stressed that a high standard of professional ethics must be embedded in the fabric of everyday life, influencing the nature of everyday interactions without predetermining their outcome.

 Civil society, he said, needs to take responsibility for continued collective action against bribery and corruption. He added that South Africa has almost 30 pieces of legislation dealing with corruption that needs to be tested. In his opinion proper remuneration of civil servants, access to information and transparency, whistle-blower support, proper use of legal frameworks, adherence to the Batho Pele principles, and political will would help curb corruption.

 He concluded by saying that the future depends on the actions we take today in pursuit of our collective destiny. The key to combating unethical governance does not lie in lone crusades by institutions such as the Public Protector; it lies in a national quest for ethical governance by all of us.

 Dr Pearl Sithole of the Public Service Commission spoke on the theme: From Apathy to Corruption: A wrong, yet logical, trend. Why is corruption endemic?

 She indicated that we deal with corruption merely as crisis management. Good governance she said goes beyond clean audits and oversight measures. She reiterated the trend of most speakers that we need to live by example. She bemoaned the lack of moral values.

 We have to start from the kind of society that we are, she emphasized. It is a society that is plagued by three issues:

·        Damaging historical patronage – with culprits still manoeuvring processes (odd sense of superiority and entitlement by certain forces)

·        Spatially skewed planning;

·        Land and capital non-reform

Currently, to get things happening the strategy is either ‘ill’ [i.e. nepotism, bribery, buying favour] or protest [toyi-toyi].

She added that the concept of leadership needs to include more than – “some ahead and others following”. Moral vision is missing.

 Public Service Values and Principles, Chapter 10, section 195 (1), she pointed out states that people’s needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy making.  Public administration must be accountable and transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information.

 Ms Namhla Tengwa of the Umtapo Student Movement noted that dishonesty has turned ordinary people into thieves. The thrust of her input is reflected in her words below:

 “In order to tackle the problem of corruption and to defeat it, our society needs to be one that is characterised by the ideal of Ubuntu which recognises that no person is an island entire upon himself/herself. We are all connected by a thread and that thread ties us to one destiny as a nation; this means that the fight against corruption must be one that is fought by our communities and not just individuals.

 Further, ethical leadership needs to be the order of the day; its needs to be the criterion that transcends all social division. This means that we need to place it above cultural, ethnic and tribal loyalties; ethical leaders are transparent and accountable leaders, just the sort of people this country is lacking.

 Most of all, civil society and communities need to speak in one very loud voice, a voice that says we do not tolerate corruption in any shape or form. Not just corruption at the highest levels but even corruption by a lowly clerk or someone who conducts driving tests”.

 Ms Bongi Mlangeni of the Social Justice Initiative stated that the starting point to positively transform our society is to begin with transforming ourselves as individuals because it is easy to see the corrupt as the ‘other’.  Are you saying no to corruption, not just in words, but in the way you behave?

 Leaders come from our communities, they are shaped by the values that we collectively create. When we deliver more value, she said, we can demand more.

 One’s personal understanding of corruption is theft of public’s dignity – aimed at devaluing the lives of others at all cost. There has to be a point when we say ‘enough is enough’ to those who say ‘it is our turn to eat’.

 

Bongi raised pertinent questions as we interrogate the way forward:

How can we use the wealth that is in limited hands to contribute meaningfully towards restoring people’s dignity?

 How can the privileged use their position to benefit others in a manner that is fair and promotes dignity?

 Young people have a chance to re-rewrite the script of our society. What do you hold dear – accumulation at the expense of others? A society that is caring, sharing, and safer for you today and posterity?

For the older generation, what can we do with the time we have to support young people’s efforts in building the society that is envisioned by the Constitution – one that is fair and just to all? 

 David Lewis, CEO of Corruption Watch, said that corruption is a crime against the public. He highlighted various campaigns and activities organised by Corruption Watch.

 Corruption watch has just released statistics of the predominant forms of corruption in our society, he said - abuse of power constituted the bulk of corruption reports at 38%, followed by bribery at 20% and procurement corruption at 14% of the total.

 

The Ambassador of Finland, Mr Petri Salo, who wrapped up the panel presentation, said “Corruption is like cancer. Rocks the system and kills it slowly”. This, he said, is destructive for democracy to thrive. He quoted the example of Georgia in Russia where the whole police force was fired and half of them then reemployed on condition they went to be retrained - this drastically reduced corruption. His message was essentially that to strengthen a democracy, good governance, rule of law, and an efficient police force is needed.

Plenary discussion after the panel presentation led to robust discussion.