Corruption in ANC bothers Mbeki
23/09/2005 13:20
Cape Town - Corruption was not unique to South Africa and was a global cancer, but there was a disturbing phenomenon that it was manifesting itself in the ruling movement of the country, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday.
In his ANC Today internet column - noting the 25th anniversary of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) - Mbeki said: "All of us must accept that corruption is a global cancer. Corruption in our country is driven by the same imperatives that drive corruption in all other countries.
"Particularly disturbing ... is that it is manifesting itself within our movement, of some people abusing membership of the organisations of the people, including the (ruling) African National Congress, as a stepladder to positions of power, power they would then use corruptly to accumulate riches for themselves, rather than serve the people of South Africa."
Mbeki noted that international businessman George Soros had said that one of the great defects of the global capitalist system was that it had allowed the market mechanism and the profit motive to penetrate into fields of activity where they did not properly belong - "the promotion of self-interest to a moral principle has corrupted politics and the failure of politics has become the strongest argument in favour of giving markets an even freer reign."
He continued to quote Soros as saying: "Unsure of what they stand for, people increasingly rely on money as a criterion of value. What is more expensive is considered better.
"The value of a work of art can be judged by prices it fetches. People deserve respect and admiration because they are rich. What used to be a medium of exchange has usurped the place of fundamental values, reversing the relationship postulated in economic theory.
"What used to be professions have turned into businesses. The cult of success has replaced the belief in principles. Society has lost its anchor."
Mbeki commented: "All of us know that we are afflicted by the phenomenon of people who, while pretending to be comrades, are individuals driven by the same psychology and value system described by George Soros.
"These are our compatriots who have elevated self-interest to a moral principle, relying on money as a criterion of value."
He did indicate to whom he was referring.
But he said: "As we fight the pervasive cancer of corruption, which is representative of a society that has lost its anchor, we will continue to rely on our accountants to help our country and people to sustain the permanent struggle against corruption."
He expressed concern about the image of accountants being sullied by the Masterbond scandal in South Africa and by WorldCom and Enron in the United States - but acknowledged that those accountants were not necessarily representative of the entire industry.
News24/I-Net Bridge (Business)