Rabbi guides business in fighting corruption

A Johannesburg rabbi is behind a bold anti-corruption initiative for South African companies to root out all-pervasive rot of criminality threatening the future of the country.

“People are sick of talk shops, they want to see action,” said Rabbi Gideon Pogrund, the founding director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Centre for Business Ethics on 29 August.

“Business has a natural responsibility to play a leading role in combatting the corruption that threatens South Africa’s future,” he said.

Speaking at the well-attended launch of An Anti-Corruption Working Guide for South African Companies, Pogrund said it was this responsibility and a “spirit of active citizenship” that inspired the publication of the guide by the Centre for Business Ethics in partnership with Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA).

“In embarking on this project, we were mindful of the deep public scepticism about anti-corruption discussions and declarations, which don’t seem to deliver enough practical change. Many people are understandably dismissive of what they regard as ‘meaningless talk shops’. It’s action against corruption that’s crucial. Only action that produces tangible results can help to turn the tide and lift South Africa’s gloomy national mood,” he said.

However, if this is to be achieved, the focus of anti-corruption conversations must shift from the ‘why’ to the ‘what’ and, even more importantly, to the ‘how’.

“This working guide, drawing on extensive engagements with business and civil society leaders, is our contribution to providing the ‘how’. Our hope is that the guide will be widely disseminated and used, and that it will help corporate executives, board members, and managers to combat corruption more effectively in their organisations and in broader society, thereby demonstrating their commitment to the country’s future,” said Pogrund.

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo spoke at the launch, giving the guide his support, maintaining its importance, and making a clarion call for action by the business community.

Busisiwe Mavuso, the chief executive of BLSA, called the guide “a crucial piece of the puzzle” in the fight against corruption. “It bolsters the corporate-governance framework and gives companies a comprehensive workable plan to tackle corruption. But it will work only if we act collectively,” she said.

Pogrund maintained that corruption was “endemic in the public sector”, but that it was also a private sector problem, as the spate of scandals involving highly respected companies has shown.

“Our work aims to encourage business to take responsibility for corruption within its own ranks. It’s also about active citizenship, and leveraging business’ skills and resources in the struggle against corruption in the country,” the rabbi told the SA Jewish Report.

Pogrund said GIBS had hosted Professor Philip Nichols from The Wharton School, one of the leading corruption scholars in the world, as a scholar in residence. “As he explained, there are countries which had worse corruption problems than South Africa, yet they managed to turn things around. Hong Kong and Singapore are prominent success stories. Of course, this doesn’t mean that South Africa will necessarily turn things round, but it’s certainly possible, and we’re at a critical juncture,” he said.

The 43-page guide was written by Financial Mail Editor Rob Rose, who has played a role in covering some of South Africa’s biggest corporate corruption scandals.

It also proposes that whistle blowers, who have often been targeted for reporting bribery and corruption within organisations, be encouraged to come forward on a confidential basis, and recommends that companies set up protection funds. Zondo approved such a fund, and challenged businesses to “roll up their sleeves”.

“Those who may be tempted to engage in corruption must know that once they have been found out, there will be serious adverse consequences. The way to make sure that they will be found out is to make sure that whistle blowers are protected and are given incentives to blow the whistle,” Zondo said, pointing out that whistle blowers have lost a lot, many having been fired and facing hefty legal challenges.

“The private sector should consider setting up a fund. Let’s not wait for the government. The government will do what it will do. But the private sector can easily set up such a fund. And a lot of people who love this country, a lot of people who hate corruption, [will] make a donation,” the judge said.

Pogrund used the launch to announce the Anti-Corruption Coalition (ACC), a separate initiative under the leadership of the GIBS Centre for Business Ethics, which came out of the work of the anti-corruption guide.

Broader in scope, it was conceived in partnership with advocate Paul Pretorius, the chief evidence leader at the Zondo Commission, and apartheid-era whistleblower and TRC commissioner Dr Wendy Orr, who will head the ACC.

“We set it up because we believe the corruption virus is rapidly mutating from state capture into a mafia state. We believe this is a more dangerous variant, because it’s more insidious and discreet, which makes it harder to connect the dots,” said Pogrund.

“This variant is also deadlier, as we have seen from the spate of assassinations and other violent crimes,” he said.

Pogrund said attempts to achieve practical results in the fight against corruption and crime were hampered by lack of co-ordination and collaboration between diverse anti-corruption role players; lack of detailed, comprehensive data; and lack of rigorous, deep analysis.

The ACC aims to achieve a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the nature and extent of corruption in South Africa and provide action-centred analysis which will enhance the work of different anti-corruption actors including the media, then collect and collate information and develop practical recommendations.

“We hope this will make a meaningful contribution,” said Pogrund.