Simon Nare

Simon Nare

Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has admitted corruption is prevalent in South Africa.

Speaking to Sowetan ahead of the Pan-African meeting of national anti-corruption bodies in Gauteng this week, she said: "We will relentlessly pursue our endeavours to root out corruption wherever it exists."

Fraser-Moleketi said corruption ranged from people paying bribes for services to those who bribed to win tenders.

She said what was important was that government agencies were uncovering corruption.

"More than 60 percent of corruption uncovered is due to control measures we have in place."

Fraser-Moleketi said every government department had a unit to focus on corruption.

"Our agencies are functioning well. I don't despair because I know that we have strong counter-measures.

"One area that we need to do better on is developing a culture of integrity in society as a whole. If every South African says, 'I'm not going to buy stolen goods', then we will win," she said.

Fraser-Moleketi's public service and administration department is playing a coordinating role in uncovering corruption.

The minister said South Africa had a lot to share with countries on the African continent during the focus on corruption meeting taking place at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park.

Today, Pan-African public service ministers would get together with the ministerial programme dealing with postconflict reconstruction to discuss progress.

The meeting would also deal with innovations in service delivery, capacity building and the charter for the African public service and anticorruption.

Fraser-Moleketi said: "Corruption is prevalent and we need to root it out. But our success will depend on every South African playing a role to pro-actively combat corruption."