THE OECD Working Group on Bribery has stated that South Africa
must take urgent steps to proactively investigate and prosecute foreign bribery.
No foreign bribery cases have been prosecuted since South Africa joined the
Convention in 2007. The 4 on-going investigations – out of only 10 allegations
that have surfaced to date – are also far from reaching the prosecution
stage.
The need for enforcement is imperative, especially as South
African companies are increasingly operating abroad, often in sectors with a
high risk of foreign bribery. There are also serious concerns that prosecutions
may be hampered by political and economic considerations, notes the
Report.
The OECD Working Group on Bribery has just completed its report
on South Africa’s implementation of the Convention of Combating Bribery of
Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related
instruments. Recommendations made by the Group to improve South Africa’s fight
against foreign bribery, include:
+
Significantly increase its efforts to proactively detect, investigate and
prosecute foreign bribery;
+ Ensure that national economic interests and
the identities of the natural or legal persons involved do not influence the
investigation or prosecution of foreign bribery cases;
+ Increase the
financial resources available to law enforcement authorities and ensuring
enhanced cooperation and coordination between the police and
prosecutors;
+ Urgently ensure and raise awareness that people who report
suspected acts of foreign bribery are in practice afforded the protections
guaranteed by the law, including those in the auditing
profession.
The
report also highlighted positive aspects of South Africa’s efforts to fight
foreign bribery. South Africa has a well-drafted foreign bribery offence and a
broad and flexible corporate liability regime. The Prevention of Organised Crime
Act (POCA) allows for the broad use of freezing orders and confiscation
measures. Steps have also been taken to encourage publicly-listed and
state-owned enterprises to strengthen internal controls, ethics and compliance
measures for the purpose of preventing and detecting foreign bribery, including
through the establishment of social and ethics committees.
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