{"id":70799,"date":"2014-10-13T14:16:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T12:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=70799"},"modified":"2014-10-13T14:16:03","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T12:16:03","slug":"dear-president-zuma-corruption-is-not-a-western-paradigm-nor-a-victimless-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/70799\/dear-president-zuma-corruption-is-not-a-western-paradigm-nor-a-victimless-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear president Zuma, corruption is not a Western paradigm nor a victimless crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City Press recently reported<\/strong><\/a> that \u201cone of the reasons President Jacob Zuma believed criminal charges against him relating to the arms deal should be dropped was because corruption is only a crime in a Western paradigm\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report further stated that \u201ceven if it was a crime, Zuma\u2019s lawyers apparently argued, it was a crime where there are no victims\u201d.<\/p>\n

These statements come from president Zuma\u2019s 2009 written representations to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).<\/p>\n

Another media report, this time by Beeld<\/strong><\/a>, stated that Zuma was part of a broad corruption scheme intended to benefit the party in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

The ANC responded, saying that it was “unfazed” by this report and that \u201cthere is nothing new in the report\u201d.<\/p>\n

“This is an old concoction of a campaign that never dies, that seeks to discredit the leadership of the ANC,\u201d the party said.<\/p>\n

The true impact of corruption<\/h3>\n

South Africa\u2019s Corruption Watch website states that corruption and bad management practices eat into the nation\u2019s wealth, channelling money away from social grants, education, hospitals and related project.<\/p>\n

Corruption therefore hurts the very people who are most dependent on government for support.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudies around the world show how corruption can interrupt investment, restrict trade, reduce economic growth and distort the facts and figures associated with government expenditure,\u201d Corruption Watch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the most alarming studies are the ones directly linking corruption in certain countries to increasing levels of poverty and income inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n

A research paper on Transparancy.org<\/strong><\/a> substantiates Corruption Watch\u2019s views, stating that corruption adversely affects long-term economic growth through its impact on investment, taxation, public expenditures and human development.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorruption is also likely to undermine the regulatory environment and the efficiency of state institutions as rent-seeking distorts incentives and decision-making processes,\u201d the paper states.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does corruption affect economic development in terms of economic efficiency and growth, it also affects equitable distribution of resources across the population, increasing income inequalities, undermining the effectiveness of social welfare programmes and ultimately resulting in lower levels of human development.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Grant Thornton,<\/strong><\/a> government corruption has the following consequences:<\/p>\n