ACTSA supports South African civil society call for accountability in corruption cases

ACTSA supports South African civil society call for accountability in corruption cases

On Thursday – International Anti-Corruption Day – the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation in Johannesburg is spearheading a campaign to spotlight corruption and the social and economic cost of illegal outflows of money from South Africa. ACTSA supports this campaign, having drawn attention to the impact on civil society of corruption over many years. Most recently, we highlighted the campaign against Credit Suisse in one of the biggest debt scandals this decade. In 2019, we commissioned ‘The Money Drain’, a report that highlighted the destructive impact that corruption has on Southern African states, as well ways to create change. ACTSA Chair, Chitra Karve said:

“Given the estimates of loss to the public purse, and therefore the stolen funds denied to people in Southern Africa to otherwise benefit them via public services such as schools, higher education and healthcare, ACTSA brings its voice to this campaign, asking the UK Parliament to play its part in stopping corrupt practices…. ACTSA will lobby country ambassadors, the UK government and officials with authority to act, to swiftly address the matter of corruption.”

In support of the anti-corruption campaign, ACTSA calls for:

• A significant investment in customs agencies, financial intelligence units and financial crime units, as well as a crackdown on secrecy jurisdictions and tax havens.
• Participatory and transparent public debt audits in SADC countries, for all loans to governments to be recorded in a comprehensive and publicly accessible registry; and the establishment of independent and well-resourced international commissions that set rights-based policies on tax and debt and investigate tax- and debt-related – abuses.
• The ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its Optional Protocol, so that states are legally bound by these treaties. All international human rights obligations, including those that relate to economic and social rights, should be fully enshrined in national law.

Through this work ACTSA seeks to draw attention to the issue of corruption and show support for the campaign led by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. Access our report here. Follow the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation on Facebook.

To join the press conference live on 9^th Dec 3pm GMT click here.

For more information contact: Tricia Sibbons ([email protected], 07487 511137) or Abbie Wilson ([email protected]) .