Daunting task of tackling global corruption
"If you look at great human civilizations, from the Roman Empire to the Soviet Union, you will see that most do not fail simply due to external threats but because of internal weakness, corruption, or a failure to manifest the values and ideals they espouse." - Cory Booker (American politician)
In the wake of the Fifa scandal, UK’s prime minister David Cameron has called for a global fight against corruption.
This topic was at the top of his agenda during a two-day G7 summit held in Germany (sadly South Africa was not among the African representatives at this important meeting).
Cameron labelled corruption as the arch-enemy of democracy and development.
This is true, and has always been true. Corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many of the problems we face around the world, because it destabilises good governance which leads to abuse and, eventually, innocent people suffer because of greed.
Corruption therefore doesn’t just threaten the world’s prosperity, but it also undermines its security.
One has to applaud Cameron for at least trying to take a stand against corruption. Of course, our president has also called for a fight against corruption, but somehow it just seems far more trustworthy when Cameron speaks about it.
The Fifa scandal rocked the world, but why are we surprised? Where there is power and money to be gained, then corruption rears its ugly head.
So many great empires and kingdoms have fallen not because of external threats as Booker quoted, but rather because of corruption and the greed for power.
The Roman Empire is a prime example of man’s insatiable appetite to enrich himself at any cost, no matter the damage or the harm inflicted.
Before the Fifa debacle, the world was reminded of the power of corruption when the Enron Corporation scandal hit the news.
This company based in Houston, was one of the world’s major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies.
However, at the end of 2001, it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by an institutionalised, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud.
Enron has since become a well-known example of willful corporate fraud and corruption. The scandal also brought into question the accounting practices and activities of many corporations in the United States and was a factor in the creation of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002.
There is an old saying that the love of money is the root of all evil. And with Fifa and Enron, there was a lot of money involved, thus a whole lot of love was going around.
Again, the emphasis is on “love” not on money itself. In this context it might as well be translated into want, need, desire or a craving.
Lord Acton said: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Since money often buys power, it stands to logic that ultimate money corrupts ultimately.
This is why one wishes Cameron good luck on his campaign to fight corruption. The greed for power and money has been part and parcel of societies for ages, destroying countless lives, enriching a few but impoverishing many unfortunates.
Such greed not only corrupts the political sphere, but as seen with Enron and Fifa, it corrupts all, for the love of money continues to nest in the heart of man.
Corruption is even evident in education. Last year it merged that some schools in certain SA provinces took part in mass cheating during the final matric examinations.
This has prompted Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to address mass cheating as the final matric exams draw closer.
She recently highlighted decisions made towards improved measures to eradicate irregularities during exams.
One of the recommendations was public examination centres being categorised into three risk categories – high, medium and low.
Also suggested is a hotline for teachers and pupils to use to report irregularities. Time will tell if this will work.
Therefore, good luck to all those who want to take on corruption – from Cameron to Motshekga, and yes, even our president – because there is a lot of money in the world and there is simply not enough moral fibre going around to halt the slide into corrupt oblivion.
It is like fighting drugs. As long as the demand remains high (excuse the pun), the supply will continue, and with supply comes money and power.
The same applies to corruption. It keeps demanding victims to entertain its mad notions, blinding the rich and the poor, the famous and the ordinary to act without moral obligation.
It is a diseases of the world, and it cannot be prevented through external laws, but only through the internal moral governance of every human being who takes a stand against corruption.
