Opportunity Issue 97

GOVERNANCE
Ethical and transparent practices also help employee
motivation and satisfaction.
Ignorance should not be bliss
Having a robust anti-corruption compliance policy is not
quite enough. Too often, companies do not implement
policies fully in practice. And many employees are not
even aware that the policy exists. Companies must
ensure that their employees are aware of the policy and
the mechanisms for reporting and investigating that
are available to them in the workplace. Companies are
also required to provide training around bribery and
corruption so that employees are able to identify it in
their day-to-day dealings. Without these measures in
place, the policy has no value.
Where does the anti-corruption compliance
policy begin?
The first step is ensuring that an anti-corruption
compliance policy is properly drafted. This takes
some mental work on the part of the company. The
company needs to scrutinise their business from the
top down and ensure that every level of their company
and every aspect of their business is covered. This
means undertaking risk evaluations and unpacking
the structural organisation of the company. In doing
this, the company needs to examine the third parties
they engage with and whether there are contracts
governing these relationships, the quantity of cash
payments and the level of public sector involvement
the company has.
Once a policy is drafted and adopted, the company
should assess whether any other documents would need
to speak to the policy. These include instructions, ethics
codes and the like. And the company should ensure that
internal reporting lines and investigation procedures
for any contraventions of the policy are firmly in place
and are always adhered to.
Policies should be implemented from the top down,
as employees should ideally see that leadership and
management are abiding by the policies they have
implemented. And they should be strictly enforced. The
adoption of a Social and Ethics Committee (where it is
not obligatory to be created as per the provisions of the
Companies Act) should also seriously be considered to
ensure oversight and compliance with policy.
Additionally, the company could consider establishing
a whistle-blower hotline so that employees are able to
report contraventions. In these cases, the company
should put adequate measures and policies into effect
for whistle-blower incidents to assure the employee
that they can remain anonymous and to safeguard the
integrity of the entire process.
_____ __ ___ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
States punish the offences of
bribery and corruption because they
are subversive to the democratic
principles of public administration
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The current climate
Recently, there has been a marked increase in bribery
and corruption, money laundering and cybercrimes,
which, in most instances, seem to be an indication of the
current economic climate. In South Africa, the spotlight
is currently on State Capture, and the instances of
bribery and corruption within the public sector. These
are extremely far-reaching and involve several private
sector players as well. What we will likely see coming
from this is that once the State Capture Commission of
Inquiry has finalised testimony, several prosecutions
are likely to arise.
An uptake in the quantity of cases being heard by the
specialised commercial crimes courts has been noted.
The latest report issued by the Financial Intelligence
Centre notes an alarming increase in money laundering
in South Africa. Companies are required to take active
steps to curb this and should not be caught off guard, as
the repercussions are potentially catastrophic.
Social justice has many dimensions, particularly in
an economic downturn, where incidents of bribery and
corruption are on the rise. Now, more than ever, firm
anti-bribery and corruption policies are needed in the
bigger picture.
___ __
Rui Lopes, Managing
Director at Lopes
Attorneys
www.opportunityonline.co.za | 47