Corruption is our biggest threat: Vavi

Corruption is the elite's way to steal from the poor, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Thursday.

"It has become a matter of life and death. Corruption is the biggest threat to the realisation of our dreams," he told an anti-corruption summit in Johannesburg.

"Self-enrichment will unravel the fabric of society."

Vavi said up to 20% of government procurement was lost to corruption as officials exploited gaps in the system to procure government tenders.

"We are facing a nightmare future in South Africa... people are systematically using their power to secure... parts of society."

He said if the current economic system of capitalism continued with the "me first" mentality, it would be difficult to root out corruption.

"The culture of 'me first' accumulates and accumulates [so] that one person in this country earns R627-million per year... while workers earn less than R1 500 per month," said Vavi.