Treat public and private sector corruption equally: Mahlobo

Corruption cases in the public and private sectors must be treated the same‚ the ANC’s David Mahlobo said on Monday.

Mahlobo‚ who as addressing the media ahead of the party’s national elective conference‚ said corruption was a cancer that affected all facets of life but that private sector corruption was treated with less severity by the legal system.

He said delegates attending the 54th conference set to be held at Nasrec from December 16 would discuss the issue of corruption and strategies that could ensure that both public and private sector corruption cases were successfully prosecuted.

“In as much as we want to commend the good work that has been done by the Competition Commission‚ you remember the banks that have agreed that they actually interfered with our currency. They manipulated it. We also know that there are a number of big companies including those that were involved in the World Cup‚” said Mahlobo.

“The only thing we want as the ANC is that corruption must be corruption. It can’t be given different names where others instead of being brought to jail you just give them a small whack on their knuckles and give them a fine. And these fines are not actually even proportionate to the issues they have done‚” he said.

ANC delegates will also reflect on the recent behaviour of big institutions like Steinhof and KPMG to determine how they negatively impact on the lives of the poor.

“Government led by the ANC cannot be a spectator in this new phenomenon‚” said Mahlobo.