https://newsletter.po.creamermedia.com
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / South African News RSS ← Back
Africa|Business|Financial
Africa|Business|Financial
africa|business|financial
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

OECD outlines progress made by South Africa on anti-bribery measures


Close

Embed Video

OECD outlines progress made by South Africa on anti-bribery measures

Money exchanging hands

10th July 2025

By: Marleny Arnoldi
Deputy Editor Online

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Ahead of South Africa reporting to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in June 2027 on its implementation of recommendations to detect foreign bribery cases, the OECD Working Group on Bribery says the country has already made progress in this regard.

This progress has been made despite a period of severe undermining of the law and weakening of South Africa’s law enforcement institutions during a period of State capture.

Advertisement

OECD’s Phase 4 evaluation of South Africa’s implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions shows that the country has started cooperating with other parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention to sanction companies for transnational corruption tied to State capture.

The review suggests that the resilience and commitment of individual government and law enforcement officials, working in a multi-agency approach, has contributed to this progress.

Advertisement

To consolidate what it has achieved and avoid a repetition of the past, South Africa should now enhance its legal framework and institutional capacity to combat foreign bribery.

South Africa has opened investigations into 18 new foreign bribery allegations since its Phase 3 evaluation in 2014.

Authorities have investigated foreign bribery allegations more proactively, using more complex investigative techniques and seeking mutual legal assistance from other countries.

In 2019, South Africa started its first foreign bribery court proceedings but still faces enforcement challenges in its 14 ongoing investigations.

“Authorities need to expand the range of sources used to detect foreign bribery, find better ways to obtain evidence from other countries in the region, and secure sanctions against both companies and individuals,” OECD states.

In its Phase 4 report, the working group welcomes reforms to South Africa’s whistleblower legislation. It finds that the development of an innovative non-trial resolution mechanism could, with further clarifications, facilitate foreign bribery enforcement.

South Africa has also developed public-private partnerships to address capacity issues within law enforcement.

To improve effectiveness in preventing, detecting and enforcing the foreign bribery offence, the working group recommends that South Africa:

  • Hold companies and individuals liable for foreign bribery and related offences;
  • Enhance its efforts to promptly detect foreign bribery allegations;
  • Better protect whistleblowers who report foreign bribery from retaliation, including financial, professional and physical harms;
  • Ensure more transparent appointments for investigators and prosecutors to prevent the risk of undue influence in foreign bribery cases;
  • Increase operational and financial autonomy for the investigators and prosecutors;
  • Strengthen its framework for sanctioning foreign bribery with non-trial resolutions; and
  • Ensure it has the appropriate framework for sanctioning companies for foreign bribery.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions comprises the 46 parties that have signed its convention on anti-bribery, including South Africa.

The group has overseen the implementation of the convention by its member States since its establishment in 1994.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Email Registration Success

Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to one or more of Creamer Media’s email newsletters. You should start receiving the email newsletters in due course.

Our email newsletters may land in your junk or spam folder. To prevent this, kindly add newsletters@creamermedia.co.za to your address book or safe sender list. If you experience any issues with the receipt of our email newsletters, please email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za