South Africa should set up a single agency to fight graft, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which led a review of the nation’s procurement practices.

“South Africa would benefit from a strong, independent, capable anti-corruption body, as opposed to the current system that relies on a multitude of agencies,” the Paris-based OECD said Monday. “An anti-corruption body increases clarity in the roles of responsibilities around corruption prevention and detection.”

Billions of dollars were looted from South Africa’s public coffers during the almost nine-year rule of former President Jacob Zuma, a period known as state capture. The country has since been placed on a global dirty-money gray list, which it hopes to exit in 2025.

HIGH RISK
The OECD carried out the assessment together with the World Bank, African Development Bank and South Africa’s Treasury. The review flagged as high risks the country’s inadequate anti-corruption framework and severe weakness in prosecution, as well as its limited effectiveness to detect and prevent risks related to graft.

“The anti-corruption system is inadequate to face the challenges it is confronted with,” the report noted. “South Africa lacks a single body with the primary responsibility of preventing corruption. Instead, it is governed by a fragmented “multi-agency” approach, which proved ineffective during the state-capture years.”

It said law enforcement and prosecution was significantly weakening during Zuma’s year in power and have not yet fully recovered. South Africa separately passed a new procurement law in July to improve the use of public funds.