Something rotten in corporate SA
With all eyes on state flaws, private-sector standards plummet
Private-sector corruption could be "quite a bit worse than we think", says Claudelle von Eck, CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa (IIA SA). Rampant corruption in the public sector has "lulled us into thinking that things are going very well in the private sector". According to the 2018 Corporate Governance Index released by the IIA SA, corporate governance in SA has hit record lows. Mostly this reflects the calamitous state of corporate governance in the public sector, which Von Eck says has diverted attention from problems in the private sector. The focus on public-sector debacles has let private-sector companies off the hook, she says. Steinhoff and the VBS Mutual Bank scandal have been massive wake-up calls. "I think the focus in SA has been too much on the public sector. Part of that is because where the public sector is concerned it's our money, it's much more personal, and therefore we react a lot stronger than we would with private-sector companies." Given ...
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