Silence has a cost: A governance mandate for anti-corruption day

CORRUPTION rarely calls itself by its name.

- NQOBANI MZIZI

It hides behind language that softens the offence and dulls our outrage. We speak of mismanagement, a saga, a scandal, price fixing, a commission of enquiry or corporate collapse. These words create distance from the truth.On this United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day, we confront a reality that is neither abstract nor distant. It is real. Its impact is felt. Corruption is a deliberate act of harm. It steals from the public, weakens institutions and erodes the trust required for any nation to function. Corruption is an enemy to progress, and nothing good has ever come from it.

The drivers of corruption are not mysterious. Opportunity, greed, impunity, weak controls, compromised leadership and environments where accountability becomes negotiable, enabling wrongdoing to flourish. Corruption has no colour and no gender. It is not limited to the public sector or the private sector. It thrives wherever systems are fragile and leadership chooses silence over consequence. Before we know it, corruption becomes endemic and deeply entrenched. When ethical courage disappears, corruption fills the space.

We measure this systemic fragility. The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Transparency International examines bribery, abuse of public office, accountability mechanisms and protections for those who report wrongdoing, amongst numerous variables. Whilst it focuses on public sector corruption worldwide, the index provides a reliable signal of systemic integrity. It does not measure morality. It measures governance strength. It tells us whether institutions can withstand pressure and whether wrongdoing is likely to be uncovered or ignored.