Prevention of corruption in sport.

There is  no doubt that the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act,No. 12 of 2004 goes a long way to keep South African sport clean and free of corruption.

However the Act can only go so far, the rest of the work must be done by 'white knights' who stand up and take responsibility for what is happening.

It is no good for anyone to sit and whinge-and-whine on the sidelines about corruption. Every sportsperson must be actively involved in ensuring that there is good governance at all times.

It is through sport that millions of people are taught the value of fair play, and the importance of abiding by the rules of the game and of ensuring a “level playing field”. 

A failure of any sporting body to enshrine  good governance and an ethical approach to doing business will be carried through into the rest of public life.

However, because public and private interests have a vested interest in sport, sport remains vulnerable to corruption and serious misconduct. Often those who speak out about such corruption are the first to be disposed of, and in my experience, the vast majority remain silent in case there are reprisals.

The only way to resist corruption is for members to remain forever vigilant and to have tools at their disposal in order to ensure that they have rights.

That  is what the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act,No. 12 of 2004 attempts to do. The Act makes such corruption a crime, and allows people to go straight to a police station and lay criminal charges.

The Act provides an entire section that deals exclusively with sport. Such section is Section 15 which reads:

Offences in respect of corrupt activities relating to sporting events 

15. Any person who, directly or indirectly-

(a)        accepts or agrees or offers to accept any gratification from any other person, whether for the benefit of himself or herself or for the benefit of that other person or of another person; or

(b)       gives or agrees or offers to give to any other person any gratification. whether for the benefit of that other person or for the benefit of another person-

(i) in return for-

(aa)     engaging in any act which constitutes a threat to or undermines the integrity of any sporting event, including, in any way. influencing the run of play or the outcome of a sporting event; or

(bb)     not reporting the act contemplated in this section to the managing director, chief executive officer or to any other person holding a similar post in the sporting body or regulatory authority concerned or at his or her nearest police station; or 

(ii) as a reward for acting as contemplated in subparagraph (i): or (c) carries into effect any scheme which constitutes a threat to or undermines the integrity of any sporting event, including, in any way, influencing the run of play or the outcome of a sporting event,

is guilty of the offence of corrupt activities relating to sporting events. 

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