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13 October 2020 | Story Prof John Mubangizi | Photo Sonia du Toit
Prof John C Mubangizi is Dean: Faculty of Law, University of the Free State.

South Africans are sick and tired of corruption. They are angry, frustrated and despondent. And they have every reason to be. South Africa has many problems: crime, unemployment, poverty, gender-based violence, inequality, low economic growth and now – in common with many other countries – COVID-19. The list goes on and on. What makes corruption the biggest threat among all these is that it cuts across all of them and impacts on their gravity in different ways. 

The South African Constitution envisages a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights. The way things are going, that society is never likely to happen. That is because corruption has been, and continues to be, the greatest threat to any possibility of realising that constitutional dream. In South Africa, like everywhere else where corruption is rampant, it occurs both in the public and private sectors, where it affects democracy and human rights by deteriorating institutions and diminishing public trust in government. It impairs the ability of government to fulfil its obligations and ensure accountability in the delivery of economic and social services like healthcare, education, clean water, housing, and social security. This is because corruption diverts funds into private pockets – which impedes delivery of services – thereby perpetuating poverty, inequality, injustice and unfairness. The problem is aggravated when government is the main culprit. “Government” here, of course, refers to the dictionary meaning of the term, namely, “the group of people with the authority to govern a country or state”.

Corruption existed in ancient Egypt, China and Greece

There are those who argue that corruption is as old as mankind and, therefore, it is here to stay. Indeed, corruption is known to have existed in ancient Egypt, ancient China and ancient Greece. In Robert Bolt’s 16th Century play A Man for All Seasons, Richard Rich’s opening remark is “But every man has his price.” In the 1836 play The Government Inspector, Nikolai Gogol cleverly satirised the human greed, stupidity and extensive political corruption in Imperial Russia at the time. And in a recent article in The Conversation (28 August 2020), Steven Friedman wonders why South Africans express shock at corruption when “it is perhaps the country’s oldest tradition.” He locates the advent of corruption in South Africa at the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652, through to the ensuing colonialism and apartheid. He argues that in reality, “corruption has been a constant feature of South African political life for much of the past 350 years. It is deeply embedded and it will take a concerted effort, over years, not days, to defeat it”. 

Agreed, but does it have to be that way? At the time of Jan van Riebeeck and during the 350 years of colonialism and apartheid, we did not have the legal framework that we have now. Here is a brief overview of that framework.

Read full article here

Opinion article by Professor John C Mubangizi, Dean: Faculty of Law, University of the Free State


News Archive

Translation Day Seminar at UFS
2007-09-21

The Programme in Language Practice at the University of the Free State (UFS) cordially invites all stakeholders in language practice to a translation day seminar:

Subverting the west: Engaging language practice as African interpretation

Date: Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Venue: C.R. Swart Auditorium
Cost: R50

Apart from papers read by Prof. Jacobus Naudé (UFS), Dr Kobus Marais (UFS), Prof. Joan Conolly from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Ms Lolie Makhubu (DUT), a full session will be devoted to a panel discussion involving the audience.

Against the background of the cabinet's proposal for language services for all government departments, the seminar day seeks to put up for discussion the African context in which language practice takes place. It will also be exploring an approach to translator education that is engaged in its African context by means of service learning.

The following four focus areas will receive attention:
- engaging translator education by means of a socio-constructivist approach;
- challenging the dominance of Western concepts in translator training and practice;
- exploring African indigenous oral knowledge as an interface for language practice;
- questioning code-switching in African interpreting settings.

Closing date for registrations is 1 October 2007.

For enquiries, registration forms, and programme details, contact Mr Kobus Marais on 051 401 2798.
 

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