The University of the Free State (UFS) recently announced the two students who penned winning essays in the UFS Student Essay Writing Competition on corruption.
Last year the institution called on students to use the power of the pen to uproot the rampant crime of corruption in South Africa.
This initiative was launched by the UFS, together with non-governmental partners Accountability Now, Corruption Watch, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa). It aimed at generating ideas to tackle rampant corruption.
Marize Meyer and Artvilla Dakamela were the winners in their respective categories.
Meyer, a postgraduate student in the School of Accountancy in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, was selected for her essay titled “Why is corruption a challenge in South Africa and how can it be effectively combated?” She highlighted that people with power are the root cause of corruption.
“Corruption has a snowball effect; it starts small with top officials, but slowly it becomes something more and more people contribute to,” Meyer highlighted.
“Civil society in South Africa uses top-level corruption to justify its corruption. Petty corruption is one of the largest types of corruption. Civil society justifies their dishonest and illegal behaviour by saying, ‘it’s the only way you get something done in South Africa’, ‘everybody does it so why can’t I’, and ‘most people get away with corruption’. They are mostly right when they say that, but this snowball is getting bigger, and we can’t stop it with this type of mindset.”
Meyer pointed out that major corruption thrives on a broad base of corruption.
“A lack of ethical values is contagious. Small payments, gifts, and bribes add up to millions of rands in corruption. Another challenge with civil society is that to one person it seems like a gift to a friend, and for another it may seem like a bribe,” said Meyer.
Dakamela, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the School of Accountancy, was chosen for his essay titled “Taking up Arms Against Corruption in South Africa”.
“Unfortunately, numerous government officials are corrupt in one way or another. These individuals, according to Corruption Watch, often have strong political connections that they use to reduce their punishments, which include being transferred to a more comfortable prison, being granted early medical parole or they can also be pardoned by the president,” said Dakamela.
“The political influence held by these people, needless to say, is one of the many hurdles faced by the South African anti-corruption law fraternity, anti-corruption agencies and members of the public who are fighting against corruption.”
