Corruption Crusader Our World

the imagination of the public. It Johannesburg. This is a post

apartheid generation free but hostage to creeping corruption.

South Africa has now reached a tipping point. Corruption and

mismanagement are costing the country to �0.5 billion in lost

revenue every year. Money down the drain. -- �2.5 billion. This is a

poor neighbourhood on the edge of Soweto township. Within one square

mile, you can see the stark effects of bad administration, dodgy

tenders and plain, old-fashioned corruption. Burst sewage pipes,

Houses build on flood plains and tarmac roads that quickly

disintegrate. Not what was expected for the new South Africa. It is a

country trying to shrug of its grim past. It commands respect for its

high ideals. The maintenance of everything here is important. It is

too bad to live in this condition. This is a microcosm what is

happening across South Africa. It is not particular to this tour

should. Though it is not. My biggest worry is that nothing is

Good morning. Enter the wonderment corruption by star on a mission to

turn things around. -- enter the one women corruption buster. If the

act decisively on the cases in hand, we can show others that there is a

way to do it. Her title, Public Protector, may

sound mundane. She is reading more than 14,000 investigations, shaking

up the establishment. I think she is probably the person and the

reader who has brought most hope and the country. -- a leader. On

one hand, corruption is being excused at the highest levels and

on the other hand, the state says it is committed to writing it out.

-- routing it out. Already one police chief is in jail for

corruption. Another has just been fired over suspect property deals.

A prominent politician is under the spotlight over government tenders.

High-profile cases have grabbed the headlines. A strong constitution

and free press still gives South Africa a chance to win this fight.

It's the beating heart of a vibrant continent, the economic powerhouse

of Africa with a growing middle class which is aspirant and with

money to spend. It is also one of the most unequal societies in the

world. It is an imbalance that many South Africans feel must be

addressed. The vast majority of people we talk to admit that

corruption has got worse. Especially at the grassroots level.

So, she is on the road for much of Town hall meetings like this one in

the rural heartlands are a chance for ordinary South Africans to have

their grievances heard. Housing, water and other public services are

high on the list of complaints. As we travelled the length and breadth

of South Africa, allegations of corruption or plain mismanagement

are not hard to find. The Public Protector clearly has her work cut

out. A new word has entered the South African mine which, tender

primer. It is a person who makes their money through abusing

government contracts. Three hours' drive north-west of Johannesburg,

we find a new water treatment project which is recycling sewage.

This is the type of development that is investigated. The local

councillor says it was supposed to cost 30 million rand, about �2.5

million. These council documents revealed that the true price was

double that. The money could have had a dramatic impact on services

for this poor committee. Basic services like running water could

have been provided for people. My key to build 5,000 houses with this

money. It was an overspend. -- we could have built. This plant has

been operational for about six months. We can't find a single sign

warning people about any danger. That is interesting. These

documents show that 1.4 million rand was allocated for precisely

that purpose. No safety signs. The council was unable to give us an

explanation. You are used to living your life... Of the Astor to

accompany us back to the township where there are so many problems. -

- we asked her to accompany us. Soweto, the proud heart of South

Africa's fight against white minority rule is now shamed by the

council's failure to deliver basic services. As she takes more

statements from residents, I made this man at his council house. -- I

meet. This place is sinking. With that, all of his furniture. This is

my bed. Do you think it is bad luck would do you think it is bad the

way things are organised? The depressing who built the house

think about it? This house was Another victim of council neglect.

Do not be fooled by this softly- spoken civil servant, she is

demanding answers. I was beaten them immediately. I will request

that we come here together. -- I will speak to them. She has advised

residents to contact her office with complaints instead of protests.

Sent to investigate the problems in this township, finally after ten

years. His corruption getting worse? Is the government only

series about it when the TV cameras are on? -- serious. 6am in a posh

suburb of Pretoria, police have come to the home of a government

official charged with a �1.6 million corruption scammed. We are

invited to witness the operation. Undercover agents have arrived to

seize luxury vehicles, allegedly paid to him as kickbacks. The

government says it will charge 100 of the top offenders. Is it too

little too late? We have people who are committed to up bridging

corruption. -- uprooting. That is the encouragement that people have.

Isn't the truth, people are only willing to deal with corruption if

they are pushed into it? When we came to government in 1994, we

could not overnight turned 40 years of apartheid... We need the kind of

public servants who when they get into office as political heads or

officials, they should realise that their role is not to feed their

families and friends, but to serve the public good. All good talk from

the Party of Liberation. Is it filtering down to the rank and

file? The ANC and anticipated the power of great and the power of

wanting more. It has been shocked by how comrades have been seduced

by money. -- greed. It knows the problem very well, but it is very

poor at fixing the problem. South Africa's racially divided

past has left the country deeply scarred. The black majority was

subjected to daily discrimination. 18 years on and the legacy is still

being felt despite the Party of Liberation commanding a huge

majority in parliament. Corruption was institutionalised. For black

people to be in the city they needed a pass. 20 years later and I

think the pattern of corruption is influenced by what happened in the

past. I think there is a new generation of people who are trying

to make money from corruption. were heavily involved in the fight

against apartheid. 20 years on, his South Africa where you expected to

beat in the fight against corruption? I am disappointed about

the extent of corruption. I thought we would do better in the fight

against corruption. Our opinions were a bit naive and starry-eyed. I

am disappointed. I do think there is an unprecedented demand for

activity to deal with corruption at the moment. That gives me a lot of

hope for the future. The most pressing issue in the near future

is the upcoming leadership contest within the governing ANC party.

Jacob Zuma is hoping for a second term as president, there is a

strong chance he will win with his populist appeal. Corruption

allegations over a multi-billion- pound arms deal still hang over him,

those charges were dropped 80 years back. -- a few years. The integrity

of some of the most powerful individuals in the party and state

will come under the spotlight as a leadership battle looms. There is a

lot at stake. The former women's jail in the shadow of the

constitutional court seems the perfect venue to launch corruption

watch. She has allies in her mission to clean things up. The aim

to get leaders to stamp out corrupt practices and the public to blow

the whistle on alleged dodgy deals. Increasingly the ANC government is

being held to account by the very people who fought for its

democratic ideals. Corruption has become a chance that in our country.

It should be exercised now before it poisons our entire democracy.

For many of our young people, the education system has failed them.

Unless we deal with the issue of creating jobs, getting

accountability, dealing with the issue of deployment of

individuals... That serve the narrow interests of factions. That

is what we need to confront. Will it take a generation to change?

This school in the Eastern Cape, not far from where Nelson Mandela

grew up, South Africa's first black president. Brand new, this state

school cost �100,000 to build. There is something missing. No

furniture. The children do there are lessons on the floor. If we are

teaching them they say, do not push me! They have to sit down. What few

tables and chairs there are get shifted from class to class. The

school I have just visited waited four years to get its furniture.

Every time they ask what is going on they are told the money has run

out. Educational services have become so dysfunctional through

corruption and mismanagement that the National Dutchman has been

forced to take over. We are coming across cases like that. -- national

government. One case was a large amount of money allocated to a

school that was not even built. seems extraordinary that when we

try and find out who is responsible, it is virtually impossible to see

where the buck stops. You know, in education and health, it is clear

the buck stops with the provincial government. We are also finding it

difficult to find out what precisely is going on. Back at home

she discusses the headlines with the children. Not an unreasonable

question for her daughter to ask. She may portray herself as an

ordinary woman, a mother who the public can relate to, but she

represents a desire in South Africa not to squander the Democratic

fruits of the struggle against apartheid. The thing I really like

about her, she is not a sort of superwoman, she does not claim to

be a superwoman. She is demonstrating that if you do your

job and you exercise the powers that you are given, you can have a

tremendous impact on society. She is viewed as one of the most

important all works against corruption. -- bulwarks. There have

been attempts to muddy her name. Allegations and bringing her

children into the spotlight. But she has continued on in her job at.

Independent and driven she remains the darling of the South African

public. Although there has been the odd attempt to stand in her way, as

she stalks the corridors of power, ministers insist she will be

allowed to do her work, whatever the investigations reveal.