Corporate crime is the scourge of business in South Africa and it’s getting worse. PricewaterhouseCoopers released its annual Global Economic Crime Survey to the media this week.

 

It exposed the shocking prevalence of economic crime, stating the companies here at home are hit by more fraud, bribery and corruption than their global counterparts. Since 2011, the report states, the percentages have climbed.

 

It’s a bitter blow for ethics and integrity in local business and intensifies the challenge facing business leaders in South Africa today.

 

Profiling the enemy within

The survey also reveals a profile of the typical fraudster lurking in senior and middle management. He is usually male, between the ages of 30 and 40, university educated and has been with an organisation for a long time. This fraudster, it says, commits more than 70 percent of all internal fraud.

 

This a frightening barometer of the climate of corruption in business. The survey reveals that SA organisations took no legal action in almost 10 percent of cases, opted for transfers in two percent and issued warnings in just less than 20 percent of the cases. This, to me, shows either a lack of vigilance or a fatal complacency or acceptance of the current status quo.