South Africa to join the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention

South Africa is to become the 37th signatory and first African country to join the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention. Adopted in 1997 and ratified so far by 36 countries, this Convention outlaws the bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions.

Pretoria - Through country monitoring and extensive peer follow-up, the OECD Convention is designed to ensure that the fight against bribery is effective, thus creating a level playing field for fair competition between companies.

South Africa, by signing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, will help to strengthen the OECD convention and will thus contribute to the international fight against corruption.

On Tuesday 19 June 2007, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Public Service and Administration Minister of South Africa, will meet for a signing ceremony at OECD headquarters. This will be followed by a news conference at 5.30 p.m.

For further information, please visit the OECD website http://www.oecd.org/daf/nocorruption