PRECCA
Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act
Creates broad offences for corrupt activities including bribery, conflicts of interest, and corruption involving public and private sector officials, and imposes a positive legal duty to report corrupt transactions above the prescribed threshold.
Sections
3
Duties
3
Questions
4
Assessment from
R 30 000
What it covers
The Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 (PRECCA) is South Africa's principal anti-corruption statute, criminalising a wide range of corrupt activities in both the public and private sectors — far broader than bribery of government officials alone. It creates general offences of corruption (s3), and specific offences relating to public officers, foreign public officials, agents, and members of the legislature/judiciary. Critically for private businesses, s3 and related provisions criminalise private-to-private corruption — an employee accepting a kickback from a supplier, or a company bribing a competitor's employee to secure business, are PRECCA offences, not merely civil or disciplinary matters. Section 34 imposes a unique and far-reaching positive legal duty: any person in a position of authority (a defined term including company directors, partners, and managers) who knows or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that another person has committed an offence under PRECCA involving R100,000 or more, must report this to the police. Failure to report is itself a criminal offence. PRECCA also addresses extortion, money laundering connections, and witness tampering related to corruption investigations, and provides for the recovery of proceeds of corrupt activities. Organisations doing business with government, or with extensive supply chain or procurement functions, face elevated PRECCA exposure given the prevalence of opportunities for corrupt conduct in tender processes, procurement decision-making, and licensing/permit interactions with officials.
Does this apply to you?
It applies if
- Your organisation interacts with government officials for licensing, permits, tenders, inspections, or regulatory approvals
- Your organisation has procurement, sales, or business development functions where employees could be offered or could solicit improper benefits
- Your organisation operates in an industry with significant tender or public procurement exposure (construction, healthcare supply, IT government contracts)
- Any director, partner, or manager in your organisation could reasonably come to know or suspect a corrupt transaction involving R100,000 or more — this duty applies to every organisation with people in positions of authority, regardless of industry
Thresholds that change what's required
- The s34 mandatory reporting duty is specifically triggered at R100,000 — below this threshold, reporting is not legally mandatory though may still be advisable
- There is no organisational size or industry exemption from the general corruption offences under s3 — these apply universally
Exemptions
- PRECCA does not provide industry-specific exemptions; legal privilege considerations may affect what specific information must be disclosed in a report, but do not exempt the underlying duty to report
What non-compliance costs
Imprisonment
Up to life imprisonment for the most serious corruption offences involving public officials or large amounts; specific provisions allow for fines to be determined by the court without a fixed statutory cap, often calculated as a multiple of the value of the corrupt benefit
Civil exposure
The state may pursue civil recovery of proceeds of corrupt activities under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act in parallel with PRECCA criminal prosecution; affected third parties may have separate civil claims for resulting losses
Reputational
PRECCA convictions, particularly involving public sector tenders, typically result in supplier blacklisting from government procurement (the National Treasury's Register for Tender Defaulters) and severe, often permanent reputational damage in both public and private sector markets
What the assessment covers
The assessment works through 4 questions across 3 duties, scored out of 51. Each answer generates the specific actions needed to close or prove that duty — and a “yes” only counts once its evidence is in, which is what makes the score defensible rather than self-declared.
The questions themselves are part of the assessment.
Find out where you stand on PRECCA
Run the assessment, get your score, and get the exact list of what to fix — with the evidence trail an auditor will ask for.