(John McCann/M&G)
South Africans are fed up with corruption, yet many admit that they are also guilty because they have offered gifts or favours to police officers, politicians, prosecutors and judges, a new Corruption Watch report says.
The report, released on Wednesday, highlights the profound effect of corruption on the lives of people; it is affecting the delivery of services at all levels from safety and security, access to quality education and the provision of housing and land to the administration of justice by the courts and food security.
Corruption Watch said the study, which involved face-to-face interviews with 1 500 people across the country, aimed to highlight perceptions, characteristics and experiences of corruption, and the prevalence of corrupt practices in the public and private sectors.
Most respondents (764) were from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape; 51% identified as male; seven out of 10 were of African descent; and 15% identified as coloured, 10% as white, 4% as Asian and 8% as “other”. Most respondents were aged 35 to 40 (45%), while 38% were 16 to 35 years of age and 17% were aged 50 and older.
Respondents expressed significant concerns about the effects of corruption, with two-thirds being sceptical about law enforcement agencies because of a perceived lack of capacity to effectively combat corruption.
Regarding interactions with officials in relation to corruption, 24% of between 600 and 700 respondents admitted to giving a gift to or doing a favour for police officers, car licence officers (23%), and traffic management officials (23%).
About one in 10 gave gifts or favours to prosecutors (12%), elected government representatives (11%), prosecutors (10%) and judges or magistrates (9%).
A small share of respondents (5%) reported an occasion when they were under duress to make a payment or gift. They did so by giving some money (18%), food and drink (13%), providing another service of favour (5%) or giving valuables (3%) such as gold jewellery and cell phones to officials.
The study showed that half of the respondents also believe that institutions prioritise issues affecting the affluent and influential and neglect the concerns of other citizens, while half of the respondents expressed less trust in elected and appointed officials.
Corruption in the provision of basic services was highlighted as a major concern, with 81% of respondents saying the government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, indicating a clear demand for stricter consequences for corrupt behaviour by government officials.
More than half of the respondents (73%) agreed that corruption mostly affects the provision of housing and land, safety and protection of communities (69%); the provision of quality education (68); access to quality healthcare (67%); the administration of justice by courts (64%); and food security (62%).
Nearly half of the respondents (49%) exhibited low levels of confidence in the adequacy of anti-corruption legislation and policies, while a third expressed having no confidence and only a fifth said they had confidence in the country’s anti-corruption framework.
Most respondents who were not confident in the adequacy of laws and policies said they had limited (47%) or no (35%) knowledge of anti-corruption laws, while 67% of those with little confidence also had a limited understanding.
Interestingly, respondents expressed greater trust in media outlets; religious and spiritual institutions; and legal, investigative and accounting firms to effectively confront corruption, suggesting these organisations are perceived as “potentially more reliable”, the study noted. These organisations attained the highest mean scores out of a possible five.
The study also highlighted concerns regarding confidentiality and the safeguarding of whistleblowers who expose corruption in government institutions.
Most respondents agreed that whistleblowers are vulnerable to victimisation, violence and death, holding a widespread perception that officials in the public sector compromise whistleblower information. Only 50% of respondents believe that the whistleblowing channels in place allow for confidentiality, psychological support and the resolution of complaints.
Among the report’s recommendations for combating corruption were the implementation of education and awareness campaigns to inform the public of its damaging ramifications, the strengthening of legal frameworks to ensure rigorous enforcement and the protection of whistleblowers, ethics and values training for public officials, financial transparency training for officials and inclusive decision-making that involves citizens.
The findings of the study showed “it is no longer sufficient or appropriate to speak of good intentions” when dealing with graft, said Corruption Watch’s interim head of stakeholder relations and campaigns, Melusi Ncala said.
“Without action the fight against corruption lacks meaning for those afflicted by human rights violations and inadequate service delivery because the greed of the corrupt impacts them the most. As predicted and warned, the ordinary man and woman have not only lost trust in politicians, but they are distrusting state institutions which are the bedrock of our democracy,” Ncala said.
He said the findings of the report were timely ahead of the upcoming general elections.
“The story of corruption is well documented and these citizens provide us with an indication of the country’s mood. The trust deficit between the elected and the electorate is widening because elected representatives have mostly paid lip service to issues of transparency and accountability.”
What remained was for the electorate to reflect on what the sixth administration had promised, its missed opportunities and corruption scandals, and to assess the promises of those now contesting power, Ncala added.