New CW report shares insights on perceptions, impact of corruption

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Corruption Watch (CW) releases today a new report assessing the profound impact of corruption on people’s lives, titled The Impact of Corruption: Insights from a Perceptions and Experiences Survey.

This research study aims to highlight the perceptions, characteristics, and experiences of corruption, and the prevalence of corrupt practices within both the public and private sectors in South Africa, offering valuable insights into this prevalent phenomenon.

The survey, a quantitative study conducted primarily face-to-face, involved interviews over a two-month period with a minimum of 1 500 respondents in all provinces, ensuring that the sample size and demographic profile of respondents in each region accurately mirrored the provincial population’s key demographics.

The majority of respondents (764) come from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape, while in terms of the demographic profile, more than half (51%) of respondents identified as male. Seven out of 10 were of African descent, 15% identified as Coloured, 10% as White, 4% as Asian and 8% as Other. The larger share of respondents was aged 35 to 40 (45%), 38% were 16 to 35 years of age, and 17% were aged 50 and older.

Respondents expressed significant concerns about the impact of corruption. Notable findings revealed a marked lack of confidence in the efficacy and ability of law enforcement agencies to tackle corruption, with two-thirds expressing scepticism towards these agencies due to a perceived deficiency in their capacity to combat corruption effectively.

Regarding confidence in the adequacy of anti-corruption legislation and policies, nearly half of respondents (49%) exhibited low levels of confidence, with a third expressing no confidence at all and only a fifth expressing confidence in the country’s anti-corruption legal framework and policies.

“It is no longer sufficient or appropriate to speak of good intentions in the anti-corruption discourse,” says Melusi Ncala, CW’s interim head of stakeholder relations and campaigns. “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.”

Survey findings

It is significant that between 600 and 700 of respondents reported interaction with officials in relation to their experiences of corruption. Of these, 24% reported giving a gift or a favour to police officers, car licence officers (23%), and traffic management officials (23%). Approximately one in 10 gave gifts or favours to prosecutors (12%), elected government representatives (11%), prosecutors (10%), and judges or magistrates at court (9%).

Over half of respondents (54%) indicated a limited understanding of anti-corruption legislation within the South African context, with only 27% reporting a proficient understanding of such laws. This highlights a potential gap in adequate public awareness and education initiatives.

Six out of 10 respondents are confident about the adequacy of the country’s laws and policies to address corruption; they also have a good understanding of anti-corruption laws. Most respondents who were not confident in the adequacy of laws and policies had limited (47%) or no (35%) knowledge of anti-corruption laws, while 67% of those with little confidence also have a limited understanding of anti-corruption laws.

The study showed that half of the respondents are of the belief that institutions prioritise issues affecting the affluent and influential and neglect the concerns of ordinary citizens, reinforcing perceptions of inequality and exclusivity. Similarly, half of the respondents expressed less trust in elected and appointed officials.

However, it is interesting that respondents expressed greater trust in media outlets, religious and spiritual institutions, and legal, investigative, and accounting firms to effectively address corruption concerns affecting ordinary citizens, suggesting that they are perceived as potentially more reliable. These organisations attained the highest mean scores out of a possible five.

Most respondents agreed that whistle-blowers remain vulnerable to victimisation, violence, and death (67%), with the widespread perception that whistle-blower information is compromised by officials in the public sector. This draws attention to issues of confidentiality and safeguarding those individuals who expose corruption in government institutions. Only 50% of respondents believe that whistle-blowing channels in place allow for confidentiality, psychological support, and the resolution of complaints.

Significantly, 81% believe that government is not doing enough to address corruption in the provision of basic services. This indicates a clear demand for stricter consequences for corrupt behaviour of 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 administering of justice by courts (64%), and food security (62%).

“The findings of this report are timely as our present democracy heads for its seventh national polls,” says Ncala. “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 remains prior to casting our vote, he concludes, is to reflect on what was promised in the sixth administration with all its missed opportunities and corruption scandals, and to assess what is being promised for the future by all those contesting for power.

Read The Impact of Corruption: Insights from a Perceptions and Experiences Survey.