‘Government not doing enough to address corruption’ − CW report

A Corruption Watch (CW) report has revealed that 81% of respondents believe government is not doing enough to address corruption in the provision of basic service.

The organisation released a new report on Wednesday, assessing the profound impact of corruption on people’s lives, titled The Impact of Corruption: Insights from a Perceptions and Experiences Survey.

Corruption Watch surveyed 1 500 respondents in all provinces. 

With President Cyril Ramaphosa, former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the former health minister Zweli Mkhize all implicated in corruption scandals, Corruption Watch said the report reveals 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%).”  

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Impact of corruption

Respondents also 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.

However, Corruption Watch said 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.”

Media, religious and spiritual trust

Corruption Watch said respondents also expressed trusts in other organisations.

“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.”

Action against corruption

Melusi Ncala, Corruption Watch’s interim head of stakeholder relations and campaigns, said it  is no longer sufficient or appropriate to speak of good intentions in the anti-corruption discourse.

“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.

Corruption Watch said most respondents also 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.

The report comes weeks before the national and provincial elections where political parties and independents are promising to deal harshly with corruption if elected into office.

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