SCHOOLS remain corruption hot spots. That’s according to Corruption Watch’s fifth annual report released on Tuesday, 28 February. In it, the anti-corruption organisation said they received the most complaints about schools, at 16 per cent.
KwaZulu-Natal had 12 per cent of the complaints regarding schools in the country. The most reports of corruption in schools was attributed to principals at 55 per cent. School Governing Body members and Department of Education officials made up 10 and 5 per cent of the reports, respectively. The theft of funds was the most common form of corruption, closely followed by financial mismanagement and employment corruption.
Overall the most prevalent types of corruption reported in 2016 centred on the abuse of power, then bribery and procurement corruption.
Executive director of Corruption Watch, David Lewis said about the state of corruption in the country over the past year, “2016 was the year in which South Africans decisively and publicly rejected corruption. From ordinary voters and community members through to leading public officials and cabinet ministers, there was a groundswell of opposition to corruption and its perpetrators. But the fight is not over by any means. The future of our country rests on our ability to maintain and intensify the pressure exerted in 2016.”
The organisation which relies on the public to receive reports on corruption and investigate them, said the data that it gathered enables it to know where to focus its campaign effort.
