Africa Anti-Corruption Day: Is South Africa making progress?

Tuesday is Africa Anti-Corruption Day. Its purpose is to “reflect on the role of corruption in the lives of ordinary Africans, and to share good lessons and practices in the fight against corruption”. This is necessary because corruption impedes development. 

South Africa is a prime example of a country on the continent that has been negatively affected by corruption. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana warned that rampant corruption was a persistent problem that drains public finances. This affects the state of development and sets the country back in sustaining its development interventions.

State of corruption

The level of corruption has reached alarming proportions, permeating every aspect of society. Numerous corruption cases have been reported, including high-profile scandals such as the Nkandla scandal, where former President Zuma’s home was upgraded with luxurious features using public funds meant for security enhancements. This scandal led to accusations of corruption and misappropriation of funds, prompting parliament to demand that the former president reimburse the money spent. The Nkandla scandal helped reveal institutional weaknesses caused by state capture.

Corruption has also been observed in state-owned entities such as SAA and Eskom. The former Eskom chief executive, Andre de Rutyer, alleged that the ruling ANC has been using the state enterprise as a source of illicit gains. Corruption at Eskom has become a matter of great concern, involving improper contracts, irregular payments and instances of state capture, exacerbating financial mismanagement and the country’s energy crisis.

Corruption exists in universities. There have been numerous allegations of mismanagement, irregularities in tender processes and maladministration. Moreover, it is alleged that certain higher education institutions have come under scrutiny for granting degrees to politically influential individuals who have not done the necessary studies.

The VBS Mutual Bank “heist” is another notable corruption case involving top executives and politicians that caused the bank’s collapse. During the Covid-19 pandemic, reports of corruption and irregularities emerged in the procurement of personal protective equipment. These reports highlighted inflated prices, non-compliant suppliers and kickbacks. Various government officials and companies were also implicated. There were also instances of alleged fraudulent claims and personal misuse of Covid-19 social relief grants. The recent Phala Phala matter has further tarnished the presidency. 

These cases of corruption paint a concerning picture. Survey data from Afrobarometer in 2022 found that 82% of South Africans believe that corruption increased significantly in the year leading up to the survey. This represents a 10 percentage point increase since 2021. Moreover, only 10% of South Africans believe the government is effectively addressing corruption, while 65% and 63% of respondents believe the presidency and MPs, respectively, are corrupt. This highlights the dire state of corruption in the country.

Action taken

South Africa has implemented a range of measures to address this issue, including the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PCCA), the National Anti-Corruption Hotline, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Office of the Public Protector, the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), the Protected Disclosures Act, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, the Political Party Funding Act to regulate public and private funding of political parties, judicial commissions of inquiry, and various transparency and accountability mechanisms.

The PCCA has enabled the prosecution of some corrupt individuals, despite resource and budget constraints. The National Anti-Corruption Hotline has, since its establishment in 2004, received calls about the mismanagement of government funds, abuse of government vehicles, procurement irregularities, unethical behaviour, social grant fraud and corruption relating to RDP Housing.

The SIU has been effective in uncovering corruption and irregularities in government entities, for instance its investigation on Covid-19 related procurement by state institutions. The FIC has played a role in identifying suspicious transactions and providing intelligence to law enforcement agencies. The Office of the Public Protector has been instrumental in exposing corruption and advocating for good governance, for instance, state capture, the case involving former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi and that of former Northern Cape MEC, John Block, who was sentenced to 15 years for corruption and money laundering.

The AFU has been successful in freezing and forfeiting assets linked to corruption. Judicial commissions of inquiry, such as the Zondo commission into state capture, have played a critical role in uncovering the truth, gathering evidence and making recommendations. South Africa has also implemented transparency and accountability mechanisms, such as the Promotion of Access to Information Act and requirements for financial disclosure by public officials. 

Additionally, parliament and its committees have conducted oversight on the executive and state institutions implicated in corruption and maladministration. For instance, the parliamentary committee on home affairs questioned the security cluster of the country regarding the escape of a convicted criminal named Thabo Bester. This incident raised suspicions of corruption due to possible involvement or negligence within the prison system.

Effectiveness of measures

The effectiveness of tackling the sophisticated nature of corruption in South Africa has come into question. South Africa isn’t doing enough to combat corruption in the public sector. Key regulatory and oversight agencies are underfunded and poorly led. This can have dire consequences, especially for the delivery of public services. The most vulnerable people are negatively affected the most. Corrupt activities redirect money that was intended to reach key sectors into the hands of greedy leaders who fail to prioritise public services to help those who need it most. In addition, South Africa has made slow progress in recovering assets lost to state capture and corruption and in prosecuting those who are responsible for such corruption. This, in turn, affects the government’s ability to redirect those funds for essential service delivery and development.

Areas of improvement 

Proper financial resourcing of public institutions which are tasked with anti-corruption work is vital to prevent public finance losses. This will be important for tracking expenditure, ensuring that officials responsible for overseeing effective implementation of anti-corruption interventions are capacitated and well equipped and investing in resources — for example, digital technology to assist the efficiency of realising corruption free institutions in the public sector.

In addition, an effective legal or regulatory instrument that creates an enabling environment to implement development programmes, while maintaining transparency and accountability in the management of the funds, is essential. The responsibility for anti-corruption management is scattered and all institutions involved seem to work in silos, which makes it difficult to mainstream accountability, effective investment and alignment of work across the various institutions to coordinate efforts.

At the heart of every public sector mechanism is political will. Fighting corruption requires political will to create strong fiscal institutions that promote integrity and accountability throughout the public sector. Although it may seem like there is political will at a face value, it ought to come with individual leaders holding themselves accountable for their own contributions to this problem and it’s uncertain whether public officials would be willing to do so considering individual gain is prioritised over public interest.

There are efforts to combat corruption but there is room for improvement. 

Karabo Mokgonyana is a legal and development practitioner and programme director for the Sesi Fellowship and Skill Hub. Nyasha Mcbride Mpani is the project leader for the Data for Governance Alliance Project at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.