Shocking SA graft revelation

Most bribes paid for in the past year by South Africans are to traffic officers. Other bribes are by people paying to get jobs, driving licences, tenders, discounts, theft from businesses and to get out of criminal charges. This was revealed in the first South Africa Citizen’s Bribery Survey, conducted by the Ethics Institute of South Africa and sponsored by Massmart. The survey results were released on Wednesday on International Anti-Corruption Day. There were 6 380 South Africans interviewed inside Massmart stores in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and Polokwane about their experiences with bribery. Respondents were from a wide socio-economic background and across all age groups. It was found that nearly twice as many people were approached for a bribe in Limpopo (48 percent) compared to the other provinces.

Bribes were paid to avoid traffic offences (34 percent), to get jobs (29 percent), driving licences (13 percent), tenders (7 percent) and illicit discounts from business (4 percent). The results showed there was a disconnect between people’s perception of bribery and reality. Only 26 percent said they know of someone who was asked to pay a bribe in the past 12 months, but when approached for a bribe, 77 percent of respondents indicated that they paid it and 78 percent said they believe it is not possible to get through life without paying a bribe in South Africa. Ethics SA chief executive Deon Rossouw said while most people reckon bribery takes place mainly in the public sector, the survey found the crime is just as prevalent in the private sector, particularly when it came to paying bribes to get a job. The construction industry was singled out as the industry with the most bribery. “Some findings are as expected, but others challenge common perceptions and put things in a new light,” said Kris Dobie, manager of organisational ethics development at Ethics SA.

“The finding of the prevalence of bribery for jobs is a case in point. While it is not unknown that there is sometimes payment for getting employment, the scale of the phenomenon as reported by survey respondents is surprising. And while there are examples of more senior positions for sale, it is the pervasiveness of bribery for unskilled labour that is most poignant.” When asked why the person they knew had paid a bribe, there were a number of different responses. Some cited “to get away with a murder case”, “to avoid being arrested for selling drugs” and “to get electricity and not be cut off”. Others said it was “to get help at the hospital”, “moved up on the waiting list for her child to get into a public high school”, “to be a teacher”, “to be a nurse” and “to adopt a child”. R100 notes were most frequently used to pay bribes, while to get a tender the average cost was R100 000, a job R3 000 and a driving licence R2 000. But Rossouw believes it's not all doom and gloom, because citizens aren't helpless victims and can do something to put a stop to this type of crime.