23 Nov.

Graft worsens in southern Africa, says Transparency International.

Global civil society group opposing corruption finds many instances of bribes being paid to public service providers across six countries, including South Africa.

Corruption is getting worse in Southern Africa, with the police seen as the most corrupt, and most people pay bribes for public services, a new survey of six countries in the region by Transparency International reveals.

According to the survey, more than half (56%) of all those who were in contact with public service providers paid a bribe to them in the past year.

Across the region, 62% of respondents said they believed corruption had become worse in the past three years.

For the report, titled “Daily Lives and Corruption, Public Opinion in Southern Africa”, Transparency International surveyed more than 6000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe between 2010 and 2011.

The good news is that 80% of those interviewed said they were prepared to get involved in the fight against corruption, and three-quarters said ordinary people could make a difference in the fight against corruption.

“Governments must wake up to the fact that people will not tolerate corruption any more and start reforming weak institutions, particular the police. People have a right to feel that they are protected by the police and not harassed,” said Chantal Uwimana, regional director for Africa and the Middle East at Transparency International.

The report found that people in all six countries named the police as the most corrupt service provider of the nine featured in the survey, and that most bribes were paid to the police.

There were some regional differences. In four of the six countries surveyed, respondents reported paying bribes to speed up services, but in South Africa and the DRC, more bribes were paid to avoid problems with the authorities.

In five of the six countries, respondents said they trusted the government more than non-governmental organisations, the media, international organisations or the private sector to fight corruption. In Malawi, however, NGOs were trusted just as much as the government.

Source: Business Day