Counting the Covert for Classifying Or Analysing Corruption, Which Makes the Pretoria, South Africa Interpretation of Available Information Very Difficult
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COUNT About this monograph ISS Pretoria Block C, Brooklyn Court I This monograph investigates concerns about quantifying NG THE 361 Veale Street corruption in South Africa. There is no standardised system New Muckleneuk Counting the covert for classifying or analysing corruption, which makes the Pretoria, South Africa interpretation of available information very difficult. The Tel: +27 12 346 9500 Using data to understand Fax: +27 12 460 0998 monograph puts forward a more clearly defined system C [email protected] for categorising corruption. It uses this to consider the U OVERT: corruption in South Africa circumstances in which corruption becomes visible and ISS Addis Ababa David Bruce to interpret corruption data from victimisation surveys and 5th Floor, Get House Building agencies such as the Special Investigating Unit, the South Africa Avenue African Police Service and Public Service Commission. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251 11 515 6320 SI Fax: +251 11 515 6449 NG About the author [email protected] David Bruce is an independent researcher and writer D working in the fields of policing, crime and violence. From ISS Dakar TO UN ATA 1996 to 2011 he worked at the Centre for the Study of 4th Floor, Immeuble Atryum Violence and Reconciliation. He has a master’s degree in Route de Ouakam Dakar, Senegal public and development management from the School of Tel: +221 33 860 3304/42 Public and Development Management at the University of Fax: +221 33 860 3343 the Witwatersrand. [email protected] D ISS Nairobi ER About the ISS Braeside Gardens S The Institute for Security Studies is an African organisation off Muthangari Road TAN that aims to enhance human security on the continent. It Lavington, Nairobi, Kenya Cell: +254 72 860 7642 does independent and authoritative research, provides expert D Cell: +254 73 565 0300 policy analysis and advice, and delivers practical training and C [email protected] technical assistance. ORRUPT Acknowledgements www.issafrica.org I ON I This monograph was made possible with support from the N SOUTH Ford Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The ISS is grateful for support from the members of the ISS Partnership Forum: the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA. A FR © 2014, Institute for Security Studies Cover visual: © SAPS ISS Monograph No 189 IC Copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in the author and in the Institute ISBN 978-1-920678-04-3 A • for Security Studies, and no part may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission, in writing, of both the authors and the publishers. The David opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the ISS, its trustees, members of the Advisory Council or donors. Authors contribute to ISS publications in their personal capacity. B ruce ISS MONOGRAPH NUMBER 189 Contents Executive summary .........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................5 Defining corruption .................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 2: Examples of reporting on corruption in South Africa ..................................................9 Department of Public Service and Administration Anti-corruption Strategy, 2002 ...................................9 Public Service Commission (PSC) reports ............................................................................................10 Corruption Watch annual reports..........................................................................................................12 Summary .............................................................................................................................................12 Chapter 3: Major manifestations of corruption ...........................................................................15 Procurement corruption .......................................................................................................................15 Procurement, collusive bidding and the question of private sector corruption ................................................18 Other bribery and extortion (administrative) ..........................................................................................21 Misappropriation, embezzlement, fraud or theft ....................................................................................23 Nepotism in employment and promotions ............................................................................................25 At the boundaries of corruption: other mismanagement or abuses of official resources ........................26 Major manifestations of corruption: summary .......................................................................................27 Chapter 4: Similarities and differences among the categories ...................................................29 Collusion by government officials vs lone perpetrators .........................................................................29 Are private sector or other civilian role-players always involved? ...........................................................30 Credit corruption ..................................................................................................................................31 Bribery, extortion and debit corruption..................................................................................................32 Corruption victims and witnesses: direct and third-party victimisation ..................................................34 Repeat offending and victimisation .......................................................................................................36 Under what circumstances do acts of corruption become visible? .......................................................37 Chapter 5: Interpreting currently available data on corruption ...................................................41 Data from victimisation surveys on bribery ............................................................................................41 South African Police Service crime statistics and other criminal justice data .........................................46 Special Investigating Unit data .............................................................................................................49 Data from government departments on disciplinary cases....................................................................52 Data from PSC reports on cases reported to the National Anti-Corruption Hotline ................................53 Chapter 6: Conclusion ................................................................................................................55 Notes .............................................................................................................................................59 ISS MONOGRAPH 189 i Abbreviations and acronyms ANC African National Congress DOT Department of Transport DPSA Department of Public Service and Administration JCPS Justice, Crime Prevention and Security NACH National Anti-Corruption Hotline NPA National Prosecuting Authority NVCS National Victims of Crime Survey POCA Prevention of Organised Crime Act PRECCA Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act PSC Public Service Commission RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme SAPS South African Police Service SIU Special Investigating Unit TI Transparency International ii COUNTING THE COVERT: USING DATA TO UNDERSTAND CORRUPTION IN SOUTH AFRICA Executive summary Can we quantify corruption or authoritatively comment on trends in corruption in South Africa? How should we assess quantitative data emerging from criminal justice agencies or other investigative bodies, anti-corruption hotlines, or corruption surveys? How is this data meaningful and helpful in understanding the nature and extent of corruption in South Africa? In recent years concern about corruption has increased in South Africa. But although it is widely discussed there is often a lack of specificity when it is discussed. To address this problem a greater degree of precision is needed when corruption is reported on or analysed. For instance, greater clarity is needed on the precise meaning of the various forms of corruption. Is bribery different from procurement corruption or nepotism in the employment domain? When developing strategies to address corruption, should we assume that corrupt actions generally involve two discrete parties? Does corruption inevitably involve role-players from the private sector? Related to this, is it meaningful to talk about private sector corruption? What should be made of surveys that claim to quantify overall levels of bribery or levels of exposure to corruption by people accessing services from government departments? Should data from surveys be regarded as a reliable guide to overall levels of corruption? This monograph aims to engage with questions such as these. In the first part it provides examples of reports on corruption by government and civil society organisations. These illustrate that different agencies consistently apply different approaches to classifying forms of corruption, while reports providing quantitative data consistently fail to explain the approach they have used to differentiate forms of corruption