Bureaucratic Perceptions of Fraud and Corruption in the Public Sector in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

There is consensus among academic experts and researchers on corruption that large scale construction and development programmes provide an excellent avenue for corruption in corrupt regimes. The past ten years or so have witnessed a deluge of media, especially print media, reporting on corruption in the South African state. South Africa is a developmental state, and by definition government is heavily involved in large scale acquisition of goods and services as well as in infrastructure development programmes. This research was conducted within this context and sought to explore perceptions of and attitudes to fraud and corruption in the public sector. The research was carried out in the province of KwaZulu-Natal with a sample of 75 public sector bureaucrats in three government departments engaged in large scale procurement of goods and services. Results indicate that procurement constitutes a weak link in the quality chain of risk management and therefore in fraud and corruption prevention strategies. Further, the data shows dissatisfaction among officials with the way officialdom handles malfeasance and profligacy in the public sector and particularly the failure in the government system to enforce accountability. Tentative recommendations include further research into the value system of government officials, reducing the motivations for corruption in government spending through training programmes in ethics and good corporate governance, enforcing punitive measures, as well as establishing mechanisms for policing and early warning signals