Corruption obstacle to foreign investment in South Africa

Corruption obstacle to foreign investment in SA
December 2011
SABC

Last month President Jacob Zuma fired Ministers Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde and Sicelo Shiceka for corruption.(SABC)

Some analysts have warned that deals that enrich the politically-connected in sectors such as mining are among the obstacles to foreign investment in South Africa.



Their warning comes after former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi lost a corruption conviction appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein yesterday. He has until tomorrow afternoon to hand himself over to the Johannesburg prison to start his 15-year jail term.




Last month, President Jacob Zuma fired two cabinet ministers in a bid to dispel criticism that he was soft on graft. President Zuma also suspended Selebi's replacement, Bheki Cele, pending an inquiry into an irregular multi-million-rand lease for new police headquarters. President Zuma has launched a fresh inquiry into a multi-billion-rand arms deal.






Corruption and bribery are getting worse in South Africa, according to a survey by anti-corruption organisation

Corruption and bribery are getting worse in South Africa, according to a survey by anti-corruption organisation Transparency International. In four out of the six countries surveyed in southern Africa, people reported paying bribes to speed up services.




In South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo more bribes were paid to avoid problems with authorities. The survey surveyed more than 6000 people in the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.




Across the region, 62% of people believed corruption had become worse in the past three years. Those polled in all six countries named police as the most corrupt service provider.



At least 52.8% of South Africans surveyed by Statistics South Africa say they have been asked to pay a bribe to a traffic official to avoid a fine. Stats SA conducted the Victims of Crime 2011 survey to assess the experiences South Africans had with corruption.




The survey showed that 5.6% of households had been asked to pay a bribe to government officials between 2008 and 2010. The results further showed that 15.9% paid for drivers licenses and 13.8% of job seekers paid for work.