A report released by the anti-corruption non-profit organisation, Corruption Watch, in August 2021 has indicated that there were 857 whistle-blower allegations of corruption within local governments in 2020. This is the highest number that the organisation has ever recorded within a year since 2012. With the upcoming municipal elections, it becomes ever more important for South Africans to be able to identify good governance practices. And to be aware of the direct impact that corruption has on livelihoods.
It is just past 08:00 on Monday, 23 August 2021. A mother has just returned home after taking her child to school. Moments later the streets of Mondeor in the South of Johannesburg, where she stays, roar with the sound of gunshots.
The mother, Babita Deokaran, died in hospital that same afternoon after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.
Babita Deokaran was murdered before she could speak out as a whistleblower and witness in an investigation regarding irregular expenditure of personal protective equipment (PPE). Whistleblowers play an important role in exposing corruption in South Africa. PHOTO: Facebook/ Keep The Energy
Deokaran was a senior Gauteng health department official who was due to be a witness and whistle-blower in an investigation into personal protective equipment purchase (PPE) irregularities, according to reports from News24 and Daily Maverick.
The plight of whistle-blowers
This is, however, not how whistle-blowers should feel or be treated, according to Melusi Ncala, author of the anti-corruption non-profit organisation, Corruption Watch’s South Africa needs clean hands report.
“If you realise the kind of situations that some of these whistle-blowers find themselves in, you understand the extent to which corruption has a direct impact on their lives,” says Ncala.
According to this report, Corruption Watch has received 32 998 whistle-blower reports between 2012 to 2020, of which 16% contain allegations of corruption within the local government.
Corruption could include the use of public funds or public resources for personal or private means, but corruption is also directly related to the quality of governance, according to Nicola de Jager, associate professor at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) department of political science.
“Good governance is impartiality or non-partisanship. Those who become public servants in local or national government are supposed to act in the public interest and not in personal interest,” says De Jager.
What corruption means for the elections
On 1 November 2021 South Africans will head to voting stations to partake in the municipal elections, and Corruption Watch’s report “means that we have a leadership crisis”, according to Ncala.
Corruption hinders development, weakens democracy and erodes trust, according to Nicola de Jager, associate professor at Stellenbosch University’s department of political science. This can be problematic for the upcoming municipal elections on 1 November 2021. GRAPHIC: Inge du Plessis
When service delivery is poor, or municipalities do not act in the interests of the public, citizens unconsciously blame the democratic regime rather than the bad governance of those in power, says De Jager. This could result in members of the public opting out of the conventional participation routes and going into unconventional routes, she says.
These unconventional routes include protesting, and often violent protesting, according to an article on political radicalism written by De Jager and Cindy Steenekamp, a senior lecturer in the department of political science at SU.
“More people now are not voting than those that are voting […] In the 2016 municipal elections we saw a very low participation and we can expect that that will even decline further,” says De Jager.
South Africa’s 2016 municipal elections saw a voter turnout of 58%, according to BusinessTech.
Nicola de Jager, associate professor at Stellenbosch University’s department of political science explaining how bad leadership can lead to citizens opting out of conventional democratic participation methods like voting. AUDIO: Inge du Plessis
A report by the non-partisan, pan-African research institution, Afrobarometer, found that South Africans’ trust in state and political parties have declined in the past decade.
Over the past decade, trust in the ruling party has declined from 61% to 27%, the report indicates. Trust in opposition parties has declined 40% to 24%.
A DECLINE OF TRUST IN POLITICAL PARTIES (2006-2021)
People are opting out of voting because of bad service delivery, according to a survey conducted by the non-partisan, pan-African research institution, Afrobarometer. People subconsciously blame the democratic regime, instead of bad governance, when services are not being delivered and development is being hindered, says Nicola de Jager, associate professor at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) department of political science. GRAPH: Inge du Plessis SOURCE: Afrobarometer
Furthermore, the report found that 67% of South Africans would be willing to give up elections if a non-elected government could provide security, housing, and jobs.
Corruption and good governance
The implications of corruption can be seen and felt by the South African public too, according to De Jager. There are three main implications of corruption: It hinders development, it weakens democracy and it erodes trust, she says.
“Communities really need to introspect and community members must think of the kind of leaders that they want in their communities,” says Ncala.
Meluci Ncala, author of the anti-corruption non-profit organisation, Corruption Watch’s South Africa needs clean hands report, advises community members on how they can take action against corruption and improper governance. AUDIO: Inge du Plessis
Corruption is prevalent in South Africa because there is a culture of impunity, according to De Jager. “Those who are involved in corruption need to feel the cost of that corruption.”
According to De Jager, roles within municipalities are currently occupied by individuals who have a loyalty to the leading political party of the country. However, a public servant should be separated from government loyalty.
“If my position is not dependent on whether I do my job well or whether I have the skill to do my job, but my position is dependent on my loyalty to a party, then you understand why [some public servants] do not act in the public interest,” explains De Jager.
Cleaning our own house
According to Corruption Watch’s South Africa needs clean hands report there has been a 50% increase in corruption reports from the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape in 2020, compared to the amount of corruption reports in 2019.
“The Provincial Government has an oversight role over all municipalities within the Western Cape and monitors the implementation of the Local Government Anti-Corruption Strategy and Integrity Management Framework (LGACS) within district and local municipalities,” says Rowena van Wyk, head of communication of the department of local government, Western Cape Government.
Every municipality has to contribute against corruption by using the structures available to municipalities to train councillors and officials, according to Van Wyk.
‘Making every cent count’
Locally, the Stellenbosch Municipality has obtained a clean audit from the Auditor-General (AG) of South Africa for the 2019/2020 financial year. Only 27 municipalities out of 257 countrywide received clean audits for this period, reported SABC news.
Road- and Municipal workers in Stellenbosch. The Stellenbosch Municipality was one of 27 municipalities out of 257 countrywide to obtain a clean audit from the Auditor-General of South Africa for the 2019/2020 financial year. Stuart Grobbelaar, the Stellenbosch Municipality Spokesperson, says the municipality is serious about making every cent count and that they spend public funds in a responsible and transparent manner. PHOTOS: Inge du Plessis
“This [result from the AG] shows that we are serious about making every cent count and that we spend public funds in a responsible and transparent manner,” says Stuart Grobbelaar, spokesperson of Stellenbosch Municipality.
Stellenbosch Municipality implements regular open council meetings, the municipality has a dedicated internal auditing unit and the Audit Committee meets regularly and conducts a proper oversight over expenditure and all financial reports are made public on a monthly and quarterly basis as prescribed by legislation, according to Grobbelaar.
According to Ncala, the South Africa needs clean hands report is not an indication of which provinces are more corrupt but rather an indication of where reports have been received most.
“Whistle-blower accounts should always be read in conjunction with population density, the type of corruption reported in the area and many other factors that state why more reports are received from one province than another,” says Ncala.
Ncala states that it is important for the public to be aware and understand what corruption is and know about their whistle-blower rights. “The public must have a vested interest in their communities, ask questions and be observant of the types of activities that take place in their communities.”