Most people pay bribes to make traffic fines disappear, to get a job or a driver's licence because they felt they did not have a choice or that it was convenient to pay.
This was revealed by Ethics Institute which released its 2016 South African Citizens' Bribery Survey yesterday in Rosebank, Johannesburg. The study which was done in five provinces sampled 4553 randomly selected participants across all income levels.
It was funded by Massmart and Walmart and focused on bribery in both government and private sector.
The study noted that one out of five in SA have paid a bribe. It further noted that 33% of the respondents knew someone who was asked for a bribe in 2015, and 20% knew someone who paid a bribe and 40% of them always paid a bribe.
The average amount paid was R2200 (R195 increase from 2015) and this was largely for traffic offences, jobs, driver's licence, discounts/free goods from businesses and tenders and lastly for social grants.
Bribes for discounts and free food were prominent in the lower income respondents who were 52% of the 5553 of the people that took part in the survey.
Respondents said 43% of those who paid did it because they did not have a choice, 36% for convenience, 8% did not see it as a big deal and 2% paid out of concern for their safety.
Of the top five areas mentioned for bribery in the public sector police ranked high followed by home affairs, health, education and municipalities. In the private sector, construction came tops followed by mining, security and retail industries.
However, 50% of the respondents said they never paid a bribe mostly because of moral or religious principles, 13% could not afford it and 11% for fear of the consequences of their actions. Professor Deon Rossouw, CEO of the institute, said it was encouraging that personal beliefs prevented a higher number of participants from submitting to bribery. "It's encouraging morals and religious or personal beliefs still play a huge role in our decision making as a society," Rossouw said. He said the results of the survey will be taken to various government departments to help in their planning of curbing corruption.
"But anti-corruption starts with leadership before it filters down to ordinary employees. If our leaders can lead by example our country would be in the right direction."
One in five pays a bribe in SA
Most people pay bribes to make traffic fines disappear, to get a job or a driver's licence because they felt they did not have a choice or that it was convenient to pay.
This was revealed by Ethics Institute which released its 2016 South African Citizens' Bribery Survey yesterday in Rosebank, Johannesburg. The study which was done in five provinces sampled 4553 randomly selected participants across all income levels.
It was funded by Massmart and Walmart and focused on bribery in both government and private sector.
The study noted that one out of five in SA have paid a bribe. It further noted that 33% of the respondents knew someone who was asked for a bribe in 2015, and 20% knew someone who paid a bribe and 40% of them always paid a bribe.
The average amount paid was R2200 (R195 increase from 2015) and this was largely for traffic offences, jobs, driver's licence, discounts/free goods from businesses and tenders and lastly for social grants.
Bribes for discounts and free food were prominent in the lower income respondents who were 52% of the 5553 of the people that took part in the survey.
Respondents said 43% of those who paid did it because they did not have a choice, 36% for convenience, 8% did not see it as a big deal and 2% paid out of concern for their safety.
Of the top five areas mentioned for bribery in the public sector police ranked high followed by home affairs, health, education and municipalities. In the private sector, construction came tops followed by mining, security and retail industries.
However, 50% of the respondents said they never paid a bribe mostly because of moral or religious principles, 13% could not afford it and 11% for fear of the consequences of their actions. Professor Deon Rossouw, CEO of the institute, said it was encouraging that personal beliefs prevented a higher number of participants from submitting to bribery. "It's encouraging morals and religious or personal beliefs still play a huge role in our decision making as a society," Rossouw said. He said the results of the survey will be taken to various government departments to help in their planning of curbing corruption.
"But anti-corruption starts with leadership before it filters down to ordinary employees. If our leaders can lead by example our country would be in the right direction."
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