Study says graft not as common as many think

[Boyrock]

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A410508

THERE is a large discrepancy between the perceptions of corruption and what companies actually experience, according to a study commissioned by Business Against Crime.


The study, which concentrated on bribes, showed that bribes were offered in 11,5% of the companies surveyed. However, 74% of participants believed that corruption was taking place.

This was attributed to poor ethical cultures, Public Service Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi told reporters in Pretoria yesterday.


The study backs President Thabo Mbeki, who has continuously argued that corruption and crime are under control, especially since the country has created a number of laws and institutions to combat corruption over the past 10 years.


“This (study) shows that negative perceptions are one of the biggest challenges we have in the fight against corruption,” Fraser-Moleketi said.


Business Unity SA CE Jerry Vilakazi said the negative perceptions were fuelled by, among other things, the fact that high-profile corruption cases received constant media attention and dominated headlines.


The study was presented to a meeting of the National Anti-Corruption Forum, which comprises members of government, business and civil society. It focuses on the role of the media in reporting corruption and the extent of corruption in the private sector.


The study assessed the nature and frequency of corruption in the private sector and the instruments and mechanisms used for preventing, detecting and responding to corruption. It covered 760 companies, 14 industry sectors in all provinces.


The study showed that bribes were offered or demanded mostly by another company, followed by third parties or intermediaries.

Middle management was mostly involved in accepting and demanding bribes as well as offering and paying bribes.


“The study confirmed that there are limitations in corporate governance framework regarding specific anticorruption facilities. It was noted that deeper compliance to corporate governance is required,” Fraser-Moleketi said.


The Companies Act is being amended to strengthen corporate governance compliance, and whistle-blowing will receive greater attention.


The study also showed that the co-operation of companies with law enforcement agencies needed to be strengthened and that 79% of firms were not aware of the legal requirement to report corruption to the police.


The meeting also discussed establishing provincial anticorruption forums.

Most of SA’s provinces do not have an anticoruption forum.

 

[Jongi]

I really like the term graft. I salute whomever came up with it.

 

[BobbyMac]

Ok, a pro-government organisation authorises a study to prove Mbeki right. can anyone say "Microsoft approved study shows Linux TCO higher than Windows"?

 

[Syndyre]

Are we just supposed to assume that when asked about corrupt practices everybody will be absolutely honest?

 

[diabolus]

Business Unity SA CE Jerry Vilakazi said the negative perceptions were fuelled by, among other things, the fact that high-profile corruption cases received constant media attention and dominated headlines.

....AND the fact that these corruption cases :
a) Never actually end [drags on for years]
b) Never Get someone jailed/fined longer than a few months
c) Creates a stage for criminals to get promoted/idolized instead of being seen as criminals. It's like a little presidential run or something..crazy.

If no one is brought to justice "according to their crime" , then surely the negativity on crime is going to grow , REGARDLESS of the crime stats going up or down. It gives the impression that everyone can just do what they want, and even having a criminal record probably boosting your CV [esp in government] .

The govt is sitting on their arses and doing nothing [in all areas]. Inactivity and Apathy will always result in INCREASED NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS. No matter what actually happens on the 'floor'.

There's a saying "Reality is nothing, Perception is everything" .

What govt. obviously isn't realising, you don't change perception by telling everyone they are dreaming.

 

[Angstrom]

The study, which concentrated on bribes, showed that bribes were offered in 11,5% of the companies surveyed. However, 74% of participants believed that corruption was taking place.

... and 74% of the participants would be right, in 11.5% of the cases.

There's no logical conclusion that can be drawn about the perceived prevalence of corruption by the quoted statement unless the participants were only asked about bribery in their company, and only their company.

Besides, 95% of statistics are made up on the spot ... 23% of all people know that (to paraphrase Homer J).

 

[kilo39]

The headlines are not about corruption in companies but corruption in government (which to all intents is endemic.)

 

[Angstrom]

The headlines are not about corruption in companies but corruption in government (which to all intents is endemic.)

Really? I must have missed that cause the article appears to discuss companies primarily.

 

[McSack]

What nonsense. Here we have a whole lot of government officials commenting that corruption is not really that high when the survey appears to have specifically targeted companies and not government. Maybe they should take a look at where most of the "high profile" corruption cases are coming from. Include government departments in the survey and the picture will look a little different I'm sure

 

[kilo39]

What nonsense. Here we have a whole lot of government officials commenting that corruption is not really that high when the survey appears to have specifically targeted companies and not government. Maybe they should take a look at where most of the "high profile" corruption cases are coming from. Include government departments in the survey and the picture will look a [-]little[/-] lot different I'm sure

What he said.

 

[Angstrom]

What he said.

Ahhh, indeed.

Well then what we have here is a classic strawman argument.

 

[kilo39]

The magnitude of crime in South Africa “should be considered a human rights violation”, according to the latest United States Department of State Human Rights Report.
Among the crimes it notes as human rights violations are a staggering 23 453 children raped, 1 075 murdered and 20 879 assaulted last year alone.
Government “generally” respects the human rights of South African citizens, the report says, but it argues that the blame for a number of violations can be laid at government’s door because it fails to provide a safe and secure climate.

Quote:
The report notes “government continued its efforts to curb corruption, although public perception of widespread official corruption, particularly in the police and the Department of Home Affairs, continued.”
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=68665

Cape Community Safety braces for second probe
March 10 2007 at 04:32PM
By Philda Essop

A second probe into the Department of Community Safety, which will include alleged financial irregularities, a R122 000 interest-free loan to MEC Leonard Ramatlakane and the excessive expenditure on the security improvements to his home, will begin shortly.

On Friday the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) resolved to "fine tune" the terms of reference into the new investigation by next week.

An earlier forensic investigation into the financial affairs of the department, which is being conducted by law firm Sonnenbergs, is already under way. It was ordered by Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool.

Dragnet closing in on home affairs officials
Bhavna Sookha
March 02 2007 at 03:24PM

The net is closing on officials within the department of home affairs who are believed to be involved in fraudulent activities.

Police from specialised units are currently involved in investigations which could see a number of department officials in hot water.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said the most recent arrest was that of a woman from KwaNdengezi who is alleged to have introduced foreigners to department officials in order to authorise bogus marriages.

The 35-year-old woman was arrested in a late-night raid at her home by members of the Organised Crime Unit and Provincial Task Team.

Random headlines (lots more where those came from.) Bury your head in the sand: we really don't mind.

 

[xtermin8or]

The survey did not look at Government, it looked at corruption in the private sector, that's what it is, nothing more, nothing less, I think saying that it backs Mbeki's statements is pushing it a bit.

One could of course look at it like this

The perception exists that Government officials accept bribes from the private sector, therefore if there is less corruption in the private sector, then it disproves the perception - but this is a stretch

I think all the survey shows is that there is good corporate governance in the country, which is good, but then we have to look at the source of the survey, Business Against Crime which represents Business, not Government - BobbyMac

 

[kilo39]

Middle managers most corrupt - study
March 13 2007 By Wendy Jasson da Costa
The study found that when bribes were demanded (16 percent) or accepted (5,5 percent) it mostly involved another company, (26,3 percent), a third party or intermediary (22,5 percent), or local government (19,6 percent).

Where bribes were offered (11,5 percent) or paid (7,3 percent) usually another company was involved (48,1 percent).

The most prevalent forms of corruption included competing for quotes/tenders (29 percent), awarding tenders/quotes (11 percent), theft from company (10 percent) and BEE fronting (7 percent).

Most respondents surveyed said corruption in the form of monetary bribes (16,6 percent) was most common followed by kickbacks (16,2 percent), gifts (12,7 percent), favours (10,6 percent) and excessive entertainment (8,2 percent).

Most companies (74,7 percent) said corruption was a deterrent to doing business in South Africa, that the current levels were harmful to further investment (74,5 percent) and that current levels of corruption made it difficult to operate ethically in their industry sector (48,5 percent).
-
Companies also said that in most cases they became involved in corruption to get approvals to which they were not entitled, to bypass difficult or arduous regulatory requirements and to speed up or finalise contracts.

.

(notably sitting like a big pooh in the background is government.)

 

[BobbyMac]

The survey did not look at Government, it looked at corruption in the private sector, that's what it is, nothing more, nothing less, I think saying that it backs Mbeki's statements is pushing it a bit.

One could of course look at it like this

The perception exists that Government officials accept bribes from the private sector, therefore if there is less corruption in the private sector, then it disproves the perception - but this is a stretch

I think all the survey shows is that there is good corporate governance in the country, which is good, but then we have to look at the source of the survey, Business Against Crime which represents Business, not Government - BobbyMac

Actually Business Against Crime is a forum for Business and Government to work together. It is represented by Business and attended by Government. It is also very clearly a backer of government and government policies. We needn't really get into this here, xtermin8or, as it is horribly off topic, but the who FNB anti-crime campaign was pressurised to cancellation mostly by the BAC.

Back on topic, the survey is very small. We have more than 3 million companies in this country (excluding practices and partnerships, etc that are not incorporated, etc). 715 million represents less than 2.5%.

Lastly, if you're corrupt and I ask you if you're corrupt what you gonna say?

 

[xtermin8or]

Actually Business Against Crime is a forum for Business and Government to work together. It is represented by Business and attended by Government. It is also very clearly a backer of government and government policies. We needn't really get into this here, xtermin8or, as it is horribly off topic, but the who FNB anti-crime campaign was pressurised to cancellation mostly by the BAC.

Back on topic, the survey is very small. We have more than 3 million companies in this country (excluding practices and partnerships, etc that are not incorporated, etc). 715 million represents less than 2.5%.

Lastly, if you're corrupt and I ask you if you're corrupt what you gonna say?

While I understand that you find it difficulot to understand basic concepts, I will endeavour to explain this again - the survey does not show that there is less corruption in Government than is perceived it involves companies - but then we have to take it with a pinch of salt, as it was conducted by BAC which represents business

 

[Angstrom]

Random headlines (lots more where those came from.) Bury your head in the sand: we really don't mind.

No, seriously. In my second post I was agreeing with you.

I was mistaken in my first post as you had not quoted anyone specific so I assumed you were referring to it directly.

Apologies for any confusion.

 

[kilo39]

(no apologies required.)

This was the problematical line:

“This (study) shows that negative perceptions are one of the biggest challenges we have in the fight against corruption,” Fraser-Moleketi said.

Which I read as we just dream this stuff up (and actually most headlines involving corruption involved government.)

The study found that bribes were offered in 11,5 percent of the companies surveyed yet 74 percent believed that corruption occurred, as a result of poor ethical culture.

"This shows that negative perceptions are one of the biggest challenges we have in the fight against corruption," said Fraser-Moleketi.

IOW, no point in reporting it and it is accepted as the norm.

It also showed that 79 percent of companies surveyed had no idea that they were legally required to report corruption to the police.

 

[BobbyMac]

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah - blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah - blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

You're nothing more than hot air.