South Africa: Is Organised Corruption a New Threat to SA’s Municipalities?
Some local government corruption is highly organised, and will further undermine the delivery of essential services and democratic governance.
How closely does local government corruption in South Africa resemble organised crime? Given that municipalities — the sphere of government closest to citizens — are in a “dire state”, according to the Auditor-General of South Africa, people have a right to know.
Like more traditional forms of organised crime, graft in municipalities is both organised and criminal. However, the predicate offences are not trafficking drugs, arms and people — they are crimes such as corruption and fraud.
Local government is responsible for driving economic growth, providing infrastructure and delivering essential services in its jurisdiction. To do so, municipal actors regularly interact with private sector service providers, the mechanisms of which are governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act.
But the lack of internal legislative compliance and consequence management means these interactions can be easily exploited. Actors inside and outside municipalities have formed corrupt networks and processes that facilitate personal benefit. These are organised and maintained over time.
To understand the connections between graft and organised crime in local government, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) mapped incidents of corruption.
By Daily Maverick.
