Government Corruption in South Africa

Abstract

The 1994 elections had seen a near tectonic change in South Africa. The long run minority White regime was replaced by a majority Black government of the African National Congress headed by Nelson Mandela. He, along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, did a magnificent job of avoiding a bloodbath and keeping peace between the races. A new Constitution was accepted by 1996 which subscribed to lofty ideals. Yet, they turned sour before long. Aspirations ran ahead of hard realities. Utopia seems to have morphed into dystopia. Greed, prompted by past deprivation, appears to have made opportunists of several while others became blind ideologues. In no time, the country turned to be totally corrupt. This spectacular failure of the system is explained in this chapter.

Citation

Ferreira, I.W. (2021), "Government Corruption in South Africa", Tummala, K.K. (Ed.) Corruption in the Public Sector: An International Perspective (Public Policy and Governance, Vol. 34), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2053-769720210000034008