Summary in English. / According to President Thabo Mbeki, the fight against corruption is one of the principal tasks of his new government. Corruption is a central concern for a country that is in a difficult political transition and is facing strong economic demands. South Africa needs an effective government. The focus of this paper is one of the areas where corruption is thriving, the South African Police Service (SAPS). I have chosen for a study within the department of Safety and Security because this is the headquarters of the fight against corruption and the place where the rule of law should be rooted most deeply. If the justice-system is corrupt, the whole state will be polluted. According to the Parliamentary researcher for the Safety and Security Committee 'the current level of corruption within the overall criminal justice system is the factor most negatively influencing efforts to substantially improve safety and security in South Africa', undermining both public confidence and crime prevention strategies (Briefing Committee 1999:1). This is one motivation for writing a thesis on this topic: corruption is a central concern for those involved in South African politics. The theme of corruption is also at the heart of political organization. People organize themselves for certain goals. Whatever these goals are, corruption interferes with their effective pursuance. Studying corruption means studying the nature of government and the tension between the way it should use its power and the way it does. It is about the limits of human organization, the tension between the public and the private, and the slippery way people practice their ethics. This is another motivation for writing on this topic: corruption is a central concern for those involved in political science. In South Africa, there are widespread beliefs in the existence of corruption. In a survey published by Idasa in 1996, 46 percent of the respondents felt that most officials were engaged in corruption and only 6 percent believed there was a clean government (Lodge 1998:157). The police certainly does not have a dean reputation. In a newspaper poll over half of the respondents called the police 'corrupt and having no integrity' (Sowetan 28/3/96, quoted in Syed and Bruce 1997:2). Moreover, an opinion survey at the end of 1998 showed that 60 percent of the respondents thought the government was controlling corruption 'not very well' or 'not at all well' (Mail & Guardian 8/10/99:30). In this thesis, I want to put these figures into perspective. The purpose of the thesis is two-folded. Firstly, to provide for an analysis of the historical, political, social and organizational roots of corruption within the SAPS. Secondly, to confront this analysis - and the policy directions it suggests - with the practice of fighting corruption in South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/12560 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Meeusen, A |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Political Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSocSc |
| Format | application/pdf |
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