THE number of South Africans who have
reported being asked for a bribe has increased over the past year.
This was revealed when the Ethics Institute yesterday released the Citizens’ Bribery Survey.
The survey found that 37% of respondents knew someone who had been asked for a bribe in the past year, up from 4% last year.
The average bribe amount was R1 550, down by R650 from last year, while the average bribe amount for a tender was R82 282.
The top five most common types of bribes were to avoid a traffic offence at 39%, to obtain a driver’s licence at 18%, to secure a job at 14%, to secure a public service at 8%, and to avoid criminal charges at 7%.
The institute said: “This is the first time that bribes for police matters and criminal charges are in the top five. Avoiding traffic offences has been the most common type of bribe for three years in a row.”
Now in its third year, the survey was conducted with 4 962 respondents in Gauteng, KZN, Western Cape, Limpopo and Free State.
It found that seven out of 10 people would change their vote if they thought their political party enabled bribery and corruption.
Respondents saw the DA as the party most committed to combating corruption, followed by the EFF and ANC.
The EFF’s Julius Malema and DA’s Mmusi Maimane were identified as leaders most committed to combating corruption. – FIN24
