corruption in South Africa during and after Apartheid

Quando due etnie non riescono a comunicare tra di loro e sono anche costrette a convivere nello stesso Paese, uno scontro tra le due parti diventa  inevitabile. Ovviamente una parte prevarrà sull’altra e la fazione sconfitta sarà costretta a subire trattamenti poco piacevoli da parte dei vincitori.
Approfondimento personale sulla figura di Nelson Mandela e sul tema dell’apartheid basato sul libro di John Carlin "Mandela - Ritratto di un sognatore"

The trend of occurring reality in understanding and practicing corruption is largely dependent upon the mode of its presentation and publicity throughout writing. It is, therefore, essential to look deep into the way that corruption is narrated and revealed in the course of literature. To find the current exhaustive articles, the word ‘corruption’ was typed in the sage database (www.sagepub.com) and five articles were identified that had the word 'corruption' in their titles during period from August to November 2010 (4 months). Out of these five articles, one article entitled Police Corruption: Deviance, Accountability and Reform in Policing, was about the review of several books and lacked the in-depth analysis of the data. Since this article did not serve the purpose of this study, the remaining four articles were reviewed. Only methodological processes of the reviewed articles were taken into account for the purpose of this study.

All four articles published during the period had their ontological standpoints of foundationalism. The research conducted to write these articles were quantitative with descriptive and inferential statistical technique. These techniques provided sufficient information about the relationship between the variables under investigation to enable prediction and control over future outcomes. However, except in an article, to some extent, the methodology dismisses the experiences of the individual as unimportant, which demonstrates and regards human beings as merely reacting and responding to the environment.
In the present context of globalization, every issue is looked at from the lens of capitalist economy and political process. Non-market values such as trust, ethics of care and compassion, a politics of recognition and respect, are not given importance. The grounded reality that the corruption is associated with socio-cultural factors is not given much importance and the differences in terms of time, space, culture and individual are not considered. This masks some vital practices lying in the margin and minority in the form of ideas, emotions and subtle experiences of the people. Thus, this misses subjective dimension of uncovering the truth. As the interaction is based on a particular social setting and the meaning that is shaped in a particular social setting and cultural context has its uniqueness and may not be generalized in another social setting, the present trend of 'only' generalizing the issue and trying to find widely applicable meaning is to be revisited.

South Africa, surprisingly, negotiated a peaceful process of regime change from the racial Apartheid to a non-racial, non-sexist democracy. It has become a beacon to the world and Africa, attesting to the viability of negotiated settlements for complex socio-political.....

“The ANC took the reins of Government as a movement of liberation, transforming into a ruling party. The ANC has always maintained that it is a ‘Broad Church’, that is, a 'coalition' of almost all the varieties of ideologies that exist in South Africa: from the National Democratic Revolution incorporating all the varieties of socialism to Neo liberalism and blatant capitalist interests together with of Black Consciousness and Pan Africanism. The ANC even incorporated the remnants of the old Nationalist Party as many dropped their former political alignments in the service of the ANC and their careers. This coalition has all centred round the revolutionary Tripartite Alliance of the ANC, South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Union.

Many differing ideologies came to the ANC with their own value systems, interests, habits and customs only somewhat tempered by their membership of the ANC. Perhaps they should have heeded the warnings of history. Commenting on  the Elamite victory over Babylon circa 700 B.C., Maspero (1900) wrote, "His [Elam’s] descendants would assuredly have brought Mesopotamia into lasting subjection, had not the feudal organization of their empire tolerated the existence of contemporary local dynasties, the members of which often disputed the supreme authority with the rightful king." (p. 228). The ANC coalition runs the same danger. The ANC has had a difficult time in negotiating the compromises necessary to hold the coalition together and certainly has not been able to keep to a holistic and consistent practice. In the case of the ANC only time will tell whether the centre can hold its complicated coalition together.

Peter E. Franks (2013)

Fragment from an early draft of the paper on training in the South African Public Service which the Belgian editors made me snip because of its, to them, uncomfortable (sic) religious  connotations.

However, now the feudal ‘kingdom’ is breaking up, or is it down.

Franks, P.E. (2011)  : Culture and Development in the New South Africa. Johannesburg : Ke Art, Read to Think Series.
Originally:
Franks, P.E (1994) : Culture and development in the new South Africa.  Paper commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the World Commission on Culture and Development Conference.

Contribution to: De Cuellar, Javier Perez and others  (1995) Our Creative Diversity: Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, Paris: UNESCO.

Corruption goes along with the meaning of dishonesty, treachery and untruthfulness.
However, the exact meaning is difficult to arrive at as it varies depending on the various
perspectives. For the West, it is more associated wit the deceitful act for personal
economic benefit, whereas it is not limited to the monetary profit in the context of Nepal
but also refers to the exploitation, deception or betrayal of others. Therefore, it is
significant to acknowledge the meaning and the level of corruption in the particular
context in order to find its remedies within the periphery. It is readily accepted that none
of the countries are free from corruption, but the problem I see here is the attention of the
people to find its solution rather than trying to understand it i-depth in the particular
context. I argue that it is necessary to have an in-depth knowledge for understanding the
root causes of corruption, based on the particular socio-economic and cultural aspects
that help in the sustainable reduction of the practices of corruption.
In recent times, corruption has attracted the attention of researchers in the academic
arena; not only in economics, but also in public administration, sociology, political
science and law. Research in this area includes detailed descriptions of corruption
scandals, case studies, and cross-country studies. It also ranges from theoretical models
to empirical investigations. However, in the existing review, I found that all the studies
are related to measure/ understand global nature of corruption rather than understand,
and find the its depth in the particular social context. There are many questions that are
yet to be resolved. Does corruption in a particular context have the same nature and
extent as there is in the global context? In our attempt to reduce corrupt activities, is it
necessary to identify the required socio-economic context? Does corruption in every
local level have a distinct character? Can macro-model be well-equipped to address the
issue or is it necessary to develop a micro-model to curb corruption?

Preventing and combating corruption in the judiciary
Paper presented at the "Activism Against Corruption in Africa" Conference organised by Konrad Adenauer Foundation on 22-25 November 2016, Johannesburg South Africa. A reflection on
1. Judicial Corruption Perception in South Africa
2. National Legal Instruments
3. International Obligations
4. Extra-Judicial Watchdogs or Guardians
5. Anti-Corruption Watchdog Accountability
6. Causes of Judicial Corruption and their Remedies

"The perspective in this paper is somewhat critical of the Western scientific approach to social problems. It is considered that this approach is especially inappropriate in the third world context of which South Africa is a part. The writer is not attempting to speak for others, be they black, brown, or white; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Animist, or whatever. The writer is rather, attempting to look on the situation through his own eyes in an attempt to come to terms with the problems facing South Africa as a whole.
Rejecting both the ideology of apartheid and the ideologies of liberal integrationism, communism and capitalism, the writer hopes to critically evaluate the situation in terms of a realpolitik untainted by ideological -isms which have in the past trapped debate within the dominating dialogues: apartheid-integration, and capitalism-communism.
It is not the writer's intention merely to criticise the Government or its opponents, or to laud them. It attempts rather, to place the South African situation within a critical context of concepts, and to extend the boundaries of the present dialogue by means of a critical assessment of the conceptual dimensions within which dialogue can become bogged down.
As has been noted elsewhere the African and Afrikaans sectors of this land are the elements necessary to a peaceful solution (Ngubane, 1979). If there is to be a solution at all, South Africans (in a broad sense) have to discover a language, and symbolic universe that can satisfy the aspirations of all South Africans. This can only come about if we come to terms with our quandaries, face the facts of unworkable solutions and polices, and face the future anew. This can only happen if the key elements are satisfied by any new dispensation. This satisfaction cannot be captured by the media of mass communication, for it happens through everyday life. Human beings act on their lived experience. No matter how clever and subtle the propaganda, if it is contradicted by the 'receivers' everyday experience, it is all to nothing. The terrorists of today are nothing to what our technological future holds in store. With the information revolution the vulnerability of the system becomes a thousand times greater. It is, perhaps, a moment for decision, with a pregnant pause.
There can be no pretence that the problems of South Africa can be easily, or summarily solved, it is merely the hope of this writer that in a small way he can add to the store of information and analysis necessary for a dialogue that can contribute to a resolution of these problems.
I bring a certain perspective to the situation. I carry with me a critical view of both dominant ideologies and a healthy distrust of all ideology, which itself may be an ideology I have to admit. In my own way I cannot avoid the risk of utopianism, for without running that risk there can be no solution to our problems. For this I cannot apologise. I have attempted to ground this essay in the South African reality of today. The fact that I attempt to make my assumptions and perspective clear, cannot fool anybody that it is totally self-disclosing. Nevertheless, it is as truly 'objective' as anything one will find, and, more objective in its context of disclosed (explicit) assumptions and perspective, than that presented by a positivist 'fact'."


Franks, P.E. (1984) : Notes Towards a South African Resolution. Johannesburg: National Institute for Personnel Research.

The South African Constitution commits government departments to the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights, including the right to education, healthcare, housing and social welfare, within available resources. The PSAM defines social accountability as the obligation by public officials and private service providers to justify their performance in progressively addressing the above rights via the provision of effective public services.
1
In order to effectively realise these rights through the delivery of public services, state departments and private service providers responsible for the management of public resources must implement effective accountability and service delivery processes. These include: planning and resource allocation processes; expenditure management processes; performance monitoring processes; integrity management processes; and, oversight processes. Together these processes combine to form a
social accountability system
, which acts as the central pillar of a responsive democratic state. The effectiveness of these processes can be established by monitoring their information outputs. To evaluate the social accountability system, the PSAM has developed a set of evidence-based tools for monitoring the information produced annually by each process. This Report focuses on the implementation of an effective expenditure management process by the government department under review. It provides an account of what funds were available and whether they were spent during the financial year under review.

Franks, P.E (1988) : Favouritism:  a dynamic process in organizational politics.  South Africa Journal of Labour Relations 12 (1), pages 21 - 25.

Franks, P.E (1987) : Favouritism : a dynamic process in organizational politics.  Paper presented to the 5 National Congress of the Psychological Association of South Africa, University of Cape Town, 7 - 9 September.

In the early days of the new South Africa I wrote a number of papers and presentations calling for cisrcumspection regarding the implementation of Affirmative Action in South Africa. I further proposed that we plan the implementation so that it doesn’t just reduce to nepotism, self-interest and corruption, but helps improve the lot of all South Africans. ((32) PROPOSAL FOR TRAINING IN STRATEGY FORMULATION THROUGH A WORKSHOP PROCESS OF A META-ECONOMIC ISSUE: AFFIRMATIVE MANAGEMENT (1992) | Peter Emanuel Franks - Academia.edu) I was met with silence from the Macro-Economic Research Group’s Research Advisory Board of which I was a member. I was sent out of the room while they discussed my proposal for a workshop to discuss and fine tune the implementation of affirmative action. I was called back into the meeting and they said they would discuss the decision with me. I never found out what the decision was nor had any meeting. When I presented a paper on the same topic to the Industrial Psychology Conferene, ((32) Affirmative action - amelioration or alibi. (1991) | Peter Emanuel Franks - Academia.edu and (32) Affirmative Management (1994) | Peter Emanuel Franks - Academia.edu)  I was met with taunts and the taint that I was against affirmative action. I had earlier made the same proposal to George Negota and some other ANC connected business people, They told me that, while they thought I had a point, the ANC was going to just implement it nevertheless.
After some thought I realised that some of the most vitriolic responses I received were from people who stood to benefit from the affirmative action, the rising middle class and comrades. It is so similar with the calls for reparations that have become popular in the USA for slaverry and against European countries for the damage they wreaked through colonialism and imperialism. It’s a good organising focus. We will all be millionaires!
Why would I not support reparations or affirmative action if the possibility that I could benefit was held out to me? And, many of these people have benefitted enormously while many of the rest are surviving on measly grants, while services plummet in disrepair and failure, as looting became the past time of the day. Work became secondary and hence the demise of the whole economy...(PF 24/05/2024)



Franks, P.E (1991) : Affirmative action - amelioration or alibi.  Information update, 1,6 page 35- 39.

Forgive the absence of party poppers, streamers and balloons. New South Wales' so-called "freedom day" is a croc and an insult. It is nothing short of Orwellian Newspeak. It is a lie, repeatedly told and somehow believed, celebrated, gloated over. There are alternate names for Freedom Day among the indie media and the unvaccinated web. Discrimination Day is one. Then there is Segregation Day. Others are not printable.

Franks, P.E (1987) : Human relations management in a changing South Africa.  Research Bullentin:  Journal for the South African Plan for Research in the Human Sciences, 17(5), pages 25.
Reprinted from:
Franks, P.E (1986)  Human Relations Management in a changing South Africa / Die Bestuur van Menseverhoudinge in 'n veranderende Suid-Afrika. NIPR News, Vol 13 (2)