article · Ayika.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the lowest-performing region on global corruption perception indices, with political corruption presenting a continuous governance challenge in post-apartheid South Africa. Corruption scandals repeatedly involve political elites, public officials, and private contractors doing business with the state. Framed through principal-agent theory to examine misaligned interests in the public sector, qualitative research synthesises evidence on how corrupt practices weaken public performance. Findings indicate that despite political corruption being an established issue, public authorities face acute difficulties in curbing it, particularly in public procurement processes and the distribution of essential public services. Consequently, these practices erode public trust, diminish democratic governance, and damage the legitimacy of public institutions while inhibiting national economic development and reducing the state's ability to effectively satisfy the basic needs of its citizens.
Political corruption directly degrades public service delivery and compromises economic development for ordinary citizens. When officials and private entities manipulate state systems, public funds are diverted from essential social priorities. Understanding how corrupt practices persist helps explain why democratic governance weakens and why public institutions suffer a catastrophic loss of legitimacy and citizen trust.
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Corruption remains one of the most significant governance challenges globally, and sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest-performing region on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, with an average score of 33 out of 100 for 2024 and 90% of countries in the region scoring below 50 (Corruption Watch, 2025). Political corruption is a persistent challenge in South Africa's public governance. This is evident in numerous corruption scandals involving political elites, public officials, and private businesses that do business with the state. This paper examines various forms of political corruption in post-apartheid South Africa and their impact on government performance, service delivery, economic development, democratic governance, public trust, and the legitimacy of public institutions. This exploration is grounded in principal-agent theory and the agency problem, which illustrate the dynamic relationship between principals' and agents' interests in the public sector. The paper adopts a qualitative approach to synthesize current information on political corruption in South Africa. The results indicate that although political corruption is not a new phenomenon in South Africa, the government struggles to curb it, particularly in public procurement and service delivery. Studying this challenge and understanding its impact on various government functions is crucial. Future research should assess the effectiveness of existing measures to curb political corruption. The paper is significant because it demonstrates the direct effects of political corruption on public services, economic development, and the government's capacity to address citizens' needs.
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DOI: 10.69778/2664-3022/2026/8.2/a8
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