The Anti-corruption Institutions in South Africa: A Panacea to Governance Ills?

The purpose of this article is to assess the role played by the South African anti-corruption institutions in addressing corruption in government departments. The negative impact of corruption on the effectiveness and efficiency of the service delivery by government departments necessitates an examination of the role of the anti-corruption institutions. For the purposes of this article, a review of scholarly published articles, newspaper articles, case law and annual reports of the anti-corruption institutions in South Africa was undertaken. With regard to the anti-corruption institutions, it is has not yet been established whether they are operating free of political interference in South Africa. This article contends that the anti-corruption institutions should be sufficiently resourced and funded by the government to enable them to deal effectively with the corrupt activities that pervade government departments. Moreover, the anti-corruption institutions should be able to perform their functions without any political interference that could possibly influence their proper functioning negatively.