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Johannesburg - South Africans are growing increasingly intolerant of corruption and the abuse of power by those in positions of authority, Corruption Watch said on Tuesday.
During 2016, the watchdog received a total of 4 391 reports of corruption.
This was a substantial increase from previous years, since the organisation was started in 2012, executive director David Lewis said in a statement.
This amounted to an average of 11 reports a day, compared to seven in 2015.
Of the corruption complaints the organisation had received, 16% related to schools, 7% to road traffic matters, and 6% to licensing and immigration.
The data created an opportunity to target corruption in specific sectors including education, and the home affairs and housing departments.
Abuse of power
Lewis said the most prevalent types of corruption reported last year centred on abuse of power, followed by bribery and procurement corruption.
This analysis was made possible by whistle-blowers.
“The whistle-blowing reports that we receive are the source of our legitimacy. They enable us to speak with the voice of the public.
“They provide us with the ability to identify patterns and hotspots of corruption, to target campaigns, to investigate and to litigate. They constitute the evidence that we present to those in authority,” Lewis said.
The organisation had made significant inputs into the Protected Disclosures Act in its bid to protect whistle-blowers.
Earlier this year, the watchdog was invited to provide public commentary on the Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill by Parliament’s select committee on justice and correctional services. It made its submissions to Parliament on February 15.
