MULTIPLE-CLASS EXISTENCE, CORRUPTION AND TRUST IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Corruption in South Africa has been a major issue in the traditional and new media during the last few years. However, only a small number of researchers in various fields, from public administration and social policy to law and urban studies, have attempted to change the existing empirical understanding on this issue. In this sense, empirical socio-economic realities, associated in most cases to the realm of organizational behavior, financial system dynamics and power relations, intertwine in the effort to analyze and interpret corruption. The present article aims at examining beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of a multi-class sample of Black African South Africans living in the Western Cape within the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, which is the only province in the country governed by the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA). The sample consists of two groups: one of people who live in an established middle class area and the other in an informal settlement. The analysis of data obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire showed that, although the existing social differences amongst the groups, they both show a high degree of mistrust towards the institutions and have largely negative attitudes towards the corruptive behavior of politicians and governing agents with a small number of exceptions.

Keywords

• corruption
• perceptions
• government
• class differences