Taming Corruption in Africa: A Comparative Examination of South Africa and Nigeria

Abstract

South Africa and Nigeria are no doubt two giants in terms of economy and leadership potentials in Africa. These countries however have a Common Enemy in corruption which has the potential of undermining both their political and economic advancements. In Africa, corruption has become an endemic issue which is seriously affecting development of the continent and therefore continues to attract scholarly and popular discourse. This paper interrogates the issues of corruption in the two countries by drawing references from some celebrated cases such as the subsidy affairs and the bullet proof car scandal cases in Nigeria; and corruption charges against President Zuma and the Nkandla affairs in South Africa. These cases are examined within the context of anti-corruption institutional framework in the public service, anti-corruption law enforcement infrastructure and monitoring and oversight of incidence of corruption in the two countries. The paper observes that while there are varying levels of successes of anti-corruption crusades in the two countries, there are still challenges of excessive political interference, problem of socio-cultural perception of corruption, delay process of resolving corruption cases encouraging impunity and creation of culture of "untouchables”. In terms of transparency in the discourse and handling of corruption issues, Nigeria still has a lot to learn from South Africa. This paper concludes that a lot still needs to be done not only at the level of policy making or establishment of anti-corruption infrastructure but specifically at "Walking the talk” in terms of actual commitment to mitigating corruption in the two countries.