Personnel Risk:
Moderate
Score:
62/100
Leadership Behaviour
Q34
58/100
Do the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister, Chiefs of Defence, and Single Service Chiefs publicly commit, through, for example, speeches, media interviews, or political mandates, to anti-corruption and integrity measures?
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There are internal communications made available to the public wherein top-level Defence Ministry officials commit to maintaining integrity and anti-corruption measures, albeit peripherally. The…
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High-level commanders and ministers do publicly commend instances where corruption and fraud are uncovered and successfully investigated but do not generally mention specific measures…
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The SANDF and Department of Defence regularly issue press releases and statements committing to anti-corruption or integrity measures, These are not, however, particularly detailed…
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Q35
100/100
Are there effective measures in place for personnel found to have taken part in forms of bribery and corruption, and is there evidence that these measures are being carried out?
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The Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004 [1] is the civilian stepping point for legal measures relating to corruption prevention and…
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As mentioned in Q.34B, the Directorate Anti-Corruption and Anti-Fraud serve as a major enforcement body of the Department of Defence. There have been several…
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Q36
42/100
Is whistleblowing encouraged by the government, and are whistle-blowers in military and defence ministries afforded adequate protection from reprisal for reporting evidence of corruption, in both law and practice?
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Legislation on whistleblowing and reporting corruption exists and applies to military and official personnel. Whistleblowers are protected by the following pieces of legislation: The…
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The Department of Defence (DoD) reported that the “DOD Whistleblowing Hotline continued to be provided and maintained during the FY2017/18 as part of the…
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According to Interviewee 5, a senior officer in the South African National Defence Force, there is widespread distrust of the whistleblowing mechanisms to protect…
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Q37
0/100
Is special attention paid to the selection, time in post, and oversight of personnel in sensitive positions, including officials and personnel in defence procurement, contracting, financial management, and commercial management?
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Neither the Department of Defence nor the South African Defence Force (SANDF) have publicised any information detailing the attention paid to appointments for sensitive…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ as there is no evidence pointing to the recognition that certain positions may be more open to corruption…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ as there is no evidence pointing to the recognition that certain positions may be more open to corruption…
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Payroll, Promotions, Appointments, Rewards
Q38
83/100
Is the number of civilian and military personnel accurately known and publicly available?
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The full force number, including civilians, is made available annually via the Department of Defence’s (DoD) Annual Report. This number is accurate and updated…
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This information is made available by both the DoD in its Annual Report and in the Defence Force Service Commission (DFSC) Ranks and Salaries…
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There is no evidence in the past five years of ghost soldiers existing within the South African National Defence Force [1].
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Q39
63/100
Are pay rates and allowances for civilian and military personnel openly published?
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The Defence Force Service Commission (DFSC) and the Department of Defence (DoD) Annual Report both disclose pay rates for personnel (uniformed and civilian) [1,…
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There is some limited information available between the DFSC and DoD Annual Report that disclose daily allowances, but it is not a complete guide.…
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Q40
83/100
Do personnel receive the correct pay on time, and is the system of payment well-established, routine, and published?
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There have been sporadic reports of pay disputes or lack of access to paid-positions, but this has been largely restricted to the Reserve Forces…
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There have not been any recent cases of widespread inaccuracies in the payment of salary amounts in the South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF)…
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Pay scales are made available through the Department of Defence Annual Report and the Defence Force Service Commission [1, 2]. There has been a…
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Q41
25/100
Is there an established, independent, transparent, and objective appointment system for the selection of military personnel at middle and top management level?
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Interviewee 2 explained that there is an established and, on paper at least, an independent process at each level of selection. Service level appointments…
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It appears that parliamentary committee members are briefed on senior appointments, but Parliament does not have any power to block senior military appointments. For…
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Appointment processes are sporadically explained or published via the DoD’s Corporate Communications Department, disseminated via press release (upon appointment completion) to the media, and…
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Q42
56/100
Are personnel promoted through an objective, meritocratic process? Such a process would include promotion boards outside of the command chain, strong formal appraisal processes, and independent oversight.
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According to interviewee 2, the promotions are done through what is termed the “meat market”. In essence, this means that officers are promoted internally…
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Exceptions do exist, such as in the Reserve Forces, whereby a “pool of specialists” programme exists that can ‘commission’ civilians to act as researchers…
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Promotions are published at least annually for senior officers. The information contains the officer’s force number, the arm of service, existing rank, new rank…
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Promotions are published at least annually, but they are not published in advance of their effective date (or at least, not consistently) [1, 2].
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Conscription and Recruitment
Q43
NA/100
Where compulsory conscription occurs, is there a policy of not accepting bribes for avoiding conscription? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
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There is no policy of conscription, as such this indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’. As mentioned in the 2015 Index, conscription may be enforced…
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There is no policy of conscription in South Africa, as such this indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’.
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There is no policy of conscription, as such this indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’.
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Q44
92/100
is there a policy of refusing bribes to gain preferred postings? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
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The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Code of Conduct does provide rules and policy on misconduct and corruption, which would pertain to bribery.…
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Sanctions exist in accordance with the Military Legal Services and range from imprisonment in civilian prisons to confinement on base, to demotion, docked pay,…
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Military justice proceedings are carried out from charges to sentencing when effectively pursued through the Military Legal Services (MLS). However, financial constraints on the…
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Salary Chain
Pay is separated from command structures and determined by a combination of rank, role, and time in a position [1]. This process is administered…
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Values and Standards
Q46
83/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all military personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
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The Defence Act No. 42 of 2002 refers to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) ‘Code of Conduct’ as legally enforced through the…
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While the code of conduct is publically available [1,2] – the actual level of guidance provided to SANDF recruits is unclear, but all recruits…
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Breaches of the code of conduct appear to be internally dealt with in a non-transparent manner, making any assessment of investigations or prosecution efficacy…
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Guidance on the code of conduct is included, but it is unclear how thorough and comprehensive this is for SANDF members during induction training…
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Q47
75/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all civilian personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
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There is a Code of Conduct for all civilian personnel in the Department of Defence: “The DFSC Code of Conduct stipulates, with respect to…
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The Defence Force Service Commission (DFSC) Code of Conduct is published in the DFSC annual report. It is not known to what extent specific…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Enough Information’, because it is unclear to what extent the code(s) of conduct are enforced. Breaches of the code…
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The DFSC Code of Conduct is included in induction training for all personnel, civilian and defence alike.
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Q48
67/100
Does regular anti-corruption training take place for military and civilian personnel?
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This is unclear as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) does not make public the contents of its anti-corruption and fraud training courses…
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Anti-corruption and fraud awareness training is part of the induction process of both new uniformed and civilian personnel into the SANDF, and in 2003…
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While comprehensive anti-corruption and fraud awareness training is prioritised for commanders and senior civilian personnel [1] along with those in high-risk areas [2], the…
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Q49
25/100
Is there a policy to make public outcomes of the prosecution of defence services personnel for corrupt activities, and is there evidence of effective prosecutions in recent years?
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There does not appear to be a policy related to the publication of defence service personnel prosecution outcomes.
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There does not appear to be a policy related to the publication of defence service personnel prosecution outcomes. There is information available in the…
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Unknown due to lack of transparency. The DoD 2017/18 Annual Report records prosecutions, as a performance indicator cryptically labelled: “The degree to which military…
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Q50
33/100
Are there effective measures in place to discourage facilitation payments (which are illegal in almost all countries)?
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An analysis of South African anti-corruption legislation and effectiveness carried out by Dave Loxton of Werksman Attorneys concluded that the Prevention and Combating of…
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An analysis by the Open Society Initiative for South Africa asserted that non-enforcement of existing anti-corruption and anti-bribery legislation and regulations was widespread and…
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Corruption Watch’s Analysis of Corruption Trends (ACT) 2018 report found that bribery is one of the leading forms of corruption in South Africa with…
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