Relationship between Ignorance, Poverty, Greed, and Corruption in South Africa, 1999-2019

In South Africa, a connection exists between ignorance, poverty, greed, and corruption. A key aspect to understand this connection is by defining corruption and looking into its types, reasons, and trends; and the instances of fraud and corruption scandals tied to 'politically linked' people compared to the legal and procedural systems for fighting corruption in South Africa. Corruption and corruption scandals in South Africa not only erode the progress made since the 1990s democratic dispensation, but also hinder the country's efforts to address its key issues of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Corruption and unethical behaviour by individuals with political connections pose an added risk to the well-being of the citizens. This is because dishonest behaviour hinders the provision of services, weakens economic development, and undermines the validity and operation of government entities. As long as the connection between ignorance, poverty, greed, and corruption is not tackled, addressing fraud and corruption will remain difficult. This study examines how ignorance, poverty, greed, and corruption are interconnected in South Africa. It adopted a qualitative research approach to examine that interconnectedness.