Individual Corruption

According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2010, more than one out of ten surveyed South African households point to the interaction with customs as an area where bribes are demanded.

According to a December 2009 article by ZimEye reports that, in December 2009, a South African immigration official who allegedly obtained a bribe from a Zimbabwean at the Beitbridge border post was arrested. In addition, International Intellectual Property Alliance Special 301 Report 2007 reveals that South Africa's expansive and porous borders also continue to hamper efforts to stem the flow of pirated products, especially audiovisual materials, between the countries that make up the Southern Africa Customs Union. South African Customs authorities remain unwilling in many instances to stop pirate products in transit through its territory. Furthermore, the South African Federation Against Copyright Theft reported statistics on seizures of counterfeit DVDs as well as a growing number of successful criminal cases, including imposition of prison sentences, against pirates in 2008.

Business Corruption

Trading across borders is not as bureaucratically cumbersome in South Africa as other countries in the region. However, according to the World Bank & IFC Doing Business 2012, it takes more time and requires more documents to clear imports and exports through South African customs than the average for OECD countries. When rating the transparency of border administration in South Africa, in relation to irregular payments in exports and imports, business executives surveyed from the World Economic Forum Global Enabling Trade Report 2010 rate it as relatively transparent, constituting a competitive advantage for the country.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2012:
- 8 documents are needed to export a standard shipment of goods, taking an average of 30 days at a cost of USD 1,531 per container.

- 8 documents are needed to import a standard shipment of goods taking an average of 32 days at a cost of USD 1,795 per container.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012:
- Business executives give the efficiency of customs procedures (formalities regulating the entry and exit of merchandise) in South Africa a score of 4.2 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

World Economic Forum: The Global Enabling Trade Report 2010:
- Business executives give the transparency of border administration (pervasiveness of undocumented extra payments or bribes connected with imports and exports) in South Africa a score of 4.4 on a 7-point scale (1 'non-transparent' and 7 'transparent').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 12.4% of households who had contact with customs administration in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the customs a score of 2.9 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- 2.7% of the interviewed companies expect to give gifts to get an import licence.