Ethnicity and Corruption In The South African Context

Authors:

Keywords: Race, Corruption, Neocolonial, South Africa

Abstract: The United Nations estimated that African leaders have siphoned more than 200 billion out of Africa in the year 1991, with little changing in subsequent decades (Owoye & Bissessar, 2018). The purpose of this research study is to explore how acts of corruption and the demographic background of corruptors interact systematically within organizational life in Africa. Race has been explored widely in the academic literature, particularly within the diversity field, yet studies discussing corruption and race are underexplored. In the case of the African continent, race has been weaponized as a rationale to oppress large groups of people with entire countries such as Nigeria and South Africa still struggling to overcome this vicious cycle (Imiera, 2020). This empirical study is critically important because it examines organizations within emerging markets in Africa as opposed to the more traditional focus on advanced, western economies. Luiz and Stewart (2014) explored strategic responses to corruption in the African context and posited some of the qualitative perspectives of firm leaders. The importance of our research within the discourse does not relate to potential methodological and theoretical implications, but also in attempting to better understand how corruption continues to exacerbate racial injustices globally. Ultimately, we aim to make novel contributions to the extant literature by examining race relations as measured by tribal affiliations and ethnicity. We compiled a qualitative dataset of semi-structured interviews with business executives within the African context to explore their lived experiences with the phenomena.