Continuing a trend since the 2021 survey, employees in South Africa are among the most likely to be aware of their organisations providing four building blocks of an ethics programme. They also have positive perceptions of the commitment and ability of their organisations and their managers to engage on ethics with stakeholders, both internally and externally.  

Employees in South Africa are among the most likely to say that they feel pressured to compromise their organisation’s standard of behaviour and to be aware of misconduct at work. However, they are also among the most likely to raise concerns about misconduct and to be satisfied with the outcome after speaking up. While the perceptions around the ability of line managers to set a good example for ethics (and explain its importance) are generally very positive, employees in South Africa are among the most likely to also say that their line manager rewards employees who achieve good results even if that is through practices that are ethically questionable. 

Data for South Africa were first collected in 2021 as indicated in the global report. For the first time, historical trend can be reported by comparing 2024 data against 2021 data.

 

Organisational culture

  • Employees in South Africa are among the least likely of the 16 countries surveyed to find each of eight ethically questionable practices outlined on p9 of the global report to be acceptable. They are less likely than the global average to find each of the eight ethically questionable practices acceptable (12% vs 20% global average).
  • Around eight in ten employees in South Africa say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation (81%), remaining consistent with findings from 2021(80%). However, this is below the percentage who say this globally (84%). Compared to other countries, employees in South Africa are somewhat less likely to say that honesty is practiced, alongside those in Portugal (81%), Italy (78%) and the Netherlands (77%).
  • Around one in five employees in South Africa say that they feel pressured to compromise on ethical standards of behaviour (19%), an increase compared to 2021 when around one in six employees said so (16%). This figure is also above the percentage who say so globally (15% global average). Employees in South Africa are among the most likely to feel pressured to compromise on standards, alongside colleagues in India (36%), Portugal (22%) and Japan (20%). Around one in three employees in South Africa who have felt pressured to compromise on ethical standards say that time pressure / unrealistic deadlines (35%) and following their boss’s orders (28%) are the main sources of pressure.
  • Around three in ten employees in South Africa reported being aware of conduct that they thought violated either the law or their organisation’s ethical standards in the last year (34%). Employees in South Africa are among the most likely to say this, alongside those in India (44%) and Brazil (31%). The figure in 2024 (34%) is statistically higher than in 2021 (28%) and the 2024 global average (25%).

Speaking up

  • Around eight in ten employees in South Africa who were aware of misconduct spoke up about it with management, another appropriate person, or through any other mechanism (79%). This figure is considerably higher than in 2021 (67%) and higher than the number who say so globally (64% global average). Of the 16 surveyed countries, only employees in India were more likely to say they had spoken up (88%).
  • Of all those who did not report a concern, around six in ten cited a fear of jeopardising their job (60%) as one of the key deterrents to speaking up. Notably, around three in ten of them cited not wanting to be seen as a troublemaker by management (32%) and lack of belief that corrective action would be taken (30%) were other key deterrents.
  • Around eight in ten employees in South Africa say they were satisfied with the outcome after raising concerns about misconduct (81%). This figure is considerably higher than in 2021 (64%) and the percentage of employees who say so globally in 2024 (71% global average). Of the 16 surveyed countries, only employees in India have a higher rating on this question (93%).
  • Of those reporting a concern, nearly half (48%) say that they experienced a form of personal disadvantage or retaliation as a result. This figure is also considerably higher than in 2021 (37%) but similar to the percentage of employees who say so globally in 2024 (46% global average).

The ethics programme

  • Among all the countries surveyed, employees in South Africa are the most likely to be aware of their organisations providing two of four building blocks of an ethics programme, namely: written standards of ethical business conduct (92%) and a means of reporting misconduct confidentially (81%). Compared to 2021, employees in South Africa are more likely to say that they are aware of their organisations providing each of the building blocks that were considered. The biggest increase has been recorded in relation to awareness of training on standards of ethical conduct (82% vs 73% in 2021) and receiving advice or having an information helpline about behaving ethically (79% vs 70% in 2021), both of which are at the highest level ever recorded in this survey for South Africa.  

Embedding ethics through a supportive environment

  • Employees in South Africa generally have positive views of their line manager’s commitment to ethics and are more positive than the average global employee in this regard. In South Africa, 85% (vs 72% global average) of employees say that their line manager sets a good example of ethical business behaviour, 88% (vs 68% globally) say that their line manager explains the importance of honesty and ethics in the work they do, and 85% (vs 72% globally) say that their line manager supports them in following their organisation’s standards of ethical behaviour. Although, while 87% (vs 72% globally) say that senior management takes ethics seriously in their organisation, 49% (vs 38% globally) also say that their line manager rewards employees who get good results, even if they use practices that are ethically questionable. Alongside employees in India, these figures are among the highest percentages recorded in all surveyed countries.
  • Employees in South Africa are also among the most likely to say that their organisation acts responsibly in all its business dealings (88% vs 76% global average) and that it lives up to its stated policy of social responsibility (83% vs 72% globally).
  • Similarly, they are also likely to have positive views about how their organisation engages with employees on ethics. They are among the most likely to say that people in their organisation know what is expected of them in terms of ethical behaviour (90% vs 77% global average), that decisions about people are made fairly in their organisation (80% vs 67% globally) and that issues of right and wrong are discussed in staff meetings (85% vs 62% globally).

  • Finally, they are the most likely to say that their organisation disciplines employees who violate its standards of behaviour (85% vs 65% global average), closely followed by colleagues in India (84%).