Corruption perceptions and their effects on young graduates: attitudes towards public sector recruitment processes and trust in public institutions: a quantitative exploration of students from the university of KwaZulu-Natal and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

Abstract

Public sector recruitment in South Africa has continued to be a topic of much interest, by virtue of being the country's largest employer, public sector recruitment processes thus attract significant scrutiny. Moreover, graduate employment in the public sector through learnerships, internships and graduate programmes focusing on the youth in particular is regarded as one of the most important initiatives to deal with skills development and youth unemployment which is also alarmingly high. However, concerns on corruption and maladministration in the public sector has affected trust in key public institutions. Subsequently, data from various research institutions such as Afrobarometer and the Human Sciences Research Council indicates that there has been an increase in corruption concerns from South African citizens across the board. Therefore, it is against this backdrop that through a quantitative research methodology this article seeks to explore what effect, if any, does public corruption perceptions have on young graduates' attitudes towards public sector recruitment processes, trust in public institutions and their desires towards working in the public sector upon graduating.