The ANC is the most corrupt political party in the world

OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage said that the ANC is the most corrupt political party in the world, allowing shocking things to happen in South Africa.

He shared this information during an interview with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on the SMWX podcast, published on Sunday, 21 June 2026.

Duvenage said that 15 years ago, most municipalities in South Africa were much better run than they are today.

“People were fixing the roads, traffic lights were all working, and water leaks were sorted. We had the models, and they were working,” he said.

“15 years later, with all that budget increase, they can’t paint the lines on the road, and they can’t fix the potholes.”

He said that, instead of maintaining towns and cities, they have plundered resources and have lost control.

He explained that corruption has become entrenched in the system, empowered by the ANC and its patronage networks.

“It all comes down to this: if you have a patronage leadership network, you cannot hold people to account,” Duvenage said.

“If you’ve employed your friend or a family member in a department, you cannot act against them, especially if your boss instructed you to put that person there.”

“What is happening is that people just look away. They can’t hold people to account. The ANC simply doesn’t know how to.”

He said that the ANC, through these networks, has planted the seed of procurement manipulation. This has resulted in a rotten organisation.

“In the democratic world of this planet, the ANC is the most corrupt entity. It is the most corrupt political party there is,” he said.

“It’s shocking to see what they allow to happen. They know exactly what’s happening, and they turn a blind eye.”

The scale of ANC laid bare

Many studies, judicial inquiries, independent think-tank investigations, and global governance indices have pointed to widespread ANC corruption.

The benchmark for research into state-level corruption is the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, known as the Zondo Commission.

It found that the state was effectively hollowed out by private interests with the active complicity of high-ranking ANC officials.

The report explicitly stated that the ANC under former President Jacob Zuma permitted, supported, and enabled corruption.

It mapped out the systematic looting of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), including Transnet, Eskom, and the SABC.

To facilitate widespread corruption, it weakened important state institutions, such as the SA Police Service, the NPA, and the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

Other research showed how politically connected individuals hijacked BEE and preferential procurement frameworks to enrich themselves.

These ANC-linked individuals secured inflated government contracts and outsourced the actual work, draining state resources.

Major corruption scandals, such as the 1999 Arms Deal, the Nkandla upgrades, and the looting of the R500-billion Covid-19 relief fund, have become commonplace.

Despite extensive coverage of these scandals, implicated individuals are seldom held accountable, and politicians never end up in jail.

This is because the criminal justice system is beset with corruption itself and is essentially under the control of the ANC.