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Effective border management is fundamental to protecting national sovereignty, safeguarding citizens, and preventing the infiltration of organised criminal networks. In South Africa, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is entrusted with law enforcement at border posts. However, recurring incidents of corruption among SAPS officials often involving collusion with criminal syndicates have rendered several border posts, including Beitbridge, weak and porous. This study evaluates SAPS border officials’ corruption and its security implications at the Beitbridge border post in Limpopo Province. The objectives are to investigate the nature and forms of corruption involving SAPS officials, examine the socio-economic and security-related impacts, assess the effectiveness of current anti-corruption mechanisms, and propose evidence-based recommendations to enhance accountability and transparency. The study employs a qualitative research approach grounded in the interpretivist paradigm and adopts a case study design centred on Beitbridge. Data were gathered through in-depth document analysis, encompassing 45 key documents such as official reports, policy frameworks, and media investigations, considered sufficient for achieving qualitative rigour and thematic saturation. The Broken Windows Theory is applied to explain how tolerance of minor misconduct escalates into systemic corruption and institutional decay. Findings reveal that entrenched corruption undermines law enforcement integrity, facilitates organised criminal activity, and compromises national border security. The study concludes that strengthening institutional oversight, reinforcing accountability structures, and promoting inter-agency cooperation are vital for curbing corruption and enhancing border management effectiveness. The study’s novelty lies in its focused examination of Beitbridge and its application of the Broken Windows Theory to border corruption within the South African context.

There is a dichotomy between the conventional theoretical view, which postulates that increased quality of governance stimulates economic growth and advances private capital formation. This study investigates the impact of governance quality and government expenditure on economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The study applied the Pooled Mean Group and Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) model. The annual panel covers the period 2002 – 2023, which comprises five selected countries from the SADC member states. The data set was obtained from the World Bank World Governance Indicators (WBWGI) databases. In the short run, economic growth was linked to government expenditure. In the long run, technical governance quality variables bring participants into action or service through control of corruption and the rule of law. The technical governance quality variables contribute to economic growth and are positive in the long run. At the same time, democratic governance quality variables influence economic growth negatively. However, it was highlighted that a permanent increase in country government expenditure could be experienced due to continuous randomness. The study revealed that weak governance and unstable government expenditure deteriorate economic growth complexity. Henceforth, this study has also enhanced the governance quality and government expenditure theories and empirical literature concerning economic growth by exposing that the governance quality of the selected SADC countries endures commotion. This study recommends that achieving selected SADC growth can be possible by balancing the technical governance quality variables and abating the democratic governance quality variables. Thus, the study contributes by outlining the golden thread that national and international policies should be prioritized in control of corruption and endorse governance effectiveness, regulatory quality, the rule of law, and managing expenditure within the threshold level.

South African government and economic prosperity are threatened by public finance corruption. From apartheid, poor public financial management, weak regulatory frameworks, and entrenched political favouritism have exacerbated the problem. This chapter examines South Africa's public finance corruption, its theoretical foundation, and its effects on public trust, economic growth, and government. Rent-seeking organisations foster corruption, as Buchanan's (1980) public choice theory and Klitgaard's (1988) monopoly and discretion model demonstrate. False financial reporting, procurement fraud, embezzlement, and fund theft drain public funding for vital services and infrastructure. Also given is institutional economics illustrating how weak institutions promote corruption. Even with laws, combating corruption is difficult. The chapter uses global case studies to promote legal frameworks, transparency, and public institution competence to fight corruption. The chapter recommends ethical governance, public sector capacity-building, citizen participation, legislation, and cultural reforms to fight corruption. It further underscores the policy challenges inherent in implementing these anti-corruption strategies, including political resistance, limited institutional resources, and societal complicity. Future research should examine anti-corruption strategies and how technology might improve public financial management openness.

Effective border management is fundamental to protecting national sovereignty, safeguarding citizens, and preventing the infiltration of organised criminal networks. In South Africa, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is entrusted with law enforcement at border posts. However, recurring incidents of corruption among SAPS officials often involving collusion with criminal syndicates have rendered several border posts, including Beitbridge, weak and porous. This study evaluates SAPS border officials’ corruption and its security implications at the Beitbridge border post in Limpopo Province. The objectives are to investigate the nature and forms of corruption involving SAPS officials, examine the socio-economic and security-related impacts, assess the effectiveness of current anti-corruption mechanisms, and propose evidence-based recommendations to enhance accountability and transparency. The study employs a qualitative research approach grounded in the interpretivist paradigm and adopts a case study design centred on Beitbridge. Data were gathered through in-depth document analysis, encompassing 45 key documents such as official reports, policy frameworks, and media investigations, considered sufficient for achieving qualitative rigour and thematic saturation. The Broken Windows Theory is applied to explain how tolerance of minor misconduct escalates into systemic corruption and institutional decay. Findings reveal that entrenched corruption undermines law enforcement integrity, facilitates organised criminal activity, and compromises national border security. The study concludes that strengthening institutional oversight, reinforcing accountability structures, and promoting inter-agency cooperation are vital for curbing corruption and enhancing border management effectiveness. The study’s novelty lies in its focused examination of Beitbridge and its application of the Broken Windows Theory to border corruption within the South African context.

There is a dichotomy between the conventional theoretical view, which postulates that increased quality of governance stimulates economic growth and advances private capital formation. This study investigates the impact of governance quality and government expenditure on economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The study applied the Pooled Mean Group and Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) model. The annual panel covers the period 2002 – 2023, which comprises five selected countries from the SADC member states. The data set was obtained from the World Bank World Governance Indicators (WBWGI) databases. In the short run, economic growth was linked to government expenditure. In the long run, technical governance quality variables bring participants into action or service through control of corruption and the rule of law. The technical governance quality variables contribute to economic growth and are positive in the long run. At the same time, democratic governance quality variables influence economic growth negatively. However, it was highlighted that a permanent increase in country government expenditure could be experienced due to continuous randomness. The study revealed that weak governance and unstable government expenditure deteriorate economic growth complexity. Henceforth, this study has also enhanced the governance quality and government expenditure theories and empirical literature concerning economic growth by exposing that the governance quality of the selected SADC countries endures commotion. This study recommends that achieving selected SADC growth can be possible by balancing the technical governance quality variables and abating the democratic governance quality variables. Thus, the study contributes by outlining the golden thread that national and international policies should be prioritized in control of corruption and endorse governance effectiveness, regulatory quality, the rule of law, and managing expenditure within the threshold level.

South African government and economic prosperity are threatened by public finance corruption. From apartheid, poor public financial management, weak regulatory frameworks, and entrenched political favouritism have exacerbated the problem. This chapter examines South Africa's public finance corruption, its theoretical foundation, and its effects on public trust, economic growth, and government. Rent-seeking organisations foster corruption, as Buchanan's (1980) public choice theory and Klitgaard's (1988) monopoly and discretion model demonstrate. False financial reporting, procurement fraud, embezzlement, and fund theft drain public funding for vital services and infrastructure. Also given is institutional economics illustrating how weak institutions promote corruption. Even with laws, combating corruption is difficult. The chapter uses global case studies to promote legal frameworks, transparency, and public institution competence to fight corruption. The chapter recommends ethical governance, public sector capacity-building, citizen participation, legislation, and cultural reforms to fight corruption. It further underscores the policy challenges inherent in implementing these anti-corruption strategies, including political resistance, limited institutional resources, and societal complicity. Future research should examine anti-corruption strategies and how technology might improve public financial management openness.