Access to government services and government performance

About 38% (37,5%) of individuals aged 16 years and older used public transport services followed by public clinics services (31,7%) and the South African Police Services (18,1%). The use of government/public services has declined between 2019/20 and 2022/23. Individuals aged 16 years and older residing in metro areas used public transport and clinics more than those in non-metro areas, whereas those in non-metro areas used South African Police Services (SAPS) and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) more than those in metros.

A higher proportion of individuals aged 16 years or older agreed that Home Affairs services were easily accessible, affordable, process of applying and obtaining documents/certificates was simple, equal treatment for everyone and the waiting time to obtain documents or certificates was reasonable. More individuals agreed that the government/public health services were accessible, affordable, facilities were in good condition, everyone was treated equally and the duration of a consultation with a doctor/nurse was enough. Although the agreement levels were high, about 21,7% of individuals disagreed that everyone was treated equally at public hospitals.

Results show that the proportion of individuals who rated government services as satisfactory exceeds the proportion of those who rated government services as dissatisfactory in 2022/23. The levels of satisfaction ranged approximately from 61% to 90%. The proportion of individuals who rated government/public services as satisfactory has declined in nine out of 12 government services between 2019/20 and 2022/23.

Level of trust in government or public institutions

The level of trust in 10 of the 15 government/public institutions declined between 2019/20 and 2022/23. The levels of trust in government/public institutions were higher than 50% among individuals aged 16 years and older in 2022/23. Levels of trust were highest for public school institutions and lowest for local government. The level of trust in government or public institutions was more in those who used services than those who did not use services except for SAPS.

Limpopo (73,0%), Eastern Cape (71,8%) and Western Cape (65,1%) had the highest proportions of individuals aged 16 years and older who either trusted or strongly trusted the provincial government.

Regarding local government, Limpopo (69,1%), Western Cape (65,9%) and Eastern Cape (65,4%) had the highest proportions of the population who either strongly trusted or trusted local government compared to other provinces.

Individuals’ experience of corruption

A higher proportion of individuals indicated that they were asked to pay a bribe by a traffic official in both 2019/20 and 2022/23. Less than 5% of the individuals reported that they were asked for bribes by traffic officials (2,0%), police officials (1,1%) and traffic centre officials (1,0%). On average less than 1% of the individuals paid a bribe. The proportion of individuals aged 16 years and older who paid a bribe to a government official in exchange for government services decreased for traffic officials and police officials.