Abstract
Development of infrastructure to meet the needs of South Africans is a major concern for the
construction industry, however the failure of the industry to keep up with the expectation has
drawn some criticism from the citizens. Lack of adherence to ethical practices that help ensure
transparency and accountability within the industry is a major impediment towards being a
consistent and an effective contributor to the growth of the South African economy. This study
therefore examines unethical practices in South African Construction Industry and measures to
address the menace for better project performance. Well-structured questionnaires were
administered on registered and experienced construction professionals within the industry and
Mean Item Score (MIS) was used to analyse the returned data. Non-adherence to ethical
practices in the industry are as a result of greed, favouritism, political influence, monopoly of
bigger companies over smaller and emerging companies and pressure to meet unrealistic
company objective and deadlines. The unethical practices prevalent in the industry include
bribery and fraud, falsification of experience, illegal award of tenders and collusive tendering.
These unethical practices result to dissatisfied clients, poor workmanship, poor quality of
infrastructural development and loss of public trust. Professionals, especially construction and
project managers should shoulder the responsibility of stamping out unethical practices in the
industry by developing viable measures to achieve the goal. More so, whistle-blower protection
mechanisms need to be revised and improved to encourage effective monitoring and
sanctioning of individuals involved in unethical practices in the industry.