New research by global business advisory firm FTI Consulting revealed that 80% of South Africans regarded corruption as the greatest impediment to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

This was the result of a poll that covered more than 1 400 South Africans and that was conducted from November 23 to December 3, 2012. It also showed that 70% of respondents viewed labour unrest as another major hurdle.

Overall, 71% of those polled regarded FDI positively.

However, South Africans remained wary of foreign investments in key sectors, with 53% saying they would be concerned with investments in the oil and gas sector. Banking and finance came second with 49% of respondents expressing concern about investment, followed by the agriculture and defence sectors, where 44% of respondents in each category said they would be worried about investments; and metals and mining with 41% of respondents indicating concern.

“South Africans appear to support foreign direct investment by a large margin. While this is good news for our global clients, great care will need to be taken to ensure all constituencies are on board before a major investment is made in the country, particularly in highly sensitive industries like oil and gas and mining,” FTI Consulting Europe, the Middle East and Africa chairperson Mark Malloch-Brown said in a statement.

Meanwhile, 75% of South Africans expressed concern about investments by overseas State-owned companies and 74% were worried about investments by sovereign wealth funds. This reflected that 64% of respondents were concerned that foreign investment was used for gaining political influence in South Africa.

More than seven in ten South Africans viewed Chinese inward investment into Africa, to date, as being beneficial, which was significantly higher than the impression of those examining it from outside the continent. But a large number of respondents in South Africa expressed some anxiety over perceived Chinese investment practices that neglect worker welfare, crowd out local employment or result in the loss of control of strategically important minerals.

In total, 87% of respondents indicated that they would act in the event of a controversial overseas investment. Of those polled, 21% were inclined to take action by joining a protest group, while 21% stated they would write about it online and 14% saying they would contact the media. A mere 10% would contact a political representative.