is it a tip or a bribe?

cheating is corruption

Bored by the slowness of evening traffic my eyes, came across a billboard from APC (opposition political party) claiming "cheating is corruption".
My driver said yes it is so. So, I wondered, what is the link between "cheating", which in my view means not abiding by the rule or infringing the law, and "corruption", which implies paying someone for getting a service in return?
Well, he replied, if a kid of 12 years old is stealing something, we say that he is corrupt.
So in effect corruption is not only an active mechanism it is also a passive state in which the mind can be. This boy ('s mind) is corrupt. Hence the possibility that not abiding by the law (e.g. cheating) is a corruption of the mind.

I thought that this was an interesting light to the message but was still puzzled by the political meaning of it. Did APC mean that the opposition has a "corrupted mind" because it is cheating (at least those who do)?

Tip versus bribe

We then the conversation moved on to the definition of active corruption: paying someone to obtain a favor in return.
The driver said, that paying someone was a bribe only if the payment took place before the service was rendered. If the money was paid after the service then it became a tip for the service rendered. I then enquired if it was possible that a tip can serve as a bribe for the next service.

Can we tip in advance to avoid bribing? He must have thought I have a corrupting/corrupted mind!

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