By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Global efforts to fight corruption are faltering as the rule of law retreats, Transparency International (TI) said in its latest report.
The watchdog reported on Tuesday, as it published the 2023 edition of its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), that 23 countries have fallen to their lowest-ever level in the global ranking index.
South Africa is among countries perceived to have serious challenges with public sector corruption
The index for 2023 is calculated using data from 13 external sources. It ranks the countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
South Africa scored 41 – two points below its 2022 score, below the global average of 43 and the lowest score the country has ever received.
SA now falls into the category of “flawed democracies”.
Full democracies have an index average of 73, flawed democracies have one of 48, and non-democratic regimes have an average of 32.
South Africa was one of 23 countries that reached their lowest scores this year.
With a score of 41, South Africa ranked 72 out of 180 countries, sitting alongside Burkina Faso, Kosovo and Vietnam on the global index, and coming in joint 11th with Burkina Faso on the regional table of sub-Saharan Africa.
South Africa was also noted in the report as one of the sub-Saharan African countries to watch, as 2024 marks 30 years since the end of apartheid and the ushering in of a new democratic era.
“As the country approaches the 2024 general elections, the executive continues to lead ongoing anti-corruption efforts that seek to draw in stakeholders from across society, including by setting up the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council,” read the report.
“This presents an opportunity to launch anti-corruption campaigns geared towards political parties and their manifestos, and to mobilise the public and civil society to hold the country’s leaders to account.”
The CPI also noted the global trend of weakening justice systems, according to the Rule of Law Index which draws on expert and household surveys to measure the rule of law in countries and jurisdictions – including South Africa, which ranks 56th out of 142 countries.
Corruption Watch said it was disappointing that after 30 years of democracy, South Africa was sliding into a tale of rising inequality and injustice.
Karam Singh, executive director of Corruption Watch, said: “It is frustrating that, in a country like South Africa, where the corrupt have been exposed for all to see in such public processes as the Zondo Commission and robust media investigations, so few of the implicated parties have been brought to justice.
“There is an urgency to our problem of corruption, as citizens witness the unravelling of cities and infrastructure because of years of impunity and State Capture.
“With elections looming in a few months, the need for accountable leaders of integrity could not be more critical,” said Singh.