SA in dodgy territory

South Africa is at the point of no return, poised to enter an area of corruption involving "seriously bad company".

The warning by Corruption Watch was made as Transparency International released its 2014 corruption perception index yesterday.

The report paints a grim picture of how corruption is perceived by South Africans and investors.

It does not include the public protector and Special Investigating Unit's reports into President Jacob Zuma's R246-million Nkandla homestead upgrade.

Compiled seven months ago, the report ranks South Africa as being among countries with "significant corruption problems".

Said Corruption Watch's David Lewis: "It does not even take into account the Nkandla scandal. If it did, South Africa's rating would be far worse."

The index shows that out of the 175 countries surveyed, South Africa ranked 67. In the survey, which was on perceived levels of public-sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, with 0 viewed as highly corrupt, South Africa scored 44.

In 2012 and 2013, South Africa scored 43 and 42 respectively on the scale of perceived levels of public-sector corruption, ranking 69 out of 174, and 72 out of 177 countries surveyed.

This year's survey was compiled from interviews with experts on public-sector corruption in 175 countries.

Lewis said South Africa fared poorly in the index, "yet again".

"The index, the most widely used indicator of corruption worldwide, highlights the erosion of trust in South Africa's public sector.

"It's gravely concerning that the country has again scored below 50. According to Transparency International, a score below 50 indicates a significant corruption problem, which places South Africa in precarious territory."

In terms of sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa is, however, ranked as the ninth least-corrupt country, with Botswana the least corrupt. Somalia is ranked most corrupt in the region.

Lewis said it was a "serious error" to take comfort from the fact that South Africa's score and position on the index had not deteriorated further.

"Not far below us are countries where corruption is endemic, where little can be done to turn around corruption. Some of our key institutions already exhibit many characteristics of endemic corruption."

Lewis said had the survey been conducted "today", South Africa may well have landed up with a significantly lower score, "a territory occupied by bad company".

The survey looked at "grand corruption" especially around public procurements, bribery on the roads and licensing stations.

"You don't have to be imaginative to realise that if the survey referred to all petty corruption it would paint an even bleaker picture, where the everyday experience of ordinary people of corruption is even more profound."