SA shows signs of bouncing back, Ibrahim index suggests

Despite state capture and financial instability, governance in South Africa is showing signs of bouncing back from a decade of decline.

This is according to the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, released on Monday.

The Seychelles, Namibia and Tunisia occupied the top positions in terms of overall performance.

But South Africa is still one of the 10 most-deteriorated countries over the past decade, along with Libya, Madagascar, Mali and the Central African Republic.

The index collates 17 years of data for 54 African states, using criteria such as security, human rights, economic stability, just laws, free elections, corruption, infrastructure, poverty, health and education.

South Africa was ranked sixth for overall governance.

"Three countries - South Africa, Mali and Madagascar - though registering a deterioration over the decade, show signs of reversing their decline by registering a positive trend in the past five years," said the report.

South Africa has slowed the rate of its deterioration.

Zimbabwe, ranked at 40, showed signs of increasing improvement, according to the index. Mauritius and South Africa were the two highest-scoring countries in protection against discrimination.