SA plunges to 'flawed democracy' status in global corruption index

South Africa has received its lowest-ever score in the global index on corruption, dropping below the global average in 2023.

Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023 ranked the country among those that received a new minimum score, scoring 41 out of 100. Countries scoring 0-10 are listed as highly corrupt and those scoring a high 90-100 are listed as “very clean” countries.

South Africa is now one of the 23 countries that have reached their lowest-ever scores and has fallen into the category of “flawed democracies”, with the category scoring an average of 48 points. They are joined by Gabon, which scored 28, and Liberia, which scored 25.

The reason for SA’s drop in the corruption index is its failure to criminalise corruption and establish optimal anticorruption institutions.

Only 28 countries in the world have improved their corruption level, while 35 have worsened. Out of 180 countries surveyed in the index, 80% of the world’s population lived in countries that scored below the average of 43.

“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. When justice is bought or politically interfered with, it is the people who suffer. Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption,” said Transparency International chairperson François Valérian.

According to Corruption Watch, South Africa has never scored as low as 41, with the biggest decline being to 42 points in 2013 and 43 in 2012.

“It is frustrating that in a country like South Africa, where the corrupt have been exposed for all to see in public processes such as the Zondo commission and robust media investigations, so few of the implicated parties have been brought to justice,” Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh said.

“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.”

While the index found a significant improvement in some African countries, most of the continent maintained a poor performance, with 90% of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including SA, scoring below 50.  

Meanwhile, the DA has blamed President Cyril Ramaphosa for the country’s decline on the global corruption index.

Leader John Steenhuisen said the state capture commission confirmed that the ANC’s “cadre deployment” is the foundation of corruption and capture.

“Ramaphosa is directly and personally responsible for SA’s plunge on the rankings ... [He] is the former chairman of the corrupt deployment committee. He is also defending this corruption against the DA’s court action to declare cadre deployment unconstitutional.”

“SA’s fall in the index ranking confirms that Ramaphosa has betrayed the anti-corruption promises he made before the state capture commission,” Steenhuisen said.

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