Following a five-year decline, South Africa has received its lowest score yet on the latest annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), placing the country firmly in the “flawed democracies” category.
The CPI, released by Transparency International, ranks 180 countries and territories around the globe by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Transparency International, a German-registered association founded in 1993, aims “to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability, and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society”.
The index measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, according to experts and businesspeople. These data sources are collected by a variety of reputable institutions, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
Countries with strong rule of law and well-functioning democratic institutions are often at the top of the index. According to the index, democratic countries tend greatly to outperform authoritarian regimes when controlling corruption.
Full democracies have a CPI average of 73, flawed democracies have one of 48, and non-democratic regimes just 32.
This year, South Africa came in with a score of 41, a two-point drop from last year’s score.
Failure to hold criminals accountable
With the 2024 general election pending, the Democratic Alliance (DA) was quick to point out following the release of the index that the government administration under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s term of office is perceived to be more corrupt than that of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.
Zuma was deposed as the president in February 2018 amid corruption allegations and economic decline. At the time of his deposition, South Africa’s CPI score stood at 43. It climbed to 44 the following year, a score it maintained until 2021 before dropping to 43 again in 2022.
Ironically, the Zondo Commission was established by Zuma one month prior to his deposition. The public inquiry aimed to investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud during the former president’s tenure. Revelations exposed a web of corruption, implicating Zuma and his associates in alleged embezzlement, bribery, and abuse of power. State-owned enterprises were allegedly manipulated for personal gain, implicating influential figures. The Gupta family, with close ties to Zuma, played a central role.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has faced growing criticism for its failure to date to bring those implicated to book.
The latest in a string of prosecution disappointments was when, on November 22 last year, the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court dismissed the R2.2 billion fraud case against former Eskom boss Matshela Koko because of a perceived delay in the investigation.
Koko and seven others faced charges related to corruption and money laundering in the awarding of a R2.2bn contract for Kusile Power Station construction. The Hawks and NPA’s Investigating Directorate (ID) arrested them more than a year ago. Despite the setback, the ID pledged to continue the investigation, intending to reapply for the case to be re-enrolled once pending aspects were resolved.
Read: Prosecution challenges threaten South Africa’s exit from FATF grey list
According to the DA, the latest allegations against Paul Mashatile are adding fuel to the fire.
Allegations of corruption surfaced last year against the deputy president when reports suggested that his son, Thabiso, and son-in-law, Nceba Nokwelo, are directors of a company that registered a R37 million mansion for the deputy president.
Mashatile has consistently denied any involvement in corruption or wrongdoing, asserting that he has never taken anything unlawfully from anyone.
The DA has consistently urged Ramaphosa to dismiss Mashatile, citing the president’s inaction as evidence that he has broken the anti-corruption promises made before the Zondo Commission.
In a case study in the index focused on South Africa, Transparency International says as the country approaches the election, the executive continues to lead anti-corruption efforts that seek to draw in stakeholders from across society, including by setting up the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council.
“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 association said it was crucial to leverage this moment to build upon the recommendations of the Zondo Commission to ensure that systems and legislation are strengthened, while opportunities for corruption are reduced.
Corruption thrives on a global scale
Although the drop in South Africa’s score cannot be described as anything but dismal, a closer inspection of the data shows that the country is not alone in its diminishing reputation. According to the CPI, corruption is thriving across the world. Of the countries measured, only 28 have improved their corruption levels over the past 12 years, and 34 countries have significantly worsened.
Over two-thirds of countries score below 50 out of 100. The global average is stuck at only 43, “while the vast majority of countries have made no progress or declined in the last decade”, the index said. A total of 23 countries fell to their lowest scores to date this year – including South Africa.
In addition, the top 25 countries in the index make up just over 10% of all people.
Although Western Europe and the European Union remain the top-scoring region, their regional average score dropped to 65 this year.
The rest of the world remains stagnant, with all other regions having averages under 50.
According to the index’s authors, Eastern Europe and Central Asia “grapples with the dysfunctional rule of law, rising authoritarianism and systemic corruption”, while the Middle East and North Africa show little improvement, “reflecting ongoing struggles with political corruption and conflict”. Asia Pacific shows long-term stagnation.
Despite improvement in some countries, sub-Saharan Africa, which includes South Africa, maintains the lowest average at 33.
The index shows mixed results in Africa, with significant improvements in a few countries. However, most African countries experienced stagnation, maintaining the region’s consistently poor performance, with an unaltered regional average score of 33 out of 100. Ninety percent of countries in sub-Saharan Africa scored under 50.
Seychelles (CPI score: 71) remains the top scorer in the region, followed by Cabo Verde (64) and Botswana (59). Equatorial Guinea (17), South Sudan (13), and Somalia (11) perform the lowest, with no sign of improvement.
Interestingly, Transparency International says that even countries ranking high on the CPI have an impunity problem of their own.
“Many cross-border corruption cases have involved companies from top-scoring countries that resort to bribery when doing business abroad. Others have implicated professionals who sell secrecy or otherwise enable foreign corrupt officials. And yet, top-scoring countries often fail to go after perpetrators of transnational corruption and their enablers,” the index report states.
Independence of judiciary
The United Nations Convention against Corruption requires governments to strengthen integrity and prevent opportunities for corruption among members of the judiciary and prosecution services while maintaining their independence.
According to Transparency International, the CPI results are “a stark reminder that the independence of the judiciary and functioning of internal accountability mechanisms, such as codes of conduct and processes to remove judges, should be at the forefront of policymaking in the region”.
“When the justice system is weak, dysfunctional or lacks independence to shield itself against external pressures, it cannot uphold the law and ensure that it is applied equally to all… When corruption takes hold of the justice system, the powerful and wealthy can escape prosecution and conviction.”
At the same time, large segments of society may be excluded from accessing justice or face additional costs to do so. As stated in the index report, research shows that the effects of corruption on access to justice are not felt equally across societies.
“It is often poor and marginalised groups that suffer most from corruption when seeking justice,” the index report reads.
The association says recent studies also show there is a mutually reinforcing relationship between corruption and social injustice, adding that “corruption often results in discrimination, as favours or privileges the government grants to specific groups, individuals or companies tend to result in the deprivation of others with similar merit”.
Daniel Eriksson, the chief executive of Transparency International, says obstacles to justice for victims of corruption persist in many countries.
“It is time to break the barriers and ensure people can access justice effectively. Everyone deserves fair and inclusive legal systems where victims’ voices are heard at every stage. Anything else is an affront to justice,” says Eriksson.
