Survey ranks South Africa the 70th most corrupt country

According to Transparency International, global corruption levels are generally at a standstill.

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo hands part three of the state capture report to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo: Flickr/GCIS

Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has ranked South Africa as the 70^th most corrupt country from a list of 180 countries.

The CPI is the most widely-used global corruption ranking in the world. It measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, according to experts including the World Bank and World Economic Forum.

According to the latest statistics, about 64% of South Africans perceive corruption as having increased over the last 12 months.

About 18% of people who use public services have reported paying some form of a bribe in the previous year.

“Corruption in South Africa over the last 10 years… we’ve not made significant progress.

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“Numerous countries in Africa are performing better than us, including Botswana, Namibia and Rwanda,” Karam Singh, head of legal and investigations at Corruption Watch told Cape Talk.

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“We’ve seen some progress in addressing some of the worst aspects of State Capture… We haven’t seen significant prosecutions. We have seen some assets recovered… [but] corruption still flourishes in our society,” Singh continues.

Although types of corruption and the levels of it differ vastly from country to country, Transparency International says that all regions of the globe are at a standstill when it comes to fighting public sector corruption.

“In Sub-Saharan Africa, armed conflict, violent transitions of power and increasing terrorist threats combined with poor enforcement of anti-corruption commitments rob citizens of their basic rights and services,” the organisation said.

Former President Jacob Zuma is one of only a few heads of state to face corruption charges in their home country.

South Africa recently saw the release of the state capture inquiry’s report, the first of three volumes to be published to try expose and address levels of corruption in the country.

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