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South Africa has made little gains in tackling “the large-scale problem” of corruption, according to Corruption Watch, following the release of the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International.
In a statement on Tuesday, Corruption Watch, the local chapter of TI, said South Africa obtained a score of 41, the same as last year and below the global average of 43.
South Africa dropped three index points on the corruption perception index since 2019.
According to Corruption Watch, the lack of progress is disconcerting, with the latest score suggesting that there have been few gains or concrete efforts to tackle the large-scale problem of corruption.
The Corruption Perception Index assesses 180 countries and territories around the world according to the levels of public sector corruption perceived by experts and surveys from businesspeople.
It draws on 13 independent data sources and scores countries from zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
Corruption Watch noted that the index measures perceptions of corruption, not corruption reported or experienced by members of the public, and therefore perceptions may differ from the reality on the ground.
It said there had been some encouraging developments in South Africa to address corruption, including the establishment last year of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption as a permanent entity within the National Prosecuting Authority.
According to reports from the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Special Investigating Unit, over R10 billion has also been recovered in state capture-related cases.
