Too much talk and no action: South Africa stagnates on corruption index

South Africans generally believe government is doing very little, or nothing, to act on corruption, despite the state capture inquiry uncovering the extent of graft, while also naming and shaming individuals and organisations.

Rhetoric statements and commitments to uproot corruption have not resulted in any real consequences for the perpetrators of the widespread corruption that South Africa has experienced, according to Corruption Watch.

Despite some positive initiatives, such as the establishment of a National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), the failure to implement this and related plans means that corruption continues unabated.

The NACS was adopted in November 2020, and prioritises measures to prevent corruption, while providing a framework and action plan for the whole country.

But the organisation lamented that the more its execution was delayed, the longer South Africa will be bogged down by corruption.

Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report has shown that South Africa has stalled in its efforts to curb corruption, as human rights abuses and the erosion of democracy flourished.

This suggests that the real test to government’s commitment to end the scourge of corruption, according Corruption Watch, will be to earnestly start with the prosecutions of the implicated individuals and organisations.

While the Zondo commission has revealed the scale of the graft and raised hopes of accountability, Corruption Watch noted that this may also have the converse effect of convincing people that the scale of corruption was irremediable.

A review of South Africa’s standing on the CPI since 2012 demonstrates stagnation on the global index over the past 10 years.

In 2012 South Africa scored 43, ranking 69 out of 176 countries that were assessed that year. Fast forward to 2021, and the country sits at a dismal 44, the same as last year, dropping one place and now ranking at 70 out of the now 180 countries.

The country’s highest CPI score over the past decade was 45 in 2016, while the lowest score was 42 in the 2013 index.

Not only is there widespread public interest in the recommendations of the state capture commission report, there is also an expectation that prosecutions will begin to reel in the many complicit individuals, from both the private and public sectors.

“It is extremely disheartening to find ourselves, year after year, in the same position on the CPI, with marginal shifts up or down. The poor perceptions of how South Africa is faring in its efforts to truly tackle and dismantle the systems that enable corruption are perhaps to be expected when one considers the staggering levels of corruption we have witnessed,” said Karam Singh, head of legal and investigations at Corruption Watch.

He said they could only hope that recent developments to bring corruption to the fore in the country will result in swift and effective prosecutions, restoration of public confidence in the political will to end impunity and lack of accountability.

Government spokesperson Phumla Williams ignored requests to comment on the latest CPI report.

But SA was not the only country that showed stagnation on the corruption index as this year’s analysis also shows that 86% of countries have made little to no progress in the last 10 years, with the CPI global average remaining unchanged at 43 for the tenth year in a row.

– siphom@citizen.co.za