With the likes of the Guptas, Duduzani Zuma and Lucky Montana, you would think we live in the most corrupt country in the world. However, the Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International this week ranks South Africa as n0. 71 out of 180 countries in terms of least to most corrupt.
New Zealand is the least corrupt country and was ranked no. 1 with a score of 89, followed by Denmark with a no.2 ranking and transparency score of 88.
? OUT NOW! We analysed 180 countries to see how they scored in the fight against #corruption. Find out your country’s score here > https://t.co/IDyadH7his #CPI2017
— Transparency Int’l (@anticorruption) February 21, 2018
Transparency International made use of 13 resource documents to compile their research and determine the rankings, such the African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2016, the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2017, and the Freedom House Nations in Transit 2017.
The research compiled by these documents allowed Transparency International to give each country a score out of 100, with 0 being highly corrupt and 100 being very clean. The average global score is 43, which is also South Africa’s corruption score. So we are averagely corrupt.
According to the group, its 2017 CPI “reveals some disturbing information” as corruption continues to be a global problem. “Despite attempts to combat corruption around the world, the majority of countries are moving too slowly in their efforts,” the organisation said. “While stemming the tide against corruption takes time, in the last six years many countries have still made little to no progress.”
They maintain that despite Africa being the worst-faring continent in the fight against corruption, notable progress is being made. According to the group, some African countries score better than some developed countries on the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, including countries like Italy, Greece and Hungary.
Data compiled from the World Justice Project suggests that most countries which score low for civil liberties also score high on corruption.
In his maiden SONA address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that criminal justice institutions have taken initiative to effectively deal with corruption. “This is the year in which we will turn the tide of corruption in our public institutions,” he said.
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