‘No progress’ in SA’s battle against graft, warns new survey
Corruption Watch warned on Tuesday that South Africa has shown little to no progress in addressing graft, as it released the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
This comes after a report by the anti-corruption movement Transparency International (TI) found that South Africa's score remained unchanged from last year at 41.
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The CPI measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption across 182 countries, grading them from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Executive Director at Corruption Watch, Lebogang Ramafoko, said the country's anti-corruption efforts leave much to be desired.
The TI report found a decline in the CPI globally, with the global average falling to 42.
"This year’s results show that the majority of countries are failing to keep corruption under control: 122 out of 180 score under 50, while the number of countries scoring above 80 has decreased from 12 a decade ago to just five this year," said Ramafoko.
“Corruption Watch, as TI’s South African chapter, has been monitoring the country’s progress on the CPI for close to 14 years, reviewing each year’s results in the context of developments on the ground,” added Ramafoko.
“While the score has seldom given cause for celebration remaining steadfastly below the 50 mark the dip over the past two years to 41 is certainly cause for concern, as it suggests that corruption is not being taken seriously enough by our leaders.”
He said that although no progress was made, there is still some encouraging news.
"South Africa was removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in 2025 following consistent efforts from financial governance structures; the country hosted a successful G20 Summit; and corruption allegations within the criminal justice system are being investigated by two constitutionally supported processes, namely the Madlanga Commission and the ad hoc committee of Parliament."
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