Tolerance good, safety dismal in SA – index

SOUTH Africa can brag about its high level of tolerance‚ but it when comes to personal safety the country’s ranking is dismal.

That is according to the latest Social Progress Index‚ which measures various nations’ provision of healthcare‚ education‚ housing‚ rights‚ tolerance and environment.

South Africa received an overall ranking of 66‚ from US-based non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative‚ in the measure of 128 countries.

Denmark emerged as the top-ranked nation for social progress‚ with northern European countries dominating the index‚ occupying seven of the top 10 rankings.

The most improved countries of the list from 2014 to this year were Myanmar and Nigeria‚ while Hungary and Nicaragua saw the biggest declines.

On tolerance and inclusion, South Africa ranked 36th in the world‚ one of its best results.

It displayed a relatively high tolerance for homosexuals.

However, the country featured poorly across a wide range of measures‚ its worst ranking being personal safety‚ at 123‚ thanks to a high level of violent crime.

Regarding nutrition and basic medical care‚ South Africa came in at 83. The high maternal mortality rate‚ high child mortality rate and high number of deaths from infectious diseases accounted for the poor performance.

South Africa performed well on both personal freedom and choice‚ ranking 33rd.

It ranked 80th for provision of water and sanitation and 88th for housing.