SA’s position on corruption index can be improved
Most South Africans have come to terms with the idea that corruption in the country is endemic. There are few days that go by when there isn’t a headline about some form of malfeasance in both the public and private sectors.
And as the Zondo commission laid bare how entrenched corruption really is, few were truly shocked by the revelations. As to how used to corruption people have become, the general sentiment in the wake of the recent floods that devastated KwaZuluNatal was resigned acceptance that government officials would plunder relief funds and aid.
But in that attitude of numb acceptance we risk forgetting the very real consequences corruption has on the welfare of ordinary South Africans and the country’s international reputation. The recently released 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index should provide an important wake-up call.
Created by Transparency International, the biennial index ranks 180 countries around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Some two-thirds of countries in the index scored below 50. Among those more corrupt countries is SA. The country scored 44 and was ranked joint 70th. And while its score didn’t get any worse over the past year, it also didn’t get any better. That doesn’t reflect well on the reforms promised by Cyril Ramaphosa when he ascended to the presidency in 2018.
The index should be concerning to everyone. While the results may seem academic to some, many organisations view it as an important tool when conducting risk assessments on either entering a country or investing in existing entities in that market.
Those organisations understand that the index measures perceptions of public sector corruption, but a low ranking raises red flags to approach even private sector companies with circumspection. It makes sense too. Would highprofile examples – such as Tongaat, Steinhoff, and African Bank – have occurred if SA were less of a fertile environment for corruption?
In the best-case scenario, investors end up doing more due diligence on SA companies and in the worst-case scenario, they shy away from investing entirely.
SA’s place means that it’s always on the back foot when it comes to attracting the international investment it so desperately needs.
On the other hand, should SA join the minority of countries perceived to be more clean than corrupt, then investor confidence will improve, bringing with it increased job opportunities, increased tax revenue, and improved service delivery.
What should SA do to improve perceptions of corruption?
The first step is to be proactive. All too often, if any action is taken against corrupt officials, it is only after the media has dragged the incidents out into the light. Public sector bodies need to investigate corrupt officials and deal with them quickly and publicly.
It’s also important to move away from talk and towards action. There have been few arrests as a result of the Zondo commission. A few high-profile, rapid, and successful prosecutions will go a long way to changing the perception that SA is soft on corruption.