South Africa stagnates on the global Corruption Perception Index, but there are glimmers of hope on the horizon

In anticipation of the 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report released by Transparency International on Tuesday, I expected that South Africa’s Corruption Perception score would have changed significantly. My optimism was based particularly on the monumental clean-up investigations relating to the Zondo Commission, and the first State Capture trial in the case of the Vrede Dairy Project.

The 2022 CIP report generally shows that the pandemic of corruption will linger for many years and that some countries’ CPI levels have stagnated (the scale used is that a score of 0-10 is “highly corrupt” and 90-100 “very clean”).

For three consecutive years — 2019, 2020 and 2021 — South Africa’s CPI points remained at 44. South Africa was ranked 70 in 2021. It is interesting to note that the country’s CPI point was also at 44 in 2014 and 2015. From 44 it went to 45 in 2015, and 43 points in 2012, 2017 and 2018.

Also, there were differences according to the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa. In 2022, South Africa slipped back to a score of 43, coming in at 72 out of 180 countries.

With a score below 50 on the 2022 CPI, it should be of concern to our government that corruption — or at least the world’s perception of it — is not waning. 

Not only is South Africa one of the 124 countries that have stagnant corruption levels, but it has also slipped to 2017 and 2018 levels, while the number of countries in decline is increasing.

“It is particularly galling that South Africa has slipped a point at a time when there appears to be some momentum in bringing the corrupt to book, following the findings of the Zondo Commission reports,” said Karam Singh, executive director of Corruption Watch.

What one thought were incremental improvements from a score of 43 to 44 under the promise of President Ramaphosa’s zero tolerance to corruption is now a deferred dream. 

Monumental anti-corruption efforts such as the Zondo Commission are yet to have a great impact on lessening levels of corruption in South Africa.

I might have set myself up for disappointment by expecting an improved score for a country that has gone through major corruption scandals that include the notorious arms procurement deals in the late 1990s, the rot at state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, Transnet and South African Airways, and the collusion of auditing firms like KPMG, McKinsey, Deloitte and others in enabling State Capture.

Of course, no country is completely free of corruption. 

Even Denmark, which continues to top the CPI list (tied with New Zealand) as the world’s least corrupt country in the world — followed closely by Finland and Norway — has experienced some notoriety concerning corrupt practices. 

Notable being, for example, the 2020 money-laundering scandal of 65-year-old former social worker Britta Nielsen, who, for a period of 25 years, siphoned funds meant for Denmark’s weakest citizens into a private account.

And, wait for it! These corruptly obtained funds bought, among other things, multiple lavish properties — including a ranch in South Africa.

South Africa is not doing particularly well in the CPI, and there has always been concern about the country’s enforcement of its laws against foreign bribery. It is common knowledge that South Africa has internationally comparable anti-corruption laws. The question then is: What is wrong, or what has gone wrong, and where exactly, because its CPI ranking is seeing no significant improvement almost yearly?

Many developing countries, in particular from Africa, are considered “cleaner” than industrialised countries. A glimmer of hope is that there are still African countries that are doing their best to combat corruption — countries like Botswana and Cape Verde, which are tied with Spain and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at 60.

Perhaps South Africa went into a state of complacency after the 2021 CPI rank of 44. Even Rwanda is performing much better than South Africa, with an index of 51. 

My reading of the 2022 CPI is that South Africa continues to bear the heavy economic and social costs of corruption. It would seem that the legacies of geographical morality — and colonialism, as some may argue — are keeping us in the corruption dam. 

If we are not careful, the country might slide to the bottom and fight for positions with the most corrupt countries in the world.

As economists, politicians, journalists and other commentators dissect the 2023 CPI, it would be interesting to know if South African businesses, investors, politicians and government officials — particularly those in corruption cesspools like Eskom and Prasa — pay attention to the index and work towards the betterment of how corrupt they are perceived to be.

It would seem the CPI is failing to change the behaviour of agents of corruption, in particular when they are political and economic policymakers. It’s as if the country has resigned itself to an image and life of corruption.

Despite politicians and the government wanting the ordinary person to believe that corruption is under control and being firmly arrested, the 2022 index shows beyond any reasonable doubt that we have stagnated and that corrupt practices are like a plague in our country.

Sandholtz and Koetzle wrote that “corruption, like the poor, will probably always be with us. We can read about it in Cicero, Augustine, and almost daily in the news”. 

Law enforcement agencies, ministerial policymakers, civil society members, advocacy groups and academics have talked endlessly about corruption.

Much as I had a melancholic feeling when reading about corruption almost daily in the news — over and above the recent CPI performance of South Africa and other African countries — I still hold a firm belief that corruption does not always have to be with us.

We know the root causes of corruption. 

Unfortunately, what is becoming clear is that insignificant fortitude is shown when dealing with corrupt practices. 

Daniel Kaufman once expressed the ambivalence around corruption, stating that “nobody disputes the ethical failings associated with corruption. Yet the ambiguities about corruption, its causes, its effects and its cures cause many to wonder whether fighting it should be a true priority or merely a rhetorical one. Not in dispute is the fact that fighting corruption has become a rhetorical priority”.