Failure to tackle graft haunts SA

South Africa’s lowest score ever in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a sign that the Ramaphosa presidency has failed to meet the heightened levels of urgency to turn the corner on corruption generated by state capture.

This is according to UCT Associate Professor in the Department of Political Studies, Vinothan Naidoo, after the anti-corruption movement Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday released the 2023 CPI, which showed South Africa had scored its lowest score ever at 41. It is one of 23 countries that reached their lowest-ever scores this year.

The CPI scores 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople.

It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

The report noted that there had been a global decline in justice and the rule of law since 2016.

“The rise of authoritarianism in some countries contributes to this trend, and even in democratic contexts, the mechanisms that keep governments in check have weakened. Governments across the political spectrum have undermined justice systems, restricted civic freedoms and relied on non-democratic strategies to address recent challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Against this backdrop, this year’s CPI shows that, despite the progress made in criminalising corruption and establishing specialised anti-corruption institutions around the world, only 28 of the 180 countries measured by the CPI have improved their corruption levels, and 34 countries have significantly worsened,” the CPI stated.

Naidoo said with the financial markets, investor confidence and sentiment were often informed by perceptions of real-time and future performance of businesses and governments.

“South Africa’s lowest-ever score represents a serious trust deficit and impatience about the ability of the country’s formal anti-corruption laws and institutions to make a serious dent in financial misconduct.

“The most striking thing about South Africa’s long-term score is that we generated our highest scores during the Jacob Zuma presidency. This was followed by a dip and brief stabilisation in the Ramaphosa transition, followed by a small ‘honeymoon’ rise which eventually tapered off and then dropped sharply. This could be explained by the fact that we really only came to grips with the scope and depth of corruption under the Zuma government during the Zondo Commission, which post-dated our highest scores.

The modest rise in our scores during most of the period of the Zondo Commission felt like we had possibly reached a tipping point in our intolerance for the problem – that things couldn’t really get any worse, and had to get better. However, following the release of the commission’s report in 2022, we have seen our CPI score dip to its lowest-ever level, which is probably a sign that the Ramaphosa presidency has failed to meet the heightened levels of urgency to turn the corner on corruption generated by state capture,” he said.

“I think that people are primarily looking for two things when it comes to how we respond to corruption: concrete and regular evidence of ‘consequence management’, that politicians and public servants regardless of who they are, who are alleged to have engaged in corruption, will be subject to investigation and prosecution and that the NPA in particular can ramp up its ability to try cases and demonstrate quick wins.”

University of the Free State research fellow and local governance expert Dr Harlan Cloete said that corruption was not unique to South Africa and started in the country long before 1994.

“It’s a pre-1994 phenomena, almost part of the DNA of South Africa, with a policy that favoured white South Africans through corrupt practices. This cosy relationship between business and politicians is not new. The ANC continued with that pattern. “The mistake we make is thinking it’s (just) the ANC. They did take higher moral ground from the National Party who were the masters of corruption by every means necessary.”

He said that communities did not often understand their rights and responsibilities.

Cloete said there were many factors that led to the public losing trust in local government, including financial mismanagement, the competency of individuals appointed to positions they are not equipped for, process and procedures not being in place.

“We need to see more people going to jail for corruption. The consequence in Singapore for corruption is to jail high-profile people. If you look at countries like that. Until you jail high-profile people, the consequence management system remains low.

The political system in South Africa is very elitist driven and we are the most unequal country in the world, so people see local government as an entry into the middle class. The tendency is that once in the system to milk the system and there’s no guarantee that the person will make it in again, so they want to hold on to it and kill for it. There has to be consequence,” said Cloete.

Luckmore Chivandire, a PhD student in the Anti-Corruption Centre for Education and Research of Stellenbosch University (ACCERUS) in the School of Public Leadership said the sluggish pace of legal proceedings and the lack of tangible outcomes from investigations only contribute to the perception that the system is failing to deliver justice.

“Another glaring issue exacerbating the situation is the ongoing absence of consequence management for those implicated in corrupt practices. When individuals engaging in corruption perceive a low risk of facing penalties, it emboldens them.”

The Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, did not respond to requests for comment by deadline on Tuesday.

Cape Times