SA is ranked 72 out of 177 countries surveyed, with a score of 42.
The CPI measures perceived levels of public sector corruption, ranking countries on a scale of zero to 100 with zero being highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
“Our ranking and score are far from satisfactory, but we take some comfort from the fact that our position seems to be stabilising,” says David Lewis, executive director at Corruption Watch.
In 2012, SA scored 43.
He adds that the stable score can be attributed to level of outrage expressed by the public in the form of service delivery protests and eagerness to report corruption to independent civil society-based organisations, like Corruption Watch.
“The perceptions are also indicative of a public that has become intolerant of the abuse of public resources and is losing trust in political, public and business leadership. The challenge is now to turn corruption around.”
He says that there are some signs of determined action to combat corruption in the public sector.
“For example, the anticorruption measures that the Department of Public Service and Administration is attempting to put in place are commendable.”
Lewis adds that these actions were countered by the continuing impunity on the part of those who were politically and financially powerful.
“The Gupta wedding saga and the President’s Nklandla residence are indicators in the past year of impunity in operation.”
