Corruption in South Africa, where general elections are scheduled in the coming months, has reached its worst level in a dozen years, according to a report released Tuesday by the NGO Transparency International. This joins the list of countries where corruption has “established itself” and could “spread”.
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Every year, the anti-corruption NGO publishes the Corruption Perception Index in 180 countries, assessing its level in the public sector as perceived by experts and the business community.
“South Africa has never performed so poorly” since Transparency International’s local arm, Corruption Watch, began its work 12 years ago in the country now classified as a “gap democracies,” the NGO points out.
“South Africa now joins countries around the world where corruption appears to be not only deep-rooted but also spreading,” she added in her report.
“It is frustrating that so few parties have been brought to justice in a country where the corrupt have been exposed through public trials like the Zondo Commission and extensive media investigations,” said Karam Singh of Corruption Watch.
Judge Raymond Zondo led the Commission of Inquiry into rampant corruption during former President Jacob Zuma's nine-year term (2009-2018) for four years. In 2022, he drew damning conclusions from more than 400 days of trials with more than 300 witnesses.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is due to testify before the commission, has repeatedly promised to crack down on corruption. However, no arrests have been announced at this time.
Corruption cases are also one of the reasons for the decline in the polls of the historic party that has been in power since the end of apartheid, the ANC.
Plagued by scandals and in a dire socio-economic situation, opinion polls show the African National Congress is in danger of losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in its history in the next elections, scheduled to take place between May and August.
South Africans will go to the polls to renew their national and provincial parliaments. This vote paves the way for the election of the next president, who will be appointed by national legislatures rather than by direct universal suffrage.