South African president Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the 2022 state of the nation address.
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Reviving the capacity of the state is also crucial to shoring up support for democracy in the long term.
Ajay Gupta, left, and Atul Gupta, the masterminds behind state capture in South Africa.
Muntu Vilakazi/City Press
The scale of the Guptas’ rapaciousness meant that, within just a few years, the institutions they leeched were in a state of collapse.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency Thembi Siweya, left, visits homeless people at Johannnesburg’s Park Station on ‘Census Night’, 2 February.
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The census will focus everyone in on the core challenges the country faces, where they are, and who is most affected.
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Top-down enforcement of rules is not working; it has to be in people’s own interests to behave ethically.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (left) with his Zimbabwean counterpart, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in Harare in 2019.
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The ANC retains its determination to rule yet lacks the capacity to do so effectively. The only way out of the dilemma is its defeat in an election.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Australia has plummeted in Transparency International’s corruption perception index over the past decade. It’s time our leaders commit to real reform.
South Africa’s President and African National Congress (ANC) party President Cyril Ramaphosa cuts the cake during the ANC’s 110th anniversary celebrations.
(Photo by Phill Magakoe /AFP via Getty Images)
Ramaphosa currently has no known rivals with widespread support within the African National Congress.
South African and African National Congress party’s President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during the ANC’s 110th anniversary celebrations.
Photo by Phill Magakoe /AFP via Getty Images
South Africans are led by a dithering president at the helm of an inept political party which has already passed its sell by date.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has delivered his first report on state capture to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Photo by Veli Nhlapo/Sowetan/Gallo Images via Getty Images
The inquiry’s findings could be a defining moment for South Africa, but only if the work of the Commission leads to concrete action and systemic change.
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As the year ends, New Zealand has done well in important global measures of success. But closer to home, the numbers often told a different story.
The Anti-Corruption Court building in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Rosa Panggabean/Antara Foto
Realistic and analytical evaluation could save the Indonesian government from adopting legal reform projects that are costly and likely to fail.
South African trade union members take mass strike action against corruption in October 2020.
Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images
South Africa isn’t doing enough to tackle corruption. Key regulatory and oversight agencies are underfunded. And accountability is weak.
Lamine Diack during the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships, Beijing 2015.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images for IAAF
Lamine Diack’s life revolved around politics and sports.
US president Joe Biden and Democratic Republic of Congo president Felix Tshisekedi at the G20 summit in October 2021.
Photo by Erin Schaff/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Africa can make important contributions to the issues on the agenda: defending against authoritarianism; fighting corruption; and respect for human rights.
shutterstock.
Niyazz/Shutterstock
Vote buying subverts a key component of a functioning democracy - elections.
Supporters of main opposition Democratic Alliance wave the national flag ahead of the 2021 local elections.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The 2021 local government elections signals widespread disillusionment with representative democracy that only a sea change in service delivery can fix.
South Africans queue to vote in the 2021 local government elections in Centurion, Tshwane, Pretoria.
GCIS/Flickr
The election results raise the real possibility that the ANC could be looking at another defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Election posters on street poles in Cape Town. The top one in Afrikaans says ‘Cape Town Works. Let’s do more’.
EFE-EPA/Nic Bothma
The increased and diverse number of contestants shows a citizenry that is unwilling to leave its fate in the hands of ineffective incumbents.
Private media in Ghana enables corruption through a combination of partisan reporting and weak journalism.
Wikimedia Commons
Democratic freedoms alone are not adequate safeguards for the media’s anti-corruption work.
The World Bank’s ease of doing business index incentives countries to do whatever they can to improve their ranking.
Jongho Shin/iStock via Getty Images
Allegations that World Bank officials manipulated country rankings in its much-used ease of doing business index highlight a deeper problem with these types of rankings.