Hopewell Radebe
2 October 2009
Johannesburg — VIOLENT crime contributed a great deal to SA slipping from fifth to ninth on the 2009 Index of African Governance, according to Prof Robert Rotberg of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in the US.
Rotberg attributed SA's downgrading to its lower scores in the areas of respect for civil and political rights and the rule of law.
He said SA had received the lowest mark in the index with regard to safety after researchers found that in southern Africa, SA had the highest number of murders per 100000 people for a country that was neither at war nor going through a civil war.
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SA's ranking in terms of safety and security was 47th out of the 53 countries scored, ahead of only the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan and Somalia. SA had become the fourth-most violent country with regard to murder and rape, Rotberg said.
Mauritius, the Seychelles, Cape Verde and Botswana were deemed the four best-governed countries this year. These countries, which have some of the smallest populations on the continent, retained the positions they had in last year's annually produced index, which was then called the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.
The worst performers were Somalia (53), due to the lack of a government, Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The most improved , in terms of security, were Burundi (39), Rwanda (26) and Angola (46).
Co-ordinated by Rotberg and Rachel Gisselquist, the index used 57 indicators, from maternal mortality to judicial independence.
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This report is a treasure to the assesment of Africa. But,It also lacks the in-depth analysis of the leaders that preside over our nations. One such missing ingredient is, the lack of focus on the level of education achieved by those who govern us. The more they are educated, the better their governance. A
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