Johannesburg - South Africa ranks fifth out of 52 countries in this year's Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said on Monday.
“The 2013 IIAG, released today (Monday), reveals that South Africa's governance ranking has fallen one place since 2000,” it said in a statement.
However, South Africa's overall governance score had improved to 71.3 out of a possible 100 since 2000. This was higher than the average for the continent, of 51.6.
The country has not moved out of the top 10 countries in the IIAG since 2000.
In the southern African region, South Africa ranked third out of 12 countries.
South Africa's score declined in the category of participation and human rights, which measures the protection and promotion of human rights, civil and political participation, and gender issues. It ranked third highest overall in this category.
South Africa received its lowest ranking, at 41st, in the sub-category of personal safety, but first in the sub-category of public management.
“Since 2000, the strongest improvements at continental level are registered in the categories of human development, sustainable economic opportunity and, to a lesser extent, participation and human rights,” the foundation said.
It said the safety and rule of law category had “declined worryingly” on the continent, with year-on-year declines since 2010.
Sapa