The government has still not tackled most of the criticisms of the way in which South Africa is governed made by the African Peer Review panel in a report to be given to President Thabo Mbeki this week.
The report was compiled from data obtained from two years of collaberation between the panel and the government in identifying and assessing the problems that beset South African political, economic, social and corporate life.
Civil society activists said that in the two years since the Peer Review assessment began, government actions to deal with the shortcomings identified had been inadequate and amateurish.
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was devised by the African Union and involves African governments reviewing each other's political, economic, social and corporate performance. South Africa is the fifth country to be reviewed of the 27 that have agreed to participate.
The APRM report on South Africa, written by a "panel of eminent persons" headed by Nigerian professor Adebayo Adedeji, has high praise for most aspects of this country's governance.
But it also says that more must be done about crime, violence against women, unemployment, poverty, HIV/Aids, skills shortages and inadequate public participation in politics.
The report on South Africa was discussed and adopted at the African Union's summit in Ghana in July.
Mbeki praised it in general terms but refused to accept some of its most important criticisms, especially those related to crime.
The panel focused on violent crime, noting that United Nations statistics ranked South Africa second worst in the world for murder and assault per capita. Other figures ranked it the worst for rape and assault.
"President Mbeki took issue with the report's suggestion that there is an unacceptably high level of violent crime," the report says.
"In the president's view, this appears to be an acceptance by the panel of a populist perception of the problem."
Mbeki said that of Johannesburg's 21 police precincts, only two - in depressed areas - accounted for more than 33 percent of reported crime.
Mbeki also questioned the APRM panel's "concern about persisting violence against women".
The panel said that, according to official statistics, 54 926 rapes had been reported in the 2005-2006 year. Mbeki said the panel's statement could be misleading because some of the rapes reported "could have led to acquittals."
"These are quibbles," said one civil society activist involved in the peer review consultations.
Adedeji's panel is sharply critical of floor crossing, saying it is "likely to undermine political pluralism and the consolidation of democracy." Especially because of South Africa's proportional representation system, "floor crossing erodes the already weak link between the MPs and the electorate."
Floor crossing had also "reduced the opportunity for a strong opposition to emerge".
Mbeki rejected the panel's "hint" that floor crossing be abandoned, saying the suggestion was based on "averments that cannot be sustained".
The APRM panel accepts that the proportional representation system is basically sound but recommended that South Africa reconsider the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission's proposal that a constituency system be grafted on to the proportional representation system to strengthen parliamentary oversight of the executive.
The panel recommends that South Africa considers compelling political parties to disclose the sources of their funding.
Mbeki has not responded to the last two recommendations and they are not part of the government's programme of action which is supposed to deal with the panel's recommendations.