S Africa slips to 9th in Africa governance ratings

JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 1 -- South Africa's governance ratings have slipped two places to ninth in Africa, the country's Press Association quoted the Harvard University's Index of African Governance as saying on Thursday.

The slip was, in part, because of the widening of the study to include northern African countries, said the study's director Professor Robert Rotberg of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

However, it was also due to declining levels of safety and security, political rights and rule of law, particularly in terms of corruption.

"South Africa performs well across the index, but it is amongst the very lowest scores in terms of crime," said Rotberg.

South Africa's rank in terms of safety and security was 47th out of the 53 countries scored, ahead of only Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan and Somalia.

While South Africa slipped in the rankings with regard to the rule of law, transparency and corruption, it still ranked fifth in the continent.