The Africa Centre for Evidence+ measuring public sector corruption, South Africa scored 45 out of 100, scarcely more than the global average of 43. Both of these scores are on the wrong end of the highly corrupt scale.
Extremely unequal and exploitative practices are very visible in the private sector when looking at the pay gap between highest and lowest paid employees. According to a recent reporthere.
We feel that such practices of transparency and accountability will model what we expect at every level in all aspects of our society. As secretariat for the Africa Evidence Network, ACE further has that commitment not only to South Africa, but also the African continent.
We also indicate on our website the pay ratio at ACE; our director earns 4.14 times what the lowest paid researcher receives. A shortcoming of this calculation is that this is based on the direct cost to ACE, and does not include the indirect cost of making use of the services of, for example, a cleaner and member of security staff, who is paid by the university. In honouring South Africa’s Constitution in its commitment to ensure social justice, as citizens and organisations we have to conduct ourselves not purely in terms of a legal imperative but rather on a principled commitment to fairness and social justice. We consider that through practising transparency and accountability, and working with others on evidence-informed decision-making, we can together build a fair and just world.