The best and worst things about life in South Africa
The latest Social Progress Index for 2017, compiled by the Social Progress Imperative (SPI) reveals which aspects of life in South Africa are pushing us toward a better quality of life – and which aspects are holding us back.
The index measures a country’s capacity to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, and how it established and builds on a solid foundation to provide a better quality of life. The SPI looks at hard data and statistics to work out where each country stands, but also takes a holostic approach at analysing the outcomes.
Quality of life is a tricky thing to measure, so the SPI breaks it down into three broad categories, that look at a host of different indicators, namely: basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunities.
Basic human needs cover everything from shelter, to nutrition, water and sanitation and safety; well-being focuses on quality of life factors like health and wellness and access to information; while opportunity focuses on rights, education and inclusion.
Out of the 128 countries covered in the index, South Africa ranked 66th – a middling position, 7 places down from 59th place in 2016. This also boots South Africa out of the “high social progress” nations, into the “upper middle” category.
In 2017 Denmark was ranked the most socially progressive country, pushing 2016’s number one, Finland, to second place. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland complete the top 5.
On the other end of the list, things remain unchanged, with Central African Republic ranked last, below Afghanistan, Chad, Anglola and Niger.
Best and worst qualities
SPI identifies strengths and weaknesses across all categories – and for South Africa, weaknesses dominate.
When it comes to personal rights and freedoms, as enshrined in our Constitution, South Africa shines through – while significant strides are being made in areas like access to information and communication.
But things fall apart when it comes to attending to basic human needs, with personal safety in South Africa ranking among the worst in the world, while all indicators that have to do with health and wellness do not paint a pretty picture.
Personal safety is by far the weakest aspect to South Africa, the index shows, with South Africa ranking 123rd out of 128. Our homicide rate is the fifth worst in the world, ranked 124th out of 128.
These are the 10 biggest weaknesses in South Africa
- Murder rate – 124
- Level of violent crime – 119
- Low level of gender parity in high school – 113
- Deaths from infectious diseases – 111
- Premature deaths from communicable diseases – 110
- Low life expectancy – 107
- Suicide rate – 100
- Greenhouse gas emissions – 100
- Traffic deaths – 99
- Poor quality of electricity supply – 96
On the more positive side, things are limited, with skills development, press freedom and personal rights shining through.
These are South Africa’s biggest strengths
- Percent of tertiary students enrolled in globally ranked universities – 15
- Number of globally ranked universities – 23
- Tolerance for homosexuals – 26
- Press freedom – 30
- Private property rights – 36
While not listed as a strength, the SPI did note a marked improvement – however small – at rooting out corruption in the country.
Overall, personal freedoms and personal rights in South Africa emerge as the strongest factors painting the way to a better quality of life.
Read: South Africa has the highest data prices among Africa’s biggest economies
Loading ...