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South Africa slips down global peace index

Staff Writer

 ·19 Jun 2014

Global peacefulness continues to deteriorate, as the economic impact of national and international violence has escalated to US$9.8 trillion.

This according to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) Global Peace Index, which pegs the total cost of violence to the global economy at 11.3% (US$9.8 trillion) of the global GDP.

Of the 162 countries covered by the index, South Africa is ranked at 122nd, in the “medium state of peace” range due to its ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality among some sections of society, among other factors.

The 2014 Global Peace Index score has deteriorated slightly for the sixth year in a row continuing to record a gradual slide in global peacefulness since 2008. Notably, since 2008, more countries deteriorated in peace – 111 – than increased in peace – 51.

Overall, European countries dominated the top 10 (the most peaceful) of the index, led by Iceland, Denmark and Austria as the world’s most peaceful nations.

New Zealand (4th), Canada (7th) and Japan (8th) are the only non-European countries listed in the top 10.

On the bottom end of the scale, the world’s headlining nations of war – Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan – filled the bottom three spaces, while Russia (152nd) narrowly missed a spot in the bottom 10.

Top 10 most peaceful countries

Top 10 least peaceful countries

The index investigates the extent to which countries are involved in ongoing domestic and international conflicts, and also seeks to evaluate the level of harmony or discord within a nation.

It analyses and scores countries across 22 indicators, with scores weighted towards internal peace (60%) indicators versus external peace (40%) indicators.

The indicators range from perceptions on criminality and levels of violent crime, to quantitative figures around military expenditure and the number of jailed population.

According to the rankings, five out of the nine geographical regions experienced an improvement in peace, while two regions – sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa – saw a deterioration in peacefulness.

“Sub-Saharan Africa saw the second sharpest deterioration in the regional scores but still fares better than Russia and Eurasia, Middle-East and North Africa, as well as South Asia,” the IEP said.

Looking at South Africa, specifically, the IEP noted that peace and conflict in South Africa over the past five years have been “driven by poverty, inequality, and the slow pace of reform by government”.

“This is fueling crime, violent strike action and political confrontation — the last, in part, a hangover from the practices of violent protest against the apartheid state,” the group said.

Looking at sub-Saharan Africa specifically, South Africa again ranks in the middle-reaches of the region, 29th, out of the 44 countries covered.

South Africa’s index score slipped marginally – 0.045 points – to 2.364.

The report notes that, despite South Africa proving to be “broadly democratic” and is not engaged in any armed conflicts and facing direct external threats, “it is categorically not a peaceful state”.

“Poor score on the ease of access to weapons indicator and a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality among some sections of society, has contributed to very high rates of extreme violence,” the group said.

The IEP’s forecast for the country was not optimistic, saying that with high unemployment and income inequality – and nothing to suggest service delivery will improve under the new ANC administration – South Africa is set to remain a violent society for the foreseeable future.

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