🇿🇦 South Africa Politics - Governance, Freedom & Democracy

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🇿🇦 South Africa ZA / ZAF #24

Nomad Score 59.0

Cities 36

Region African Union, G20, BRICS, Digital Nomad Hubs, Remote Work Friendly Countries, Coworking Hotspots, Nomad Visa Countries, Nomad Retreats, Africa, Africa, Southern Africa, Emerging Markets, Developing Countries

Currency ZAR

📊 GOVERNANCE AT A GLANCE

Government Unitary Parliamentary republics with an executive presidency

UN Member Yes

Independent Yes

CPI Score (2026) 41/100

Press Freedom (2025) 75.7/100 #27

Electoral Democracy (2025) 0.743

HDI 0.741

Regional Blocs AU

🏛 GOVERNMENT & LEADERS

Government Type Unitary Parliamentary republics with an executive presidency

Title	Name
President of South Africa	Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy President of South Africa	Paul Mashatile

💰 CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX

CPI Score (2026) 41 / 100

Interpretation Moderate corruption

Source: Transparency International / Corruption Insights API. Higher scores = less corruption.

📰 PRESS FREEDOM INDEX

Overall Score (2025) 75.7 / 100

Global Rank #27 / 180

Rank Change +11 vs previous year

RSF Zone Afrique

Political #29 69.9

Economic #38 56.4

Legal #21 81.8

Social #19 81.8

Safety #48 88.8

Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Higher scores = better press freedom.

📊 PRESS FREEDOM DIMENSIONS

Five dimensions of press freedom tracked over time. Higher = better.

🗳 DEMOCRACY INDEX

Electoral (2025) 0.743

Liberal 0.633

Participatory 0.470

Deliberative 0.651

Egalitarian 0.518

Source: V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy), CC-BY-SA. Scale: 0 (least democratic) to 1 (most democratic).

📋 PRESS FREEDOM HISTORICAL DATA

Year	Score	Rank	Political	Economic	Legal	Social	Safety
2025	75.7	27	69.9	56.4	81.8	81.8	88.8
2024	73.7	38	72.6	58.8	80.3	82.1	75.0
2023	78.6	25	77.3	64.1	83.0	84.7	83.9
2022	75.6	35	76.0	62.6	84.4	82.5	72.4
2021	78.4	32	-	-	-	-	54.4
2020	77.6	31	-	-	-	-	83.9
2019	77.8	31	-	-	-	-	30.7
2018	79.6	28	-	-	-	-	100.0
2017	79.9	31	-	-	-	-	100.0
2016	78.1	39	-	-	-	-	70.6
2015	77.9	39	-	-	-	-	89.0
2014	76.8	42	-	-	-	-	-
2013	75.4	52	-	-	-	-	-
2012	12.0	42	-	-	-	-	-
2010	12.0	38	-	-	-	-	-
2009	8.5	33	-	-	-	-	-
2008	8.0	36	-	-	-	-	-
2007	13.0	43	-	-	-	-	-
2006	11.3	44	-	-	-	-	-
2005	6.5	31	-	-	-	-	-

Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index

🧭 CONTINUE EXPLORING SOUTH AFRICA

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