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 and 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 |
Safety and security
- Homicide rate (2022)
- 43.7/100k
- Traffic deaths (2019)
- 22.2/100k
- Military spending (2024)
- 0.7% of GDP
Corruption perceptions index
- CPI score (2026)
- 41 / 100
- Interpretation
- Moderate corruption
Democracy index
- Electoral (2025)
- 0.743
- Liberal
- 0.633
- Participatory
- 0.470
- Deliberative
- 0.651
- Egalitarian
- 0.518
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
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 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 54.4 |
| 2020 | 77.6 | 31 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 83.9 |
| 2019 | 77.8 | 31 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 30.7 |
| 2018 | 79.6 | 28 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 100.0 |
| 2017 | 79.9 | 31 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 100.0 |
| 2016 | 78.1 | 39 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 70.6 |
| 2015 | 77.9 | 39 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | 89.0 |
| 2014 | 76.8 | 42 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable |
| 2013 | 75.4 | 52 | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable | Data unavailable |