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The Democratic Alliance is today presenting a comparative analysis of South Africa's performance on 20 key international indices since 1994. Our analysis is in response to the Presidency's annual release of its Development Indicators Mid-term Review Report. The DA has compiled an overview of all 20 indices, and they stand in stark contrast to the Presidency's development indicators.

For the full document on the DA's key findings, as well as six tables setting out how South Africa performed on these 20 international indices, click here <http://www.mailfire.co.za/link/QlJVTj0xMjk1NyZMSUQ9NDc0MTcmU0lEPTEwMTk1MzY=.aspx> 1. Key Findings The 20 indices ranked countries in six key areas namely governance, economic development, poverty and inequality, education, information technology and global interconnectedness and lastly, the environment. (a glossary of these 20 indices and what each of them measures accompanies this statement). The indices are a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods and outputs and from them it is possible to draw out trends and make strong inferences on how the ANC government is performing in these six areas, all of which are vital for the economic and social development of the country as well as improving the quality of life all South Africans. Where possible we analysed these indices over a five year period, since 1994 up to the latest year they were released. Firstly, South Africa has slipped down the rankings of 16 of the 20 indices The indices which South Africa slipped down most dramatically are:
• Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timms) (down 25 places)
• Global peace Index (24)
• Failed States Index (19)
• The Network Readiness Index (18)
Secondly, South Africa stayed in the same position (45) on one of the indices, namely the Global Competitiveness index between 2005/06 and 2009/10. However, a closer analysis reveals that it moved up nine places on the 2006/07 index only to slip back to 45 by 2009/10. Thirdly, South Africa moved up three of the 20 indices, all three of these indices measure poverty and inequality namely:
• Global Hunger Index ( moved up16 places)
• Global Gender Gap Index (12)
• Mothers' Index (6)
2. The ANC government's attitude towards South Africa's international performance It is clear from our analysis of these 20 international indices that South Africa is backsliding internationally and that:
• the country's economy is becoming less free and open;
• the country is deteriorating when it comes to promoting good, honest and transparent governance and protecting democratic rights and freedoms;
• citizens are not being provided with a proper education and the necessary skills to develop themselves;
• the country is falling behind developed countries when it comes to information technology and;
• the country's natural resources are under threat due to inadequate environmental policies and protection initiatives.
Instead of the ANC government acknowledging South Africa's dismal performance on these indices and recognising that it alludes to a far bigger and highly concerning picture - that it is failing in a number of key areas - it instead chooses a path of denial, obfuscation and even denunciation in some instances. The DA believes that the main reason for this is that the ANC government has had a long history of believing that its political programme is the only legitimate course around which South Africa's future can be shaped. An analysis of that political programme, however, reveals a series of decisions that compromise our collective potential as a country, clearly demonstrated by our dismal performance on these international indices. However, because the ANC holds it to be the only true course and above criticism, it cannot properly respond or change direction when that programme of action fails in any given respect; choosing rather to denigrate its opponents and obscure rational debate in favour of an emotional appeal to race and history. More often than not, this attitude manifests itself in the form of a conflict over the nature and validity of a particular set of statistics. The following are two examples of this manifestation: a) The Presidency's release of its Development Indicators Mid-term Review Report The ANC government chooses to ignore the picture painted by international indices as it believes it is the only party capable of telling the truth. It therefore releases its own set of indicators on an annual basis, namely the Presidency's Development Indicators Mid-term Review report. While this does contain a few of the indices the DA has analysed, the report, more often than not, interprets South Africa's ranking on these indices in such a way as to reconcile them with the ANC government's own distorted version of reality. A good example, is the Presidency's interpretation of South Africa's dramatic slip on the Corruption Perception Index where it stated that the probable reasons for this fall "is that more incidents of corruption are being publicly exposed, which increases public awareness about corruption." Furthermore, the rest of the Presidency's development indicators report released each year usually ignores these international indicators and instead uses manipulated data and cherry-picked information to paint a glowing picture of its own performance and South Africa's economic, political and social development. b) South African government pulls South Africa out of Timms The second way in which the ANC's belief that only it is able to present the truth has manifested itself is through its decision to pull South Africa out of the 2007 Timms study. Up to 2007, South Africa had come last in every Timms study since it was first conducted in 1995. The fact that it failed to move up from last place, despite more countries being added to the study each year, demonstrated how poor South African learner's maths and science skills were and was an indictment of the department of education's performance in this regard. At the beginning of 2007, the ANC Government announced that it was pulling South Africa out of the Timms study but denied that this decision was due to the country's past dismal performance and was purely for education reasons. It argued that the test should only be administered again in 2011 after the department's science and maths interventions had an impact. However, time will tell whether South Africa will in fact participate in the 2011 Timms study. While the ANC government adopts these various tactics in order to try to present its own version of reality and of how South Africa is progressing, the country's performance on these 20 international indices continues to paint a reality that cannot be denied. The DA is committed to promoting a culture of excellence in all areas of society. We believe that these international indices are a vital tool in this regard and that the ANC government could use them to:
• rate the country's development and progress compared to other developing countries;
• learn from the successes of more developed countries and;
• set benchmarks and goals for the country's future development.
It is clear from our performance on these 20 international indices over the last few years that there is an urgent need for far more vigor and commitment in South African government's efforts to reverse these downward trends. We therefore call on the ANC government to start recognising the many benefits that are provided by our participation in these international indices instead of regarding our participation as a threat. And furthermore, that it starts using our performance as a way in which to ensure that the country remains both a competitive and a legitimate actor internationally in the future.