South Africa's top leadership should set a better example on corruption if the country is to improve its rating on perceived levels of corruption, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.

"Although South Africa's score in Transparency International's 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) improved slightly since last year... corruption scandals involving government officials and public representatives continue to undermine the country's image while the ANC government seems to condone the actions of those within its ranks who have been convicted of corruption, despite the firing of (former deputy president) Jacob Zuma," DA spokeswoman Sheila Camerer said.

Only two African countries had achieved a score of more than five on the CPI Index - Botswana (5,6) and Mauritius (5,1).

South Africa was third in the African rankings (4,6), but failed to "pass" on the corruption front, she said.

The study measures the views of businessmen and analysts about corruption in various countries.

Last year, South Africa was placed 46th out of 159 countries on the index, but this year, the country fell to 51 out of 163 countries.

However, media reports said this masked an overall improvement, as South Africa scored 4,6 out of 10, compared with last year's 4,5.

Finland, Iceland, and New Zealand headed the list by scoring 9,6 out of 10, while Brazil and the United States dropped down the list.

The worst ranked nations were Iraq, Burma and Haiti. In Africa, Sudan, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo were seen as the most corrupt.

Zimbabwe was 130 on the list, dropping from 107 last year.

Camerer said in a statement much more needed to be done by South Africa's top leadership to press home the message that corruption was not tolerated.

"The recent debacle in which top ANC officials, including the speaker of parliament, gave convicted fraudster and former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni a hero's send-off as he reported (to jail) to begin his sentence has sent the wrong message about the ruling party's attitude towards corruption in its ranks.

"So has the fact that the 23 ANC MPs convicted of fraud in the 'Travelgate' scandal and sentenced to pay large fines for their dishonest acts are still sitting in parliament."

Government should take to heart the important comments about corruption made on Monday by the Supreme Court of Appeal in dismissing Schabir Shaik's appeal against his conviction and 15-year sentence for fraud and corruption.

"The government must stop sending mixed messages about corruption. The only way we are going to cut down on corruption and consequently become known as a country in which corruption is not tolerated is by adopting a tougher stance immediately," Camerer said.

With acknowledgement to Sapa and Independent On Line.