A new research study released last month by by the Human Sciences Research Council focuses on how South Africans can be encouraged to adopt an anti-corruption mindset and work with the authorities to fight corruption. The study was founded on the objectives of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020–2030, which calls for a “whole-of-society approach” to corruption.
“The buying of university spaces, if left unchecked, not only harms individual students but also reshapes the moral logic of education itself. It teaches young people that effort is optional and money is decisive. That is a lesson no society can afford to teach.” These are the views of Nyaniso Qwesha, writing in the Sunday Independent about corruption in the allocation of places at our universities.
Although committees regularly invite public submissions, writes the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, stakeholder groups and ordinary citizens rarely try to influence committee programmes proactively. Yet the public has the right to do so, and citizens do not need to wait for a formal call for submissions to raise concerns or propose issues for scrutiny. Committees benefit from on-the-ground experience, specialist knowledge, and independent research that MPs and officials may not have, the organisation adds.
The 11th Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption took place last month in Doha, Qatar, ending on 19 December 2025. During the proceedings, states parties adopted 11 anti-corruption-related resolutions, ranging from the combating of corruption that facilitates the smuggling of migrants, to enhancing data collection to measure corruption and its impacts. Among these, they adopted a landmark resolution on combating corruption through transparency in political finance.
National Treasury has invited written comments from the public on the latest additions to the draft General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill. Submissions must be received by close of business on 13 February 2026.
The newly announced Fallen Whistleblowers Bill, an ActionSA initiative, aims to attack corruption in public procurement with four main priorities: creating a secure disclosure mechanism, increasing penalties for intimidation, introducing an incentive of between 15% and 25% of recovered funds, and enabling private prosecution when the NPA fails or refuses to act. The document is also referred to as the Public Procurement Amendment Bill 2026.
At the end of 2026, citizens will vote for their local government representatives. It’s not too early to start giving careful consideration to who gets that vote, especially in light of a new policy brief from ENACT and the Institute for Security Studies, which examines the patterns of corruption in local government and compares them to those found in organised crime. “The more organised, normalised, and profitable corruption becomes in local government across South Africa, the less incentive there will be for good governance.”
Towards the end of 2025 the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), an organisation supporting democracy around the world, published the latest edition of The Global State of Democracy, an index that assesses democratisation across the world. The results show a global pattern of weakening democracy. South Africa, despite some low scores, for instance in Absence of Corruption, did not fare too badly overall.
Corruption Watch notes the surprise announcement of the appointment of Adv Andy Mothibi, current SIU head, as the new national director of public prosecutions. The organisation says that while Mothibi does bring a wealth of anti-corruption knowledge and experience, he was nonetheless not one of the six short-listed candidates and it would have been preferable for him to have been subjected to the same interview process as the others.