Companies and state officials are increasingly abusing protection orders to try to stop journalists and activists from doing their work, writes Anton Harber for GroundUp. These legal instruments are meant for domestic violence victims, but are used to gag reporters, which has negative implications for journalistic work carried out in the public interest.
The Whistleblower Protection Bill will be introduced to Parliament later this year. The bill follows on the state capture commission’s recommendation, contained in its report released in 2022, that whistle-blower legislation be amended to provide increased protection. It also draws on public submissions made in 2023 to the Department of Justice’s widely circulated discussion document on the topic, which Corruption Watch contributed to.
Corruption Watch today releases its 13th annual corruption report, titled Accountable Together. The theme demonstrates the organisation’s ongoing advocacy for accountability, which must begin with us as individuals and extend to every level of society, business, and government. Our freedom, so clearly articulated in the bill of rights, comes with the responsibility to be accountable and to accept the consequences of our actions.
The newly released Opacity in Real Estate Ownership index scores 24 jurisdictions, including South Africa, on two metrics: the scope and availability of real estate data; and the strength of anti-money laundering legal frameworks for the real estate sector. The report is published by Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective, who say: “Despite years of pledges from the world’s most powerful economies to crack down on money laundering, a new index has found that property markets are still shockingly exposed.”
The newly launched Border Management and Immigration Anti-Corruption Forum has set its sights on corruption in the immigration and border management space. This initiative is the fourth such multi-stakeholder forum to be established and comprises representatives of government departments, civil society and professional organisations, and non-governmental entities.
South Africa’s beneficial ownership register is up and running. The register is an important step in South Africa’s efforts to exit the FATF grey list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission told Parliament last month that it has received around 1.1-million beneficial ownership submissions, which are now in the register.
Corruption Watch’s 13th annual corruption report, titled Accountable together, will be released on Thursday 27 March 2025. The report’s theme demonstrates the organisation’s ongoing advocacy for accountability – one of the basic principles of democracy, along with transparency, rule of law, public participation, free and fair elections, and others. Accountability must begin with ourselves and extend to every level of society, business, and government.
South Africa has dropped another point on the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law index for 2024. The country did not fare too badly in most categories, but was let down by a poor score in the Absence of Corruption section.
The Department of Public Service and Administration and the Public Service Commission recently met with the parliamentary committee on public service and administration to brief members on updates regarding the ongoing professionalisation process. All participants affirmed their commitment to the process, with the DPSA saying it is a “national priority”.
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