South Africa has a new addition to its Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act – one which criminalises the failure of companies and SOEs to prevent corruption. This could make prosecutions and convictions easier – provided the implementation is sound and a clear political will to enforce the provision is demonstrated.
Whistle-blowers in the business sector around the world are stepping up their game, according to a new report by risk and compliance firm Navex. The document, titled 2024 Whistleblowing and Incident Management Benchmark Report, shows that the use of internal reporting channels is increasing, a sign that reporters are more confident of using such channels without fear of retaliation.
Following the swearing-in of Parliament’s 400 members, the nation now waits for the final two portfolio committees to be constituted, that of judicial services and public accounts. Meanwhile, a group of civil society organisations have warned Parliament that it would be most unwise to appoint nominee and recently impeached former judge John Hlope to the judicial services committee, as only members of the highest ethical standing would be suitable.
South Africa has not yet managed to get off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring for weaknesses in their anti-money laundering regimes. The country has been working on the weaknesses identified since 2021, but must still demonstrate a timely and enhanced accessibility of beneficial ownership information and a sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions of money laundering cases, among other requirements.
South Africa’s voters made their frustration plain on 29 May, writes Moepeng Talane for CW Voices, but the subsequent election to Parliament of several not-so-honourable members raises both eyebrows and questions. At what point, Talane asks, are standards going to be high enough that MPs who are undergoing or have undergone judicial processes against them, will be deemed unfit to serve in the legislature?
Former former sports, arts and culture minister Zizi Kodwa has been sworn in a member of Parliament for the ANC, Kodwa, who resigned his Cabinet post when he appeared in court on 5 June on state capture-related corruption charges, said he was just following party orders – but trade union association Cosatu says it would prefer that he resigned his parliamentary seat too.
It is fitting that World Whistleblower Day follows relatively soon after World Press Freedom Day, writes Janine Erasmus for CW Voices, because the two groups are linked in a long-standing mutually beneficial relationship. Each relies on the other to a certain degree – journalists to get information for their stories from whistle-blowers, and whistle-blowers for the exposition of their stories by journalists.
On the commemoration of this year’s World Whistleblower Day, held on 23 June, we focus our attention on whistle-blowers who were instrumental in the work of the state capture commission. They came from different sections of government and the private sector, and told of their unwavering courage, and large personal and career sacrifices to a commission that has since advocated for increased protection of such individuals.
The National Prosecuting Authority wants convicted fraudster Daniel Mtimkulu to serve at least 15 years for his crimes. Mtimkulu is Prasa’s former head engineer, but was revealed to have misrepresented his qualifications and other documents, which he used to motivate for better perks from the SEO. It was under his watch that the too-tall Afro 4000 locomotives were built, at a cost of billions to Prasa.