The Standing Committee on Public Accounts met at the end of February to receive a briefing from the Special Investigating Unit on the results of two investigations into irregularities relating to the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme, set up during the Covid pandemic. The organisation based its investigations on the Auditor-General’s special real-time Covid emergency fund audits, and information supplied by the UIF and Corruption Watch.
The Corruption Watch board today announced leadership developments at the organisation. Mr Karam Singh has stepped down from his role as executive director, effective 28 February 2025. He will continue to work with the organisation in a consulting capacity for a period of time, after which he will pursue his own interests.
Anti-corruption measures targeting traffic police, not just SAPS, are vital to improve safety in SA’s major cities, writes David Bruce for the Institute for Security Studies. This is where police minister Senzo Mchunu’s current focus on prioritising greater co-operation in terms of safety in metro areas, bringing the police service into the situation through co-operation agreements, may bear fruit.
The Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is about to launch its Local Government Turnaround Barometer Dashboard – an initiative that aims to monitor municipal performance and improve service delivery across the province. The project also aligns with the provincial aim to digitise all government services.
In part two of our mini-series focusing mainly on plant trafficking, we discuss the methods used by traffickers, and the international response to this growing crime. In part one, we examined the seriousness of the problem, which affects South Africa and other countries, and the role that social media plays in enabling it.
In part one of our mini-series focusing mainly on plant trafficking, we look at the seriousness of the problem, which affects South Africa too, and the role that social media plays in enabling it. In part two we discuss the methods used by traffickers, and the international response to this growing crime.
The Financial Action Task Force has deemed South Africa to have addressed or largely addressed 20 of the 22 action items in its plan for exiting the organisation’s grey list, said the National Treasury in a statement released on Friday 21 February. This means that there are just two items to be addressed in the next reporting period that runs from March 2025 to June 2025. “This would enable South Africa to be considered for delisting from the grey list in October 2025.”
The Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, is currently holding its annual February plenary in Paris and is expected to make a positive statement on South Africa’s grey list status. Accordingly, the country’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission appeared before the parliamentary committee for Trade, Industry and Competition on 19 February to brief members on progress towards getting off the grey list, as far as its own contribution is concerned.
Are you an engaged citizen in 2025, asks Advocate Paul Hoffman in this article for Daily Maverick. Do you participate in or contribute to democracy-supporting activities that will help to counter corruption? South Africa needs active citizens – read on to establish your status.
Visit our GivenGain R20 for Change page and help us demand transparency in our systems, accountability in our leaders, and better empowerment and protection of whistle-blowers. By donating R20 a month, you’ll be supporting our work with communities across the country, helping them to know and access their rights and reduce the corruption that robs people of resources intended for their benefit.