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”.
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.
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.