The newly introduced Constitution Twenty-first Amendment Bill, presented this week to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, aims to amend the Constitution to establish an anti-corruption commission as a Chapter 9 body, one that will report only to Parliament and will have the necessary powers to investigate and prosecute serious corruption and high-level organised crime exclusively.
The Special Investigating Unit and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts have renewed their memorandum of understanding regarding investigating and reporting on matters pertaining to irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure of public funds. The original agreement, signed earlier this year, fell away with the dissolution of the previous government.
A new report released by Namibia’s Institute for Public Policy Research underscores the devastating effects of corruption on the lives of ordinary people – in this case, the fisheries workers who had the rug whipped out from under their feet when the country’s Fishrot corruption scandal broke, and who now struggle just to survive.
Audit outcomes over the term of the sixth administration show an improvement in national and provincial government’s ability to transparently report on their finances and performance, said auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke, tabling the 2023/2024 PFMA report in Parliament yesterday. However, many auditees are not achieving the desired improvement, thereby hindering the efficient delivery of services and responsible use of public funds.
Time is running out for you to nominate your (most corrupt) Person of the Year for 2024, in the annual ‘competition’ organised by the OCCRP. Will we see a South African victor for the first time? Nominations close on 5 December.
A new policy paper from Transparency International addresses the land governance situation in Africa through the lens of corruption. It focuses on efforts by the African Union to address land corruption, most notably through the intergovernmental body’s 2023 Land Governance Strategy, and makes recommendations as to how the strategy can be more effectively used.
CSO Open Secrets recently released a report titled For Sale: South Africa’s Property Laundromat, which details how luxury real estate in South Africa has become a haven for laundering funds linked to land corruption across Africa. This lack of vigilance and accountability for the politically elite, says the organisation, means that processes that are meant to protect the reputation and integrity of South Africa’s governance systems are compromised.
South Africa assumed the presidency of the G20 on 19 November, and will occupy this influential position until December 2025. Transparency International has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to seize this chance to prioritise anti-corruption, take a meaningful stand against illicit financial flows, and “break the chain” of complacency shown towards corruption in previous G20 presidential terms.
In this article by Julia Evans, public prosecutions head Shamila Batohi calls for a fundamental shift in how the country tackles corruption, emphasising the need for ethical leadership and systemic reform to prevent corruption from resurfacing. Batohi was speaking earlier this week at the 2024 Public Protector Conference.
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.