Consultancy firms doing business with government often operate under a veil of secrecy, with little or accountability when things go wrong. It is partly because of this that the public sector continues to lose billions of rands with no value to show for it, says Open Secrets in its latest report titled The Consultants.
The ongoing Phala Phala matter is at minimum a case of misappropriation of resources by a person who abused his entrusted power, writes Corruption Watch researcher Melusi Ncala. The first citizen should fall on his sword.
Twitter used to be a vibrant space for raising awareness of social issues, writes Siphokuhle Mkancu for CW Voices. But since its acquisition by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the carefully maintained safeguards are being removed and now misinformation and intolerance are the order of the day on X – the app formerly known as Twitter.
The six men on trial for killing whistle-blower Babita Deokaran were found guilty after admitting in court to the deed, and received jail time ranging from six to 22 years. However, says Corruption Watch, this is not the end of the story – many questions still linger, and the mastermind behind Deokaran’s murder is still at large. Furthermore, the organisation is disappointed at the length of the sentences handed down, saying they do not match the severity of the crime.
For the Independent Directorate to function effectively, says Corruption Watch’s executive director Karam Singh, it must be properly structured, resourced, and capacitated to meet targets. Cabinet approved the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill in mid-August, making the directorate a permanent part of the state prosecuting body.
The Independent Electoral Commission urges the South African public to comment on its six draft regulations pertaining to the recently promulgated Electoral Amendment Act. The deadline for public comment is 27 August 2023.
When it comes to high-profile matters that involve corruption and have a far-reaching impact, Parliament is dropping the ball on effective oversight, says the Parliamentary Monitoring Group. The organisation recently released a follow-up to its 2022 review of Parliament’s actions in response to the multi-part final report of the Zondo commission into state capture.
Civil society organisation My Vote Counts has launched an interactive app which aggregates the available information on donations to political parties and makes it easier to track their private funding. Information can be filtered in various ways – by party, donation type (money or in-kind), the time period or quarter, donors, donor interest areas, and more.
The Department of Trade and Industry and Competition will this month submit the Companies First and Second Amendment Bills to Parliament. The two bills are aimed at addressing beneficial ownership transparency, improving transparency around the pay gap between employees and executives, and extending the period during which former directors can be declared delinquent, among others.