Secrecy jurisdictions are a core part of the problem of grand corruption, write the Tax Justice Network’s Miroslav Palanský and Moran Harari. High secrecy scores provide an ideal environment for corruption to flourish, but by showing where these opportunities exist, the organisation’s Financial Secrecy Index can help policymakers and practitioners to cut off the escape routes used by criminals and their enablers.
The G20 Development Working Group has released a document outlining its call to action for countries to adopt a new set of voluntary and non-binding high-level principles for combating illicit financial flows. The group urges countries to intensify their efforts to clamp down on illicit flows through a multi-faceted approach which includes strengthening financial regulatory systems and revenue management, leveraging technology, and adopting and effectively implementing anti-corruption measures – among others.
As citizens, our responsibility is to expose both public and private sector corruption, writes Good Governance Africa CEO Lonwabo Kulati – first by not participating in them and second, by reporting them. Until we have a leadership that will decisively remove the corrupt from our society (and is not itself complicit), he adds, “our country is doomed”.
UPDATE: The Madlanga commission – or more properly, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the Criminal Justice System – has announced that the scheduled start of hearings on 1 September will be delayed, because of procurement issues.
The commission is chaired by retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
Afrobarometer’s flagship report for 2025 is now available. Focusing on the topic of citizen engagement in democratic processes, it is titled Citizen engagement, citizen power: Africans claim the promise of democracy, and highlights the various ways in which citizens in 39 African countries make their voices heard. “Despite the daily challenges of surviving and thriving faced by many Africans, the vast majority are finding multiple opportunities to engage.”
Slain whistle-blower Babita Deokaran knew the truth – and she paid the ultimate price for her knowledge. In his new book The Shadow State, investigative journalist Jeff Wicks delves deep into the circumstances surrounding Deokaran’s murder, showing the intricate web of shell companies, inflated prices, and collusive bidding linked to the Gauteng Department of Health. To date no officials have been held accountable, and her family is denied justice.
The UN General Assembly, during its 59th session held in July 2025, confirmed what Corruption Watch and many other organisations and individuals around the world already know – that corruption and the violation of fundamental human rights are inextricably linked. The UN Human Rights Council adopted, by consensus, a resolution titled The negative impact of corruption on the enjoyment of human rights and called on governments to take steps to tackle the situation.
Defendants in Namibia’s largest ever corruption case have again escaped answering for their crimes, writes Richard Messick for the Global Anticorruption Blog. The long-awaited trial has been delayed numerous times because at every opportunity, the accused have turned rules meant to ensure criminal trials are fairly conducted into weapons for postponing theirs.
A culture of bribery is destroying South Africa’s soul, turning integrity into a commodity and honour into myth, writes Kekeletso Nakeli in this heartfelt opinion piece. In essence, she says, we are teaching our children that credibility can be bought. “We have fostered a corrupt society; it is evident that the brown envelope culture comes from the corridors of power.”