Corruption Watch and Webber Wentzel will launch their jointly developed Best Practice Guide on Community Consultation in the South African Extractives Industry at an in-person event and virtually on Thursday, 3 October 2024. The guide is part of Corruption Watch’s activities in the Rallying Efforts to Accelerate Progress in Africa Project.
Corruption Watch has written an open letter to the AU’s Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations, urging it to step up action against corruption in the extractives industry. The organisation has made several recommendations which, it says, will help the working group to more efficiently fulfil its mandate.
Meaningful consultation between communities and mining companies, says Dr Godknows Mudimu in this research paper prepared for Corruption Watch, translates into meaningful outcomes for those who hold informal title to land. The law requires such consultation between the parties involved, which strengthens the bargaining position of affected communities and sets out a way forward that accommodates all needs.
The latest Procurement Watch report was released on Friday 20 September 2024. As with the previous three reports in the ongoing series, the report focuses on contract deviations and expansions, and debarred suppliers – three mechanisms which have valid uses in the procurement framework, but which can equally be red flags for corruption.
Corruption Watch and procurement law expert Prof Geo Quinot today released the 2024 Procurement Watch Report on Procurement Risk Trends, the fourth in a series of reports focusing on contract deviations and expansions, and debarred suppliers. The latest edition covers National Treasury procurement data from 2016 to 2024.
The African Editors Forum has called on African governments to re-invest money recovered from corrupt entities into investigative journalism, saying that a weakened media starves democracy and opens the doors to false information, disinformation, and manipulation. Corruption thrives where there is opacity, the organisation says, and when journalists are silenced.
Last week the Department of Public Service and Administration and the National School of Government briefed the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Service and Administration on progress towards implementing the professionalisation plan for the public sector. Committee members had numerous comments and questions for the representatives of the two entities.
Unless informed by local conditions and complexities, anti-corruption reforms could trigger political instability, writes the Institute for Security Studies’ Colette Ashton. One of the possible reforms is the establishment of a single, fully staffed and capacitated anti-corruption agency – however, recent research published by the organisation found no evidence globally that a single agency model outperforms a multi-agency approach.
September 15 is the International Day of Democracy, providing an opportunity to celebrate democracy and to review the state of democracy in the world. It is a pressing reminder that the need to promote and protect democracy is as urgent now as it ever was. This year’s theme is Navigating AI for Governance and Citizen Engagement, focusing on the importance of AI as a tool for good governance.
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.