CORRUPTION NEWS

State corruption: junior staff, justice dept worst

Corruption is most likely to occur among lower level government employees and those employed within the justice cluster, which includes the police, courts and correctional services, according to a recently released report. The report, released to parliament by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in the first week of March 2012, probed financial misconduct in 39 Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Will Secrecy Bill muzzle poor and marginalised?

The Protection of Information Bill, currently before parliament, has been the focus of intense debate and the source of deepening tension between government and civil society since it was first introduced in 2008. Civil society and legal experts recognise that government has made strides in improving the piece of legislation, also known as the Secrecy Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

UN Convention against corruption, 2003

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in October 2003, the Convention against Corruption tackles the scourge of corruption globally and affirms core values such as public accountability and transparency, honesty and respect for the rule of law. The Convention calls for the criminalisation of corruption in both the public and private sectors; sets out Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Transparency International: Corruption perceptions index, 2011

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries according to perceived levels of public-sector corruption. It gives scores to 183 countries with 10 being “clean” and 0 being “highly corrupt”. The 2011 Index ranks New Zealand (9.5), Denmark (9.4) and Finland (9.4) top the list, with North Korea and Somalia at the bottom, both with a Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Institute for Security Studies: Protector or predator, 2011

Corruption remains a serious challenge to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the South African Police Service (SAPS). This monograph explores corruption in the SAPS prior to and after democratisation in 1994, contextualising the discussion with reference to international and domestic literature on the subject. It explores the causes of police corruption in the South African Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Spotlight on SA’s key metro police chiefs

By Chantelle Benjamin  Calls have been made by the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) for the resignation or redeployment of two of the country’s key metro police heads – Johannesburg’s Chris Ngcobo, and eThekwini’s Eugene Nzama – over use of public money and doubt about their leadership. They are not the first metro police chiefs Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Don’t be intimidated by police – know your rights

By Zaheer Cassim It’s Friday evening, close to midnight. Aislinn Laing is in the car with her husband and her mother-in-law. Laing and her family are from England and are driving in a rental vehicle through Parkview, one of Johannesburg’s more affluent areas. It’s late and all they want to do is get home. Laing Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Graft report release: eThekwini holds its breath

The eThekwini council is to respond today, Wednesday 29 February 2012, at a council meeting to allegations raised in the Manase and Associates report, which revealed R2.2-billion in irregular expenditure over a three-year period and implicates some high-ranking municipal officials and politicians.    The council was given 21 days to respond to the closely guarded 700-page Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

More clout needed for local govt watchdogs

Municipal public accounts committees (MPACs) are being presented as one of government’s most important tools in the fight against poor financial management and accountability at local level, but so far only 101 of 272 municipalities have set these up despite a November 2011 deadline.   Cash-strapped Limpopo had set up two MPACs by October 2011, Read more >