HEROES & ZEROES

Colluding employees face the music

Earlier in 2013, news broke of widespread collusion and bid rigging in the construction industry. The scandal ended with 15 construction firms fined by the Competition Commission for colluding and rigging bids for, among other large projects, 2010 Fifa World Cup infrastructure. The fines totalled R1.46-billion. One of the firms implicated, Aveng, has punished employees Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

The Auditor and the Hitmen

Source: Sacsis Recently Corruption Watch celebrated the late Lawrence Moepi as a hero in the fight against corruption. The forensic auditor was shot and killed in broad daylight as he arrived at his office in Houghton, and his murder has sparked condemnation and anxiety in auditing circles, as practitioners speak out about their fears of Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Clinic fraudsters taste their own medicine

The Sowetan newspaper yesterday reported a sting operation which resulted in the arrest of health officials involved in a syndicate fraudulently selling ARVs to patients who were supposed to get them for free. Although there were a few heroes involved, we single out the anonymous whistleblower who started it all – he is the Corruption Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Slain hero walked the straight path

Did he lose his life because of the sensitive fraud investigation he was involved in? Forensic auditor Lawrence Moepi, who was gunned down in the parking lot of his Houghton firm SizweNtsalubaGobodo, although nothing was stolen from him or his car, was an “inspirational leader” and an upright, respectable man, according to his colleagues. At Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

No more excessive public spending, says Gordhan

Public servants who have freely flashed their official credit cards in the past, have been put on a spending diet – finance minister Pravin Gordhan has announced in his 2013 medium term budget policy speech that this and other perks are to be curtailed. Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Gordhan devoted a significant portion of his Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Technology helping to drive down corruption

Learner drivers who have struggled to overcome the final hurdle – getting their driver’s licence – sometimes resort in desperation and frustration to illegal ways of getting the coveted document. This practice is not discouraged by Department of Transport officials and driving instructors – on the contrary, in recent years it seems to have become Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Understanding tender corruption – part two

By Kavisha Pillay The World Bank notes that public procurement is an area where the public and private sector co-operate financially and involves relatively few but high level transactions. Consequently, procurement officers have more to gain by sidestepping procedures and engaging in corrupt activities. In Corruption Watch’s recent submission to the Constitutional Court in the Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Health department does the right thing

Our hero this week has set a good example of how a government department and civil society can work together to fight corruption. The Mpumalanga provincial health department reacted promptly to a Corruption Watch investigation into alleged irregularities in the awarding of a multi-million-rand tender. The contract, to provide circumcision to 260 000 men and Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Celebrating brave educators on World Teachers Day

By Kavisha Pillay Teachers, and especially those who blow the whistle on corruption in their schools, are our heroes for today, as we prepare to mark World Teachers Day, 5 October. Proclaimed by Unesco in 1994, it is a day to appreciate the vital contribution teachers make to the development of young minds across the Read more >