NEWS

Taxpayers paying alleged fraudsters’ legal bills

Our zero this week is the Matjhabeng local municipality in the Free State – not content with spectacularly mismanaging its own budget, the municipality is footing the legal bill for two former MECs who are in court for alleged abuse of public funds. Matjhabeng, according to News24, has never received a clean audit since its Read more >

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

Immigrants face a continuing cycle of abuse

By David Lewis First published in City Press The glare from the xenophobic flames burning these past weeks should not blind us to the reality that what we are witnessing is simply a moment in the slow violence to which immigrant communities are subject every day and in every interaction with South African officialdom. After Read more >

CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Global corruption snapshots: 30 Apr 2015

Guatemala president won't resign after massive anti-corruption demonstration After an estimated 15,000 protesters flooded the central plaza of Guatemala City on Saturday in a grassroots anti-corruption demonstration, President Otto Perez Molina promised justice but said he would not be stepping down as protesters demanded.The weekend protest was organized entirely on social media and seems to Read more >

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

Civil society disappointed by OECD choice of Alderman

Corruption Watch is one of six signatories of an open letter to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), protesting the organisation’s recent appointment of Richard Alderman to its high-level advisory group to review the OECD’s efforts on bribery. The group is concerned about Alderman’s apparent preference for using settlements to wrap up cases Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Corruption in defence – a matter of life or death

Transparency International (TI) UK has released its 2015 defence companies anti-corruption index – the second edition. Building on the first index released in 2012, TI UK says that just 33% of defence companies improved the transparency and quality of their anti-corruption programmes – and two-thirds don’t make the grade. “Companies that have improved are taking Read more >

INVESTIGATION

CW gathers data on corruption threats to refugees

Reports received by Corruption Watch indicate that foreign nationals, most notably refugees, face extortion, threats and solicitation from a number of government agencies on a regular basis. To date Corruption Watch has received over 100 reports to this effect. All reports involve state officials demanding bribes, specifically from officials within the South African Police Service Read more >

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

Open letter to the African Commission re: xenophobia

Open Letter to the African Commission Regarding the Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa 23 April, 2015 Dear Chair and Commissioners of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, We, the undersigned civil society organisations, write to you as concerned organisations and citizens of the African continent to raise concern about the xenophobic attacks currently Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Corruption in sport – it’s not cricket

South Africa is known for its legions of die-hard sports fans, who over the years have supported their various teams through many ups and downs, triumphs and scandals. But sport is not merely a source of entertainment and a symbol of fair play – it’s also a lucrative global industry and like any industry, it Read more >

OUTREACH AND EVENTS

People’s March Against Xenophobia – route

Here are more details for the People's March Against Xenophobia, which takes place tomorrow in Johannesburg. Download the essential information as a PDF. Date:  23 April 2015 Time:  13h00 Venue:  Start at Pieter Roos Park Ends at Mary Fitzgerald Square Length: 5 km walk Route map:                     Read more >