Gold Mafia scandal to be investigated – but can SA authorities pull off a success?

By Kwazi Dlamini President Cyril Ramaphosa, answering to questions in the National Assembly in mid-May 2023, has reiterated his commitment to clamping down on illicit financial activities and money laundering in South Africa. His statement comes weeks after the jaw-dropping Al Jazeera documentary Gold Mafia, which exposed an extensive network of gold smuggling and money Read more >

DPSA describes public sector professionalisation as “burning issue”

At the beginning of May, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) presented its 2023/2024 annual performance plan to the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Service and Administration, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. At the same meeting the Public Service Commission (PSC), National School of Government, and Centre for Public Service and Innovation presented their Read more >

SA universities corruption: problem more widespread than initially thought

By Kwazi Dlamini A recent report by an independent assessor into the affairs of the University of South Africa (Unisa) has recommended that the institution be placed under administration, and senior management and council of the institution be relieved of their duties. Investigator Professor Themba Mosia found deep signs of instability, mismanagement, financial irregularities, amongst Read more >

Gupta brothers confirmed to hold Vanuatu citizenship

The Vanuatu Citizenship Commission has confirmed that Atul and Rajesh Gupta, Indian brothers accused of corruption and state capture in South Africa, are citizens of the Pacific Ocean archipelago. In a statement cited in local media, the Chairman of the Citizenship Commission, Robin Kapapa, specified that Vanuatu does not intend to revoke the citizenship status Read more >

Covid-19 procurement irregularities at R8.9-billion, with more to come

The Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) third final report on its wide-ranging investigation into Covid-19 procurement irregularities under Proclamation R23 of 2020 is now publicly available – find part 1 and part 2 here. R23 authorised the SIU to investigate procurement conducted under the Covid-19 national state of disaster, which was declared in March 2020. It Read more >

FTI: writing was on the wall well before SA’s greylisting

In late February 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced the addition of South Africa to its so-called grey list, along with Nigeria, UAE, Tanzania, and Uganda. South Africa failed to satisfactorily address shortcomings in its anti-money laundering and -terrorist financing legal framework – which were highlighted in the FATF 2021 mutual evaluation review (MER). The Read more >

Scopa thoroughly unimpressed with De Ruyter

Image: YouTube / Parliament of South Africa Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter appeared virtually on 26 April 2023 before the parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) to elaborate on the allegations he made in a now widely shared February 2023 television interview television interview on e.tv, regarding his knowledge of corruption within the Read more >

World Press Freedom Day marks 30th anniversary

It’s been 30 years since the UN General Assembly proclaimed 3 May as an international day for press freedom. In those 30 years, journalists have faced an increasing barrage of threats, says UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message for World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2023. “Journalists and media workers are directly targeted on and Read more >