Auditor-General’s metro headache

By Valencia Talane Auditor-General Terrence Nombembe’s local government headache seems far from over. In his latest report on the financial performance of municipalities during 2011/12, Nombembe on Tuesday revealed an overall bleak picture of local government, with fewer improvements than were recorded in the previous financial year. Disappointingly, none of the country’s eight metro municipalities Read more >

Bill against corruption deserves public’s support

By David Lewis Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has injected a new sense of urgency and determination into government efforts to tackle corruption. The gazetting of the Public Administration Management Bill is evidence that this is more than talk. This legislation is potentially an obstacle to corruption at least as great as the Read more >

Tools to fight corruption at your school

By Valencia Talane and Kavisha Pillay Need to know how to fight the abuse of power and resources in your child’s school? Check out our easy-to-use toolkit that will guide you on the right questions to ask, so you can address the right issues and hold the right people accountable.   YOUR SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY Read more >

Ethics committee bares all the teeth it has

Our hero this week has censured the former minister of communications Dina Pule for misleading parliament and denying her romantic ties with a man who allegedly made millions from deals with the communications department while she was at its helm. Pule was found guilty yesterday by the parliamentary ethics committee for failing to disclose the Read more >

School corruption tip-offs rising steadily

Since kicking off our schools campaign in January this year, the number of complaints about corruption in schools has increased dramatically. In March we recorded a total of 68 tip-offs, but by the end of July, this figure had passed the 200-mark. See our infographic explaining the trends here. The complaints indicate that principals and Read more >

Thin blue line broken

By Kavisha Pillay The Global Corruption Barometer, released by Transparency International (TI) in July, revealed that South Africans viewed the police service as the most corrupt institution in the country. A staggering 83 percent of respondents had this perception of the police, and of the 74 percent of respondents who came into contact with a police official Read more >

Weighing in on public service clean-up bill

Corruption Watch recently made submissions on the Public Administration Management Bill, calling for an outright ban on civil servants doing business with the state, a cooling off period when an individual moves from the public to private sector, and prohibiting re-employment within the state if an individual is fired for corruption-related misconduct. The draft law, Read more >

Audit finds dirty deals at Pikitup

A corruption probe into dodgy tenders worth R360-million at Pikitup ground to a halt after the state-owned waste utility mysteriously pulled the plug on the investigation. The Sunday Times has established that Pikitup paid audit firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) R6-million to investigate tender rigging – then halted the probe in October 2012 before Read more >

Poor audit for Gauteng housing department

By Valencia Talane   Gauteng’s department of local government and housing is no stranger to bad news, the latest being poor audit results from the 2012/13 financial year. The auditor-general’s office revealed on Thursday that housing fared the worst out of all the Gauteng departments audited. Premier Nomvula Mokonyane told the media that the department’s Read more >