CORRUPTION NEWS

Cele inquiry made public for greater transparency

The decision to hold a public inquiry into allegations of misconduct against suspended police chief Bheki Cele was made in the interests of transparency, a senior government official has said. The inquiry began on 5 March 2012. A board was appointed in October 2011 in terms of sections 8(3)(a) and 9(1) of the Police Act, Read more >

CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Corruption snapshot: 1 – 8 March

Open-chequebook bribe unreported   An alleged attempt to influence one of South Africa’s biggest state tenders with an “open chequebook” bribe was effectively swept under the carpet by the high-level committee deliberating on it in 2008, it was recently reported in Mail & Guardian.   The bid-adjudication committee, chaired by top advocate Norman Arendse, failed Read more >

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 >

HEROES & ZEROES

When public service and business collide

Gauteng speaker Lindiwe Maseko’s recent comments to media that she declared her financial interests, and that she does not believe there is a conflict in her daughter catering for a legislature function, has raised the ire of political parties and civil society. Most politicians declare their financial interests comfortable in the knowledge that the information Read more >

CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Corruption snapshot: 23 February – 1 March

Corruption hits SA’s governance ranking Increasing perceptions of corruption have knocked South Africa from the top slot in the UBS Governance Rank, which measures corporate governance perceptions in 44 global emerging markets, it was recently reported in Business Report.   The UBS research cautions that a continuation of this trend could threaten South Africa’s safe Read more >