What procurement data can tell us about procrastination

By Kirsten Pearson One unique feature of public finance is the concept of lapsing funds. Any unspent government funds at the end of a financial year must be returned to the treasury. This makes perfect sense. If government is borrowing money to fund its programmes, why leave funds idle while paying interest on loans? But Read more >

SA hosts vital talk on Africa’s position on sustainable mining

Image: Wikimedia/Raimond Spekking. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Does the mining sector in Africa have all the requisite best standards in place to ensure both adequate investment and sustainable impact on the environment and the livelihood of communities affected by mining? The answer to this question is a mixed bag of legislative and Read more >

AU’s annual anti-corruption day focuses on whistle-blowers

African Anti-Corruption Day (AACD), held every year on 11 July, aims to recognise the progress that has been made in fighting corruption across the continent, and reiterate the need to move with the times in developing approaches to end corruption. It also provides an opportunity to reflect on the catastrophic consequences of corruption on the Read more >

SA achieves respectable score on Freedom in the World index for 2024

South Africa’s highly-anticipated national and provincial elections went off smoothly for the most part on 29 May 2024, though the voter turnout of just over 58% was disappointing but not unexpected. Nevertheless, the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, as well as the South African Human Rights Commission, declared the event free and fair after several days Read more >

CW strongly refutes Ramaphosa’s claim that corruption has decreased in his term

PRESS RELEASE President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a wide-ranging interview yesterday with EWN’s political journalist Tshidi Madia and 702’s Clement Manyathela, made the claim that “commentators like Corruption Watch (CW) have said that during this term, they have seen incidents of corruption going down.”  The president made this statement in the context of listing his administration’s Read more >

Zuma judgment confirms key CSO role in upholding constitutional democracy

PRESS RELEASE The judgment handed down by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) yesterday, regarding the IEC’s appeal against the Electoral Court order on the eligibility of former president Jacob Zuma’s candidacy in the upcoming elections, represents a win for civil society, says Corruption Watch (CW). The ConCourt ruled that Zuma was not eligible or qualified to Read more >

Elections and the dirty game of disinformation

By Janine Erasmus At face value, the activity of electioneering appears to be well-intentioned – a simple act of campaigning for your political party of choice – but dirty tricks and manipulation abound when election campaigning goes into full swing and politicians’ consciences are nowhere to be found. Politicians often play on voters’ desperation and Read more >

New CW report shares insights on perceptions, impact of corruption

Corruption Watch (CW) releases today a new report assessing the profound impact of corruption on people’s lives, titled The Impact of Corruption: Insights from a Perceptions and Experiences Survey. This research study aims to highlight the perceptions, characteristics, and experiences of corruption, and the prevalence of corrupt practices within both the public and private sectors Read more >