Corruption challenges are different for small companies

By Janine Erasmus Big corporates have systems in place, personnel and financial resources to deal with legal and ethical challenges. They can absorb both planned and unexpected costs, including those related to corruption, with relative ease. But what if you are running a small business – how easy is it to stick to your standards, Read more >

Some relief for Eastern Cape schools

By Valencia Talane In November 2013 Corruption Watch reported on a case of bad service delivery at an Eastern Cape school that had no chairs or desks for its learners. In fact, according to the principal, the school had received no new furniture in the 23 years that she had been there. For many years, Read more >

Challenging the system on behalf of refugees

By Valencia Talane Seeking solutions to the problem of corruption at refugee reception centres seems to be an increasingly challenging task for many organisations working in the field of refugee and asylum seeker rights. Hundreds of cases of vulnerable asylum seekers are documented regularly by such organisations with the hope that a change in policy Read more >

Corrupt officials make life tough for refugees

By Valencia Talane In May 2012 home affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni stated in Parliament that the department had noted progress in the implementation of the Refugees Amendment Act of 2011. The focus of his presentation before the portfolio committee on home affairs was the state’s improved ability to track the records of applicants of asylum Read more >

Well run businesses resist local and global corruption

By Valencia Talane South Africa’s corruption dilemma is a characteristic of the developing world, and it’s not unique to this country. There’s an urgent need, however, for the implementation of anti-corruption strategies which will enforce the abundant anti-corruption legislation already in place. This will spare South Africa the erosion of good business and political practices Read more >

Working with young minds for change

By Janine Erasmus Final year law student Zola Valashiya is a man with a vision – and that is to get South Africans not just talking to, but communicating with each other. He feels that this is one of the tools that will help us to tackle a particularly prevalent scourge in our society – Read more >

To serve the public with dignity and integrity

By Valencia Talane The public service component of any society is really the backbone on which it relies for its survival. South Africans are served by over three-million public officials across the three levels of government and in its various entities and agencies. The high standard of service required from each of these individuals is Read more >

Refugees: at the mercy of corruption

By Valencia Talane It’s hard to stand up to a corrupt system that works against you. It is especially challenging when you are in a foreign country and in desperate need of its services. Kazadi Mutombo* (25), from the Democratic Republic of Congo, knows all too well what it feels like to have to fight Read more >

Nowhere to hide – unmasking the corrupt

In South Africa, as in numerous other countries, corruption is a regrettable part of our everyday life, and it comes in various forms. But while anti-corruption laws exist, their implementation is not robust, and perpetrators are seldom punished. Those who engage in corruption are easily able to hide their ill-gotten gains by channelling the proceeds Read more >