DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Protection for media sources

Dear Corruption Watch, I live in an area where corruption is rife. The police are indifferent at best, and often complicit. There seems to be nowhere else to go but the newspapers, so I wonder: what would happen to me – would I be named, or need to testify – if a newspaper report led Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Cleanup of govt procurement slow but steady

Dear Corruption Watch, I run a small business involved in the construction industry. It’s very difficult to find out about government tenders, but more difficult still to follow the process through to the end. My understanding was the government was meant to review its procurement practices to make it easier for businesses like mine to Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Reveal beneficial owners of firms to stem graft

By David Lewis There is a head of steam building behind what must sound like an arcane, technical proposal – that companies be obliged to reveal their beneficial owners and that this information be placed on a public register. After intense lobbying by Transparency International and other nongovernmental organisations, this proposal was adopted by the Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

SONA wishlist – better implementation and enforcement of anti-corruption measures

Dear Corruption Watch, When the president delivers the State of the Nation address in Parliament, what would you like to see on his legislative agenda in respect of anti-corruption programmes? Yours, Policy Wonk Dear Mr Wonk South Africa has excellent anti-corruption legislation. The Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act (Precca) criminalises the full range of Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

New graft-busting unit unlikely to halt state scams

Dear Corruption Watch I see the president signed the Public Administration Management Act in December, establishing yet another anti-corruption agency. What contribution is this intended to make to combating corruption? Does this not duplicate existing anti-corruption agencies? Unconvinced Dear Unconvinced, The Public Administration Management Act created a gamut of new institutions that are intended to Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

New forum to advise, protect whistleblowers

The fight against corruption stepped up a notch yesterday in Johannesburg, with the official launch of the Anti-Intimidation and Ethical Practices Forum (AEPF). This body has been established to help professionals in certain fields who are being intimidated for exposing corruption in the workplace.  AEPF’s eight founding organisations are the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Slippery slope in the making?

Dear Corruption Watch Just before last year's election, the National Assembly was debating a bill to allow line ministers, rather than Parliament, to set salaries, allowances and conditions of service for chapter nine institutions. Surely these institutions, independent and established by the constitution, should never be accountable to political appointees? It is through the instruments Read more >

OPINIONS

Corruption starts with the individual

Opinion piece by Valencia Talane A recent chat with a friend confirmed for me the role individual attitudes play in the escalation of societal ills such as corruption. I had called the friend to check on him and found out he had just been to court with a cousin of his.   Intrigued at the Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Driving out the dodgy officials

Dear Corruption Watch, I run a small driving school but am being driven out of business by corrupt competitors. These driving instructors team up with the examiners at the testing centre and share the proceeds of bribes. They even have special signals and vocabulary, such as turning the rear-view mirror around, used to indicate which Read more >