CORRUPTION NEWS

Tjo-tjo and favours evident in school grounds

By Kavisha Pillay According to a Corruption Watch survey into corruption in schools, favours in exchange for better marks was singled out as a prevalent form of misuse of power. Results of the survey, which polled 3 284 respondents between the ages of 13 and 34, were released on 30 September, and showed a general Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Schools corruption in the global spotlight

Transparency International’s (TI) latest report reveals that schools corruption is not just a South African problem, but a global one. The Global Corruption Report: Education shows that corruption is rampant in the education sector around the world, in both basic and higher education. Corruption Watch has made schools corruption its focus for 2013, for good Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Water licencing process must be transparent

Dear Corruption Watch, And now water licencing and fracking. We've seen the abuse of power, delays and market uncertainty caused by mining licencing, will this be more of the same? The multiple water licencing requirements will open up the opportunity for bribery or extortion in the fracking application process. And the auditor general discovered considerable Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Survey: Corruption in schools on the rise

Since Corruption Watch launched its schools campaign,  reports of irregularities in school management have been coming in thick and fast. Since January 2012, the civil society organisation has received over 300 reports of corruption in schools via its website, SMS hotline, and telephone. Corruption Watch has made schools monitoring a focus in 2013. Now, new Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Phiyega not convincing on crime stats

Despite the police service punting the annual crime statistics, released on 19 September, as an improvement in many areas, they still paint a bleak picture. In fact, said the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), these are the worst figures in a decade. In addition, they don’t tell us much about the true state of corruption Read more >

LITIGATION

Mdluli not above the law, says court

Former police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli will still have his day in court, if Judge John Murphy’s new judgements are carried out. In the Pretoria High Court on Monday, Murphy’s written judgement ruled that various criminal charges against Mdluli, which had been withdrawn, must be reinstated by the national director of public prosecutions and Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Cross-border punishment for corrupt companies

That the US Justice Department and Securities Exchange Commission are looking into Gold Fields’s controversial BEE transaction raises questions for me as a local shareholder. First, under what jurisdiction would they be prosecuted if they have contravened the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and/or South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act? Second, in Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Public works department squanders money

The Department of Public Works is our zero today for admitting to improper spending of almost R4-billion in public funds. Speaking at a joint meeting of Scopa and the public works portfolio committee on Wednesday, deputy minister Jeremy Cronin shared information on improper spending by his department. Cronin confirmed that between 2009 and March 2013, Read more >