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OPINIONS

Court has done its bit, now it’s up to politics

by Steven Friedman First published in Business Day For not the first time, many of us seem to need reminding that the Constitutional Court’s job is to make sure politicians stick to the rules — not to do their jobs for them. Last week’s Constitutional Court judgment deserves the cheers that greeted it — it Read more >

LITIGATION

CW welcomes ConCourt Nkandla ruling

Corruption Watch applauds today’s Constitutional Court judgment which finds that the rulings of the Public Protector are binding and can only be set aside upon judicial review. The judgment reinforces the provision in the Constitution for all organs of state to protect and promote the Chapter 9 institutions. This includes taking positive steps to safeguard Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Pikoli: judiciary is under attack

Source: University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) hosted the ninth Annual Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture on Thursday, 27 August 2015. This year’s speaker, Advocate Vusi Pikoli, tackled the question: Is an independent judiciary a threat to democracy? Pikoli is currently the Western Cape police ombudsman, and was the national director of public prosecutions Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Political parties: the missing link in our constitution?

By Kate O’Regan Justice of the Constitutional Court (1994 – 2009) Introduction The Constitution of the United States of America is 7 000 words long. Nowhere does it mention political parties. And that was not because the question did not arise. James Madison, in The Federalist No 10, characterised “factions”, his reference to political parties, Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Migrants have rights in refugee process

Dear Corruption Watch, So many immigrants seeking refuge, opportunity and a future in South Africa are greeted with contempt and “xenophobia” that it’s a wonder we still have so many applications for asylum. But I’m hearing that in addition to such indignities, refugees must pay bribes to become documented aliens. Don’t our laws protecting people’s Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Learning from the example of past presidents

By Judith February One of the defining moments of Nelson Mandela’s presidency was when he took the stand in the case of the President of the RSA and Others versus South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) and Others in 1999. The year before, Mandela appointed a commission to investigate allegations of racism, nepotism and corruption against Sarfu, Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Madonsela clarifies confusion over her office’s powers

Source: Office of the Public Protector Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has attributed the ongoing confusion on the powers of her office to the tendency to delink the office from other independent institutions established under chapter nine of the Constitution and the fact that the Public Protector Act is not in line with the Constitution. Addressing Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Protecting our constitutional democracy

Source: Public protector The public protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, has called on citizens to help protect South Africa’s constitutional democracy, arguing that in such a democracy, as opposed to a parliamentary democracy, the final say lies with the courts and ultimately the Constitutional Court. She was delivering the ninth annual Peace, Safety and Human Rights Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Local government in South Africa – part 4, the law

In part four of our local government series we take a look at the key pieces of legislation that are relevant to local government. South Africa’s Constitution not only creates local government, but also sets out its objectives in various pieces of legislation. These regulate different areas of local government including the establishment and development Read more >