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CORRUPTION NEWS

An action plan for more open government

In part two of our series on the Open Government Partnership (OGP), we take a closer look at South Africa’s action plans – that is, the efforts its government is making to improve openness and transparency. Part one gave an overview of OGP and South Africa’s role in it. The OGP was launched in 2011 Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

OGP for transparency and accountability

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) held its second global summit in Mexico from 27 to 29 October 2015 – the first took place in London in 2013. South Africa, which is a founding member of the OGP, attended the gathering. Our new two-part series looks at South Africa’s participation in the OGP process – part Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

The power of investigative journalism

Corruption is a crime that goes unnoticed, and often it’s only through the efforts of investigative journalists that such crimes are exposed. Because it’s important for journalists to hone their skills and learn from their peers, Wits University last week hosted the latest edition of Power Reporting 2015 – the African Investigative Journalism Conference. Wits’ Read more >

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

G20 drops ball on beneficial ownership

The G20 has not delivered on promises to tackle issues of beneficial ownership – this is revealed in a report released on Thursday by Transparency International. In November 2014 the G20 countries – of which South Africa is one – met in Brisbane. Among the topics up for discussion was the question of beneficial ownership. Read more >

OPINIONS

Zapiro explains student protest ‘third force’

Whether you love him or you hate him, award-winning political cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro – aka Zapiro – is someone whose work is relevant to all South Africans. His latest cartoon is no exception – in the wake of nationwide student protests, speculation has run high over the outside influences which were said to be responsible Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Anti-corruption unit arrest rate down 83%

The Ministry of Police has confirmed that the number of arrests and convictions relating to serious crime has dropped sharply since the launch of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations – better known as the Hawks – in 2009. This is according to information obtained in a reply to a parliamentary question put forward in Read more >

CAMPAIGNS

Anyone can help to unmask the corrupt

Global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International’s (TI) two-year campaign titled Unmask the Corrupt was launched in September 2014. The campaign seeks to root out a specific form of corruption in government, business and civil society – that of transferring stolen assets across international borders by using shell companies, companies with opaque ownership structures, and money laundering. Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

SA firms’ biggest corruption risk? Government deals.

Of the 824 companies interviewed by Control Risks for its annual survey, 30% named corrupt competitors as a major cost to international business. And 41% of respondents said the perceived risk of corruption was the main reason they had shut a deal down. The global business risk consultancy released its 2015/2016 International Business Attitudes to Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Class of 2015 makes the hero grade

This week we salute the class of 2015 for uniting and standing firm in their fight against fees increases at universities. In October students from different universities around South Africa embarked on a protest against fees hikes, which led President Jacob Zuma announcing a 0% fees increase for 2016 on Friday 23 October. Using the Read more >