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For whistle-blowers, there are few rewards but many risks

This piece is extracted from Corruption Watch’s 2021 annual report. For more information, click here. By Moepeng TalaneFirst published on News24 “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything” – a quote attributable to the late Albert Einstein, renowned all over the world Read more >

Jobs drive leaving poor in the lurch

By Valencia Talane Corruption Watch recently spent time chatting with Simphiwe Hlafa, a coordinator in the Gauteng Community Work Programme (CWP) run by lead agent Mvula Trust, an NGO. He said at the time of our interview, beneficiaries had still not been paid for the previous month’s work, with many taking their anger out on Read more >

Top govt jobs drive under threat over R30m Mvula tender scandal

A company subcontracted irregularly by Mvula Trust to implement a flagship anti-poverty and job-creation programme for government is threatening to pull out, a move that could see thousands of people dependent on the project losing their source of livelihood. The threats are contained in an extremely disturbing email in Corruption Watch’s possession. The email is Read more >

How things work at Corruption Watch

By Nicky Rehbock Knowing how our organisation works, using real incidents reported to us by the public, helps to show how we treat all cases from the public equally – whether they involve the abuse of public resources or power in a government department, private company, NGO or union. Broadly speaking, there are two very Read more >

Probe news sparks worry as poor go unpaid

An anonymous source has leaked Corruption Watch the details of a probe that Minister of Cooperative Governance Richard Baloyi plans to launch into the awarding of tenders for the Community Work Programme (CWP), including that won by Mvula Trust. What Corruption Watch finds strange, though, is that the probe is being overseen by an in-house Read more >

Poor hurt most by dodgy procurement

South Africa loses about R25-billion each year to corruption in government procurement – think textbooks not arriving on time at schools, shoddily built RDP houses and tender-rigging. But the real victims are the poor and marginalised, who depend on these procured goods and services. In 2011, Willie Homeyr, then head of the Special Investigating Unit Read more >

Mvula Trust scandal: Minister Baloyi changes tack

First there was silence, then denial… Finally, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Richard Baloyi has taken ownership of the Mvula Trust scandal and what it says about government’s multi-billion rand Community Work Programme (CWP). There’s now a full-scale investigation, big promises and, for good measure, a bit of Shakespeare. It took almost two Read more >

Mvula Trust, the minister and the question of trust

Five weeks ago, Alex Eliseev of Daily Maverick and Eyewitness News asked why government was silent on the scandal involving the Mvula Trust and its R30-million tender, exposed by Corruption Watch. This is his latest report on the saga, following a  frustrating interview with Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Richard Baloyi: By door-stopping Read more >