Posts

Can we blame you now, President Zuma?

By Gareth Newham, division head for governance, crime and justice, ISS Pretoria First published in the Sowetan While speaking to local government officials recently, South African President Jacob Zuma jokingly said: "Anything that goes wrong in the country it’s 'that Zuma'. I’m sure even if a person falls from a chair, [they’d say] 'this bloody Zuma Read more >

Hawks must be free to hunt high and low

Dear Corruption Watch, after the state of the nation address, many people voiced their concern that the police are part of the executive branch of the state. This reminded me of the investigations carried out by the Hawks (and before that by the Scorpions) into corruption and organised crime. A number of the people who Read more >

WC ombud to bridge gap between police and the public

By Valencia Talane There’s a new sheriff in town in the Western Cape, and it is not the criminals who should be worried, but slacking, incompetent police officers. Six years after he was removed from his position as the country’s chief of state prosecutors, Vusi Pikoli is settling into his new role as the province’s Read more >

Hawks saga – feathers continue to fly

Suspensions; notices of suspension; court battles; and speculation over political interference. These are some of the scenarios that have preoccupied the leadership of the priority crime fighting unit, the Hawks, over the past few weeks. Political and social analysts are even more fascinated – they're crying foul over what they perceive as a strategic purge Read more >

No accurate stats for corruption in South Africa

By Hamadziripi Tamukamoyo, ISS Pretoria In South Africa, the South African Police Service (SAPS) reports corruption under the broad category of ‘commercial crimes'. This frustrates efforts to monitor and identify trends in specific cases of corruption. According to the 2011/2012 crime statistics report, in the decade preceding that period the number of commercial crime cases Read more >

Corruption is also a crime, SAPS

Back in September 2012, when Corruption Watch had only been existence for a few months, the organisation expressed concerns over the lack of attention to fraud and corruption-related crimes in the annual crime statistics released by the ministry of police. There was simply no breakdown of information relating to these crimes, despite numerous warnings from Read more >

Khayelitsha cops unprofessional, inefficient

The final report of the Khayelitsha Commission (into Allegations of Police Inefficiency and a Breakdown in Relations between SAPS and the Community of Khayelitsha) was released yesterday. In it, the police force assigned to that area was blasted for its inefficiency and non-adherence to procedures. The 580-page report, dated 18 August, was handed to Western Read more >

Mdluli fraud charges finally stick

In April we reported on the continuing efforts of Richard Mdluli, former head of the police crime intelligence division, to fight off prosecution on a range of charges – murder and intimidation, money-laundering and fraud – relating to various incidents that happened during his controversial career. These incidents include the shooting in 1999 of Oupa Ramogibe, Read more >

Corrupt officials make life tough for refugees

By Valencia Talane In May 2012 home affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni stated in Parliament that the department had noted progress in the implementation of the Refugees Amendment Act of 2011. The focus of his presentation before the portfolio committee on home affairs was the state’s improved ability to track the records of applicants of asylum Read more >