Posts

GOVERNANCE

Scorpions’ downfall due to political interference

By Kwazi Dlamini The African Union declared 2018 the year of combating corruption on the continent. In South Africa, as more and more corruption scandals are uncovered, the country’s disadvantaged are no better off, while the rich are getting richer. Many of the latter gain their wealth by looting state coffers. South Africa has struggled Read more >

CAMPAIGNS

New top cop an organised crime specialist

Veteran policeman Dr Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya has been around the block, several times – and last week he was named as the new head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DCPI), or Hawks. Photo © Godfrey Lebeya. Lebeya is not only a distinguished former police officer with over 30 years of experience, but he Read more >

CAMPAIGNS

Urgent call to avoid another top cop disaster

 SA safety at risk if Zuma goes it alone again when appointing police commissioner South Africans face the risk of another disastrous police appointment by President Jacob Zuma, who has a record of undermining people’s safety by picking unqualified and dishonest people to head the South African Police Service (SAPS). Police minister Fikile Mbalula said Read more >

CAMPAIGNS

The real police numbers behind SA’s high crime rate

As the South African Police Service (SAPS) prepares to release South Africa’s annual crime statistics, Corruption Watch and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) have released numbers that highlight the challenges of police leadership in a country with endemic crime and violence. This is part of a campaign to change the way South Africa’s top Read more >

FROM OUR CAMPAIGNS

CW, ISS campaign for accountable and honest police leaders

In July 2017, Corruption Watch and the Institute for Security Studies launched a joint public awareness campaign that focuses on the appointments of the SAPS national commissioner and the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks). The organisations believe that both appointments require a transparent selection process against clear merit-based criteria as Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

SAPS needs special investigating units

South Africa’s crime statistics are nothing to rejoice about. While there has been a decline overall in the last decade, some crimes such as various categories of robbery, public violence, and drug-related crime, are increasing. Police capacity to tackle certain types of priority and organised crime has declined severely since the closure of hundreds of Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

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 >

CORRUPTION NEWS

R400-million firearm control system in shambles

By Daneel Knoetze First published on GroundUp Pressure is mounting on the police to sort out problems with a R400-million firearms control system, 10 years after the contract to develop it was signed with Pretoria-based company Waymark Infotech. In its successful bid for the contract in 2003, Waymark proposed an IT system which would enable Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

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 >