Water licencing process must be transparent

Dear Corruption Watch, And now water licencing and fracking. We've seen the abuse of power, delays and market uncertainty caused by mining licencing, will this be more of the same? The multiple water licencing requirements will open up the opportunity for bribery or extortion in the fracking application process. And the auditor general discovered considerable Read more >

Survey: Corruption in schools on the rise

Since Corruption Watch launched its schools campaign,  reports of irregularities in school management have been coming in thick and fast. Since January 2012, the civil society organisation has received over 300 reports of corruption in schools via its website, SMS hotline, and telephone. Corruption Watch has made schools monitoring a focus in 2013. Now, new Read more >

Phiyega not convincing on crime stats

Despite the police service punting the annual crime statistics, released on 19 September, as an improvement in many areas, they still paint a bleak picture. In fact, said the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), these are the worst figures in a decade. In addition, they don’t tell us much about the true state of corruption Read more >

Mdluli not above the law, says court

Former police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli will still have his day in court, if Judge John Murphy’s new judgements are carried out. In the Pretoria High Court on Monday, Murphy’s written judgement ruled that various criminal charges against Mdluli, which had been withdrawn, must be reinstated by the national director of public prosecutions and Read more >

Cross-border punishment for corrupt companies

That the US Justice Department and Securities Exchange Commission are looking into Gold Fields’s controversial BEE transaction raises questions for me as a local shareholder. First, under what jurisdiction would they be prosecuted if they have contravened the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and/or South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act? Second, in Read more >

Public works department squanders money

The Department of Public Works is our zero today for admitting to improper spending of almost R4-billion in public funds. Speaking at a joint meeting of Scopa and the public works portfolio committee on Wednesday, deputy minister Jeremy Cronin shared information on improper spending by his department. Cronin confirmed that between 2009 and March 2013, Read more >

Crime stats still don’t address corruption

The release of the latest crime statistics might show some progress in certain areas, but anti-corruption agencies still have little to rejoice over. Speaking in Pretoria this morning, police minister Nathi Mthethwa revealed that between April 2012 and March 2013, murder, attempted murder and property-related crime has increased, while common assault, crimes against women and Read more >

Our call centre is open for business

Remember this number – 0800 023 456. Keep it in your address book, write it down on a sticky note, display it on your fridge door, and spread it as widely as possible. It’s the number of Corruption Watch’s new call centre, which has just launched in its pilot phase and is targeting schools corruption Read more >

Our work is making an impact

Our ongoing work against corruption in three separate cases has been reported in several newspapers – a clear indication that we are making an impact. Corruption Watch’s recent report on bribery hotspots specifically involving the JMPD has prompted the police force into taking action. According to newspaper reports, an undercover police agent driving an expensive Read more >