A man of integrity

Our hero this week is former auditor-general Terence Nombembe, who ended his seven-year, non-renewable term on 30 November. Nombembe has led his department with integrity, he's held leaders accountable, and has not minced words on how corruption and wasteful expenditure affects the poor, At a farewell function held early in November in his honour at Parliament, Read more >

Corruption and the law in South Africa – part three

In parts one and two of our series we focused on international, regional and domestic legislation that assists the country in the fight against corruption. But South African corruption fighters don’t just have clear-cut pieces of legislation on their side. There are a number of institutions and commissions whose specific task is to root out, Read more >

Good governance is no reason for complacency

​Corruption Watch’s executive director David Lewis delivered the keynote speech at the launch of the JSE’s Socially Responsible Investment Index for 2013.  Launched in 2004, the index is a tool that, according to the JSE, “measures companies’ policies, performance and reporting in relation to the three pillars of the triple bottom line (environmental, economic and Read more >

Corruption and the law in South Africa – part two

In part one we looked briefly at the four main regional and international conventions that inform some of South Africa’s pieces of anti-corruption legislation. In part two we take a closer look at the leading domestic legislation on corruption – the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (12 of 2004) (Precca). Precca was written Read more >

Civil claims against colluders to go ahead

Media reports over the last couple of days have revealed more positive developments in the collusion scandal that rocked the construction industry in 2013. The Competition Tribunal has issued four certificates to the City of Cape Town to enable civil claims against construction companies who are among those recently found guilty of collusion and fined Read more >

Corruption and the law in South Africa – part one

Corruption is not a problem unique to South Africa, but it is one of the country’s major challenges. In our new three-part series we will examine the international conventions, local legislation, and other channels that should be helping our country get to grips with the problem. Part one introduces the international anti-corruption conventions which inform Read more >

Ways to avoid Christmas hiccups

Dear Corruption Watch, Friends of mine recently had their vehicle stopped at night by police officials. Their children were in the back seat. The police officials threatened to arrest my friends for drunk driving although they were perfectly sober. They felt that their car had been selected for intimidation because the police knew they wouldn’t Read more >

Disclosure of information at all-time low

Around the same time that the International Day to End Impunity was commemorated, the PAIA Civil Society Network (PAIA CSN) released its annual shadow report on compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) (2 of 2002). The CSN is a group of organisations and individuals working to advance the right of access to information, and achieve a culture of Read more >

Protector of the people’s interests

The public protector, Thuli Madonsela, is tough, fearless and respected. She takes her office very seriously and is determined to carry out her mandate to the best of her ability – a stance that sometimes sees her going head to head with government figures. Madonsela and government ministers were recently involved in a highly publicised Read more >