HEROES & ZEROES

Excessive force not always necessary

Our zeroes this week are the police officers who assaulted and arrested a Daily Sun journalist for taking photos of officers allegedly involved in soliciting bribes. They also jailed him, and when he got his cellphone back the pictures had been deleted. The officers have denied all the allegations but we have to ask: why Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

A blow for media freedom?

Reports in the press over the last few days have revealed that police officers in Rustenburg arrested and assaulted a newspaper journalist for taking photographs of officers allegedly involved in corrupt activities. This is the same town where Moss Phakoe was murdered after he tried to blow the whistle on corruption he had uncovered in Read more >

PUBLICATIONS

Download our new schools e-book

We've just published a new e-book, based largely on our schools campaign, which started at the beginning of the 2013 academic year. Monitoring of schools was a major focus for us last year – through 2012, from our launch in January up to the beginning of the schools campaign we had received more than 60 reports of Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Independence key to vigilance, action

​Dear Corruption Watch, South Africa has three institutions with powers to investigate corruption in government: the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the public protector. Who does what, and from where do they derive their powers? What does it mean that they are independent? Curious Dear Curious The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), its asset forfeiture Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Shady past, good job

​Our zero this week is the government, for not living up to claims of fighting corruption. This week it appointed a new mayoral committee member in Madibeng municipality – and he was previously one of the guilty parties in the Travelgate scandal of 2006/2006. The thieves – MPs and travel agents – ran a scam involving fraudulent travel arrangements Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

The arms deal – new mini-site

Formally known as the Strategic Defence Package, the arms deal, to use its notorious nickname, was a multi-billion-rand military acquisition project finalised in 1999 by the South African government. If allegations of large-scale bribery and corruption currently under investigation by a top-level commission are proven true, it will be the biggest corruption scandal in the Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Corruption hinders SA’s economic freedom

The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, published recently by Washington’s Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Wall Street Journal, shows that corruption in South Africa is having an impact on economic freedom in the country. The index probes 10 freedoms in 186 countries and for the 2014 survey, most data covers the second half of 2012 Read more >

RAISING AWARENESS

The arms deal: what you need to know

Browse the mini-site: What is the arms deal? What equipment was bought? When did it all go down? Who were the people involved? Allegations of corruption What is the Seriti Commission? Useful resources Updates and analysis Formally known as the Strategic Defence Package, the arms deal, to use its notorious nickname, was a multi-billion-rand military Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

A list of useful resources

A list of some useful resources relating to the arms deal: Websites: The Arms Deal Virtual Press Office – Richard Young The Parliamentary Monitoring Group Government Communication and Information System The Shadow World, an exposé of the global arms trade Arms deal coverage on eNCA Arms deal coverage on Mail & Guardian Amabhungane’s arms deal cache The Arms Procurement Commission Read more >