HEROES & ZEROES

Giving all South Africans a say in the budget

“Corruption and waste are to a large extent the result of a public-private partnership: corruption thrives where the public sector is underfunded, understaffed and withdraws from its service delivery responsibility.” If only this had been said by finance minister Pravin Gordhan when he delivered his fifth budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday. But it was Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Why we must care about the Seriti Commission

By Lee-Ann Alfreds The Arms Procurement Commission is not a farce and should be supported – even though the first cabinet minister to appear before it was not subjected to a grilling about his knowledge of the suspect arms deal, and critics were not receiving access to documents they requested. Addressing the media at a Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Feinstein, Van Vuuren to brief media

The Seriti Commission, formally known as the Arms Procurement Commission, is currently in session in Pretoria. The commission is probing allegations of widespread and far-reaching corruption that have plagued the controversial deal almost from day one. Authors Andrew Feinstein and Hennie van Vuuren, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), are scheduled to brief the Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Not perfect, but commission can still produce results

By Lee-Ann Alfreds His appearance was greeted with fanfare and excitement after months of dry and technical testimony by largely-unknown flunkies and officials. But then, former trade and industry minister Alec Erwin came and went in the blink of an eye – and fears for the credibility of the Arms Procurement Commission went into overdrive. Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

The arms deal – analysis and updates

The first phase of the two-man Arms Procurement Commission, or the Seriti Commission, started on 20 January and was meant to wrap up in May with the testimony of  former president Thabo Mbeki, but his appearance was postponed because of his mother’s death. Phase two of the commission started on 21 July. Under the guidance Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Chief procurement officer makes progress

By Valencia Talane Finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s national budget speech, delivered on Wednesday afternoon, was a display of good news in terms of government efforts to improve the country’s fiscus over the years as well as firm warnings towards those who do business in a dishonest way.   On government spending in particular – an Read more >

PUBLICATIONS

New e-book focuses on procurement corruption

Corruption in government procurement processes is a major concern amongst South Africans, as it results in billions of rands of the national budget going down the drain. Many citizens have decided to do something about it – between our launch in January 2012 to the end of January 2014, we have received 465 reports related Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Firearm licence a target for graft

Dear Corruption Watch During February 2008, my wife and I obtained the necessary competency certificates and renewed our firearm licences. We were told then that we would not need to repeat any training when we renew our licences again five years later. But when we went to renew our licences in 2013, the South African Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

No action against fraudster

By Valencia Talane His boss may have told South Africa that he is not going anywhere, but public protector Thuli Madonsela found acting SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng guilty of fraud for lying about his qualifications in his CV. SABC board chair Ellen Tshabalala told the media at a press briefing on Thursday that Read more >