DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Banks keep watch for ill-gotten gains

Dear Corruption Watch, We read a lot about the families of foreign dictators buying expensive properties in South Africa. No doubt many wealthy South Africans similarly have large personal bank accounts in other countries. How do we know that these inward and outward flows are not the proceeds of corruption? Neighbour Dear Neighbour, You are Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

The proverbial new broom?

Our hero this week is the Gauteng Department of Education, which seems to have gained a new lease on life under recently appointed premier David Makhura. In May he announced his 10-member cabinet, including former education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi, who's now education MEC. Lesufi has wasted no time in coming to the defence of pupils Read more >

INVESTIGATION

Refugees: at the mercy of corruption

By Valencia Talane It’s hard to stand up to a corrupt system that works against you. It is especially challenging when you are in a foreign country and in desperate need of its services. Kazadi Mutombo* (25), from the Democratic Republic of Congo, knows all too well what it feels like to have to fight Read more >

CAMPAIGNS

Nowhere to hide – unmasking the corrupt

In South Africa, as in numerous other countries, corruption is a regrettable part of our everyday life, and it comes in various forms. But while anti-corruption laws exist, their implementation is not robust, and perpetrators are seldom punished. Those who engage in corruption are easily able to hide their ill-gotten gains by channelling the proceeds Read more >

PRESS RELEASES

Governments, business “Unmask the Corrupt”

Corruption Watch will participate in a global campaign, “Unmask the Corrupt", launched on 19 June by Transparency International (TI). The campaign’s overarching objective is to end the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of corruption. The specific campaign demands will make it easier to trace the proceeds of corruption and to prevent the perpetrators from enjoying the Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

June Sona light on accountability, anti-corruption

By Valencia Talane The first sign of work done on the ground by the chief procurement officer (CPO) was an announcement by President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) of the centralised procurement by the office of furniture for Eastern Cape schools. “We have begun piloting this new approach with the Read more >

INVESTIGATION

Soweto SGB under scrutiny

Corruption in schools is a focus of Corruption Watch’s operations, and since the launch of our schools campaign in January 2013, to the end of April 2014, we’ve received nearly 950 reports on schools, of which over 80% have been classified as corruption. Results of a survey we conducted in September 2013 revealed that the Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Getting a grip on irregular expenditure in municipalities

Dear CW I am constantly reading about ‘irregular expenditure’ and ‘fruitless and wasteful expenditure’. What does this all mean? The Financial and Fiscal Commission said recently a whopping R4.7-billion was wasted in public healthcare spending. While few public servants with their hands in the cookie jar are prosecuted, fewer still seem to be held accountable for what also seems to be a Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Suspected license crook walks free

A former licensing station chief, accused of masterminding a fake license racket, has been acquitted in the Eshowe Regional Court, along with some of those who were alleged to be involved in the syndicate. The prosecution is our zero for this week for failing to deliver a good enough case to secure a conviction. Richie Read more >