HEROES & ZEROES

Corrupt Bitou officials under scrutiny

Our first hero for the year is Bitou Municipality in the Western Cape, which has embarked on an operation to switch off corrupt officials who are stealing electricity. The auditor-general’s latest annual report highlighted the fact that the municipality experienced a 17% loss in electricity income – more than R9-million – during the previous financial Read more >

CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Global corruption snapshots: 30 Jan 2015

Bombardier Transportation accused of corruption in South Korea Bombardier Transportation was investigated in South Korea over corruption allegations but never charged, CBC's French-language service Radio-Canada has learned. A task force led by Korean prosecutors alleges that Bombardier, based in Quebec, offered gifts and trips to Canada for civil servants and politicians who decided to choose Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Another senior SIU official quits

By Candice Bailey As the nation digests the sudden resignation of the head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Vas Soni, this week, the investigator at the centre of the Nkandla probe is also leaving the anti-corruption agency. The unit programme manager, Mary-Anne Whittles, who co-ordinated the investigation of the security upgrades at President Jacob Read more >

LEGISLATION AND SUBMISSIONS

New law to tighten public administration – part one

Our new three-part series takes a closer look at the newly enacted Public Administration Management Act. Part one introduces the legislation. In part two, read about reactions to the Act and in part three, we take a closer look at the state’s plans for its proposed integrity unit. In December President Jacob Zuma signed the Public Administration Management Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

New forum to advise, protect whistleblowers

The fight against corruption stepped up a notch yesterday in Johannesburg, with the official launch of the Anti-Intimidation and Ethical Practices Forum (AEPF). This body has been established to help professionals in certain fields who are being intimidated for exposing corruption in the workplace.  AEPF’s eight founding organisations are the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

WC ombud to bridge gap between police and the public

By Valencia Talane There’s a new sheriff in town in the Western Cape, and it is not the criminals who should be worried, but slacking, incompetent police officers. Six years after he was removed from his position as the country’s chief of state prosecutors, Vusi Pikoli is settling into his new role as the province’s Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Corruption helps fuel illegal gold trade

This article, first published on Bloomberg and written by journalist Kevin Crowley, investigates the illegal mining trade which is prevalent in South Africa. Corruption, and the poverty that's often a driver of corruption, plays a significant role in the continuation of this illicit industrial activity, and it involves the miners themselves, employees of active mines, metal Read more >

DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Slippery slope in the making?

Dear Corruption Watch Just before last year's election, the National Assembly was debating a bill to allow line ministers, rather than Parliament, to set salaries, allowances and conditions of service for chapter nine institutions. Surely these institutions, independent and established by the constitution, should never be accountable to political appointees? It is through the instruments Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Police looters make the zero cut

Corruption Watch defines corruption as the use of one’s position or power for personal gain. This can take numerous forms – in Soweto, for instance, looting and vandalism have increased tension between local and foreign residents, ruined the livelihoods of shopkeepers, and resulted in the deaths of several people. One of the alleged looters was Read more >