Technology can boost active citizenship – if chosen well

By Indra de Lanerolle First published in The Conversation – Africa Civic technology initiatives are on the rise. They are using new information and communication technologies to improve transparency, accountability and governance – faster and more cheaply than before. In Taiwan, for instance, tech activists have built online databases to track political contributions and create channels for public Read more >

Democracy showcase makes parly committee our hero

Our heroes for this week are the members of the parliamentary ad hoc committee to select a new public protector. Given what is arguably a far from easy task – transparently and constitutionally appointing the best person to replace one of South Africa’s most admired public figures – the members deliberated robustly and sometimes heatedly, Read more >

Is this our new public protector?

Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, an analyst at the State Security Agency, was yesterday selected by the parliamentary ad hoc committee in charge of appointing a new public protector, as the most suitable candidate to take over from Thuli Madonsela. Madonsela’s non-renewable seven-year term ends on 19 October 2016. From the start Corruption Watch intended to ensure Read more >

Brave, honest car guard is our hero

Tshepo Molaoele, a car guard at The Company’s Garden in Cape Town, recently helped foil a car theft attempt by refusing to take a bribe offered by the thieves, and then tipping the police off, which led to the arrest of the criminals. For his honesty and indefatigable sense of right and wrong, we make Read more >

CW and R2K set to challenge arms deal cover-up

18 August 2016 Corruption Watch (CW) and the Right2Know Campaign (R2K) are preparing to challenge the findings of the Seriti Commission in court. The litigation will be launched in the North Gauteng High Court in September 2016 and founding papers will be placed on the applicants’ websites. The Seriti Commission was chaired by Judge Willie Read more >

CW makes submissions on NSPCA case in ConCourt

Update: Corruption Watch is making submissions today in the Constitutional Court in the case brought by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty (NSPCA) to Animals against Justice Minister Michael Masutha and Shaun Abrahams, the national director of public prosecutions. The NSPCA’s case arose out of a 2010 case in which a camel was Read more >

SA should choose all public figures this way

By Serjeant at the Bar First published in Mail & Guardian Something strange happened in South African politics last week, which was not directly connected to the local government elections that have discombobulated the ruling party. For arguably the first time in 20 years a subcommittee of the legislature did its job without fear or Read more >

Puppets should be on TV, not working as the protector

In the build-up to the appointment of our new public protector, we have engaged the services of that irreverent puppet Chester Missing for a series titled Puppet vs Protector. In it, Chester conducts short interviews with Dr Makhosi Khosa, the chairperson of the parliamentary ad hoc committee tasked with selecting Thuli Madonsela’s successor, as well Read more >

CW urges public to have their say on PP candidates

12 August 2016 The interviews of all 14 short-listed candidates for the post of public protector were conducted yesterday by the Parliamentary ad hoc committee running well into the early hours of the morning. Corruption Watch has launched an online voting tool for the public to indicate which is their preferred candidates. The results of Read more >