Local govt non-compliance at highest level since 2012, says AG

By Kwazi Dlamini R25.2-billion – that’s the amount of irregular expenditure recorded by South African municipalities for the 2017/2018 financial year according to Auditor General (AG) Kimi Makwetu.  Makwetu on Wednesday released the audit findings reports of 257 municipalities.  Irregular expenditure decreased from the R29.7-billion of the previous year, but non-compliance with key governance laws Read more >

SONA June 2019: enforcement agencies to be strengthened

On Thursday 20 June President Cyril Ramaphosa promised plans to ensure that public funds looted through corruption are recovered and used for the greater good of providing services and basic infrastructure in poor communities. Speaking at the first State of the Nation address (Sona) after the May elections – the second Sona of the year Read more >

State capture boosted violence and organised crime

Organised crime flourished under Jacob Zuma’s presidency as South Africa’s criminal justice agencies were manipulated for political and personal gain. This is one of many findings in a joint submission by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Corruption Watch to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture (Zondo Commission). Interference in Read more >

Who owns a bribe? And why does it matter?

By Rick MessickFirst published on the Global Anticorruption Blog A public servant who accepts a bribe can do with it as he or she pleases. Put it in a bank, sell it, give it away, or even bet it at the roulette table. What if the bribe-taker is caught, though, and government wants to recover Read more >

Guns, politics, lies: the arms deal’s whitewash commission

By Tara Davis and Deborah Mutemwa-TumboFirst published in the Sunday Times What is the point of commissions of inquiry? Are they powerful tools for investigating issues of public concern that can ultimately bring about justice, or are they expensive political options used by those in power to pacify the public and justify impunity? Corruption Watch Read more >

New CW report reveals grim state of corruption in policing

Corruption Watch’s new report, Corruption in Uniform, released today, looks at the alarming levels of corruption in policing in South Africa. Since the organisation’s inception in 2012, some 1 400 members of the public have felt concerned enough to share their experiences of corruption at the hands of the police. The leading categories of corruption Read more >

Heroin rise in SA facilitated by corruption

By Kwazi Dlamini Our new two-part series is based on a recent ENACT report into South Africa’s heroin abuse problem, and the role corruption plays in its spread. Part one looks at the current situation and its players, while part two looks at the deeper effects of drug use on users, communities, and others, and Read more >