The Independent Electoral Commission has officially launched the 2026 local government elections, marking the commencement of the mass awareness campaign towards Election Day in November. This is after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced 4 November 2026 as the date for South Africa’s upcoming local government elections. Currently there are just under 28 000 000 registered voters on the roll.
The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to publish a clear and substantive government response to the report of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, which was submitted in August 2025. This response must set out a time-bound implementation plan for reforming South Africa’s anti-corruption architecture, including a decision on the proposed Office of Public Integrity.
Corruption Watch has received no response to its urgent letter sent to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development last week, in connection with applications for a vacancy at the South African Human Rights Commission. The organisation cited concerns regarding meaningful public participation in the appointment process, and asked for clarity on other concerns.
Corruption Watch has written to the parliamentary portfolio committee on Justice and Constitutional Development urging it to extend the window for public commentary on the currently advertised vacancy at the South African Human Rights Commission. The organisation has reminded Parliament that in August 2025 the Constitutional Court held that it must satisfactorily meet its obligations imposed in terms of section 59(1)(a) of the Constitution and says that 14 days to scrutinise 95 CVs is “manifestly unreasonable”.
South Africa does not have a corruption problem alone, writes Corruption Watch’s Melusi Ncala – it also has a selective outrage problem. The Constitutional Court’s Phala Phala ruling of 11 May may be the moment South Africa discovers whether our society is capable, finally, of applying the same standard to those it admires as to those it despises.
Corruption Watch today releases its 14th annual corruption report, titled Ke Nako: Mobilising for justice, with the aim of gathering all sectors into the fight against corruption, as this is not a goal that can be achieved by only one or two participants. The time has come for all of society to demand justice and accountability from those in power, says board chairperson Themba Maseko.
Whistle-blowers are the lifeblood of democracy, writes NWU’s Angeline Marokoane, yet South Africa’s system is designed to abandon them. This poignant statement emerged at a recent dialogue, held at the North-West University on the use – and perils – of investigative journalism in holding the powerful to account. The panel, comprising Khaya Sithole, Pauli van Wyk, Kyle Cowan, and Sikonathi Mantshantsha, made recommendations as to how investigative journalism in the country can be strengthened.
Corruption Watch (CW) will release its annual corruption report, Ke Nako: Mobilising for justice, on Monday, 25 May 2026. The report comes as the organisation sets out on its new development path of Vision 2030 that will define its strategic direction for the next four years.
South Africans are largely unhappy with democracy in the country, according to new survey results released recently by Afrobarometer. Furthermore, in terms of tackling corruption they rate their government the worst out of all African countries surveyed, while over three-quarters of survey respondents now suspect the Presidency of being the most corrupt institution in the country, even more so than members of the police or Parliament.