The Ipid Act needs to be reviewed and the parliamentary portfolio committee on police needs to be more accountable after the position of the watchdog’s executive director stood empty for 18 months, write Kavisha Pillay and Sabeehah Motala of Corruption Watch.
In light of the corruption allegations in the Eastern Cape regarding medical scooters procured for millions of rands, Caroline James and Karam Jeet Singh of CW’s legal and investigations unit ask if government put in any increased measures to fight corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Portfolio Committee on Police said on Wednesday it has confirmed the nomination to appoint Jennifer Dikeledi Ntlatseng as Ipid’s new executive director, who will replace acting executive director Patrick Setshedi. Setshedi was appointed as the acting head of the organisation in March this year, after former acting ED Victor Senna’s 12-month contract ended.
Corruption Watch will release a report titled X-Ray: The critical state of the health sector in SA on
Wednesday, 22 July 2020. The report captures the voices of hundreds of people who have reported
corruption in the health sector to Corruption Watch in the eight years of the organisation’s
existence.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has uncovered information, from the so-called State Capture Papers, that points to Gupta-linked Trillian charging SEO Transnet US$2.8-million for property management services that it never provided. This calls for an explanation from both Transnet and the Department of Public Enterprises.
Africa is making strides in the areas of governance and growth, writes compliance expert Adjoa Adjei-Twum. But to ensure that these glimmers of hope do not fizzle out, training and education are needed to educate citizens on their civic responsibilities, sensitise them to the impact of their actions on others, and demonstrate with practical examples that corruption affects the proper running of governments and hampers transparency.
Tomorrow, 11 July, marks the fourth African Anti-Corruption Day, writes CW’s project co-ordinator Sabeehah Motala, and it’s a good time to reflect on whether or not the AUCPCC, as a mechanism for fighting corruption across the continent, has been properly and effectively implemented.
The competition tribunal has found giant pharmaceutical retailer Dis-Chem guilty of having fixed prices of essential products at the early stage of the Covid-19 lockdown. The retailer was fined more than R1-million for violating the Competition Act and the Consumer Protection Regulations, which prohibits a dominant firm from charging an excessive price to the detriment of consumers or customers.
With the help of lawyers, accountants, white-shoe professionals and complicit Western governments, the wealthy and well-connected have avoided paying trillions of dollars in taxes. The cost to governments is estimated at over $800-billion per year. This article from the ICIJ reminds us what tax havens are, how they operate, and why the Panama Papers is still such an important project, four years after it broke.