Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, giving testimony this week before the Zondo Commission, said that when former president Jacob Zuma told him in 2015 he was to be moved to a senior position at the new BRICS development bank, he knew immediately the deployment was a fabrication.
A recent BBC investigation uncovered signs that KZN judicial officers are involved in helping rhino poachers get away with murder. “If elements of South Africa’s justice system prove to be corrupt it not only threatens rhinos and allows poachers to act with impunity, but it compromises the police and the justice system in other cases as well,” wrote Alastair Leithead in his exposé.
Parliament is currently considering amendments to the Auditing Profession Act that will, among others, allow the minister of finance to determine, at his discretion, the maximum fine to be imposed on a firm or individual found guilty of malpractice – the current maximum fine is R200 000. It will also give the IRBA, South Africa’s auditing watchdog, powers to subpoena information needed to complete investigations, and to refer matters to other accredited professional bodies for investigation.
As an individual, there’s a lot you can do to stop corruption from spreading. It’s as simple as knowing what corruption looks like and how it works, so that you can stop it when you encounter it. It’s as simple as taking responsibility for your traffic transgression, and accepting the fine rather than paying the bribe. It’s as simple as reporting any instance of corruption that you’ve come across in your day to day life. Read our article for corruption-busting motivation.
By the end of week six of the Zondo Commission, sitting in Johannesburg to investigate allegations of state capture, major banks had given their version of events relating to the closure of the Gupta family’s account, former president Jacob Zuma had been asked for his side of the story, and had drives containing the #GuptaLeaks were admitted into evidence.
Former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini has been ordered by the Constitutional Court to pay, out of her own pocket, 20% of the costs of the applicants – Freedom Under Law and the Black Sash – in a long-running court case challenging the appointment of Cash Paymaster Services as the distributor of Sassa grants. The court also ordered the National Prosecuting Authority to determine whether Dlamini had committed perjury during her testimony in the matter and if so, to prosecute her.
African citizens who live in areas with Chinese-sponsored projects are 4% more likely to pay a bribe to police, and 2% more likely to pay a bribe for permits or documents, according to an important new research paper. Economics PhD student Jetson Leder-Luis, of MIT, unpacks the issue.
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