While South Africa has a long legacy of access to information thanks to the age of its law, says Odac in its recently releases report on the state of access to information in Africa, its implementation of the law has been inconsistent and weak. However, the recent establishment of the Office of the Information Regulator is a significant development that should be consistently and enthusiastically monitored.
Some say that the cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies are potential tools in the fight against corruption, primarily because all transactions are recorded and their details may not be altered, thereby creating a trail. Others say they lend themselves to corruption because of the anonymity factor. Neither view is absolutely correct nor incorrect and the truth, says Transparency International, lies somewhere in between.
Both grand and petty corruption are prevalent in the South African police Service, said Corruption Watch yesterday in a parliamentary submission before the portfolio committee on policing. In both instances, the appropriate sanctioning of perpetrators is required if this conduct is to be deterred.
This absorbing longform article from the New York Times does not reveal much that South Africans do not know already about the Free State Vrede dairy farm corruption scandal. However, it puts the disgraceful episode, its players, and its back story into sharp perspective.
This four-part series on how we can get more people engaged in fighting corruption was written by Transparency International’s social accountability coordinator Mahmoud Farag. The series is aimed not only at organisations working in the social justice arena, but is of immense benefit to anyone wanting to increase their participation in the fight against corruption.
Everyone knows House of Cards as ‘the’ Netflix show about corruption, but over the last few years, the popular streaming service has produced several high-quality TV shows with different flavours of corruption at the heart of their story lines. We look at these corruption-focused shows.
Corruption in land-related services in Africa is an endemic problem that has affected every second citizen on the continent in recent years, says Transparency International. Land corruption is also under-reported and under-investigated. To counter this situation, TI has developed a comprehensive training manual to support journalists in Africa who are investigating and reporting stories of land corruption. Download it today.
Our annual report names corruption at public schools as a continuing major cause for concern in South Africa, with issues such as the mismanagement of funds, theft of funds and employment fraud being some of the most common forms of corruption taking place. However, forensic auditor Keeran Madhav points out that the lack of proper governance may be the single biggest factor leading to corruption.
The events of the past decade have taught us that we cannot allow time to lapse and believe that the issues we face as a society will self-correct over time, writes Corruption Watch’s Kavisha Pillay. There is no better time than now to take action, to build, and most importantly, to progress as a nation. Our leaders might change but, like time, the power of our people and democratic institutions needs to remain constant.
Visit our GivenGain R20 for Change page and help us demand transparency in our systems, accountability in our leaders, and better empowerment and protection of whistle-blowers. By donating R20 a month, you’ll be supporting our work with communities across the country, helping them to know and access their rights and reduce the corruption that robs people of resources intended for their benefit.