President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his maiden State of the Nation Address, just a day after being sworn in as South Africa’s fifth democratic president. The speech was generally well received, with many saying that his emphatic utterances were a sign of his intention to clean up government, but analysts said there was not enough detail regarding economic measures. Read the full text here.
With Jacob Zuma’s resignation as president, Corruption Watch hails this event as a victory of the people of South Africa, mobilised by civil society organisations, informed by the media and supported by the courts and the Constitution. However, the organisation reminds all South Africans that now is not the time for these combined forces to relax.
Corruption Watch applauds the Hawks’ morning raid on the Gupta compound, and the subsequent arrests in relation to the Vrede dairy farm investigations, including that of Ajay Gupta and the provincial agriculture department head, Peter Thabethe. We call on our prosecutorial authority to ensure that those responsible for gross abuses of power and looting public resources – from both the public and private sector – are prosecuted and imprisoned.
On Friday 9 February the Office of the Public Protector unexpectedly released the investigation report on the Vrede dairy farm. The report has been widely criticised for seeming to protect key individuals who are implicated in the scandal, and the public protector has been summoned to Parliament explain why this is so.
Corruption Watch today launched a campaign focusing on the upcoming school governing body elections throughout March 2018, with the aim of rallying parents, teachers, principals and learners to exercise their votes to elect people of integrity so that our schools are well managed and resourced. CW has produced a toolkit that outlines the importance of participating in the SGB elections, and summarises the process and the role of SGBs in school governance – download the publication today.
Corruption Watch today launched a campaign focusing on the upcoming school governing body (SGB) elections in March 2018, with the aim of rallying parents, teachers, principals and learners to exercise their votes to elect people of integrity so that our schools are well managed and resourced. CW has produced a toolkit that outlines the importance of participating in the SGB elections, and summarises the process and the role of SGBs in school governance – download the publication today.
The concrete recommendations of the first People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime include a strong call for South African state institutions as well as various European states to investigate serious instances of economic crime. Evidence collected by the tribunal will in due course be handed over to the relevant state authorities to assist future investigations.
The panel of adjudicators of the People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime have issued their preliminary findings, following on the close of the event on Wednesday evening. They recommended rigorous investigation into the evidence of corruption presented in connection with the apartheid era, the arms deal and the present-day state capture situation, and plan to hand their final report to government authorities.
Former arms deal insider Ajay Sooklal – mysteriously referred to as Witness X before his appearance – testified at the People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime in South Africa on Monday, and fingered a host of individuals from President Jacob Zuma to former French presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.