South Africa and other G20 countries are failing to meet commitments to publish data that helps tackle corruption, according to research published recently by Transparency International and the Web Foundation. If the data was publicly available it could be used to curb criminal activities, including money laundering and tax evasion.
The Constitutional Court’s judgment last week to extend the unlawful contract between the South African Social Security Agency and Cash Paymaster Services was the culmination of weeks of uncertainty for social grant recipients. But the saga is not yet over.
The newly-established Information Regulator is South Africa’s data protection agency. It’s headed by former Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Advocate Pansy Tlakula, with two full-time and two part-time employees, The Regulator is subject only to the law and the Constitution, and accounts to the National Assembly.
Today’s judgment by the Constitutional Court regarding the payment of social grants by the South African Social Services Agency and Cash Paymaster Services was a resounding win for South Africans and a celebration of the independence of the judiciary in the country.
The Constitutional Court today extended the contract of Cash Paymaster Services with the South African Social Security Agency for 12 months, on the same terms as at present, and under strict supervision.
Corruption Watch appeared in the Constitutional Court yesterday to make written submissions in the matter between the Black Sash and the minister of social development, et al, with Freedom Under Law and the South African Post Office also making submissions.
Cash Paymaster Services has written to us through their attorneys, asking us to retract certain recent statements our executive director David Lewis has made in the media. They are concerned about the statements’ possible implication of corruption on their part, connected to the social grants debacle. We, in turn, believe the statements have merit and will not retract them.
The Financial Intelligence Centre amendment bill is one step closer to being signed into law. Having being tabled in Parliament as long ago as April 2015 by former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, the bill was passed last week by a unified House. It now falls to President Jacob Zuma to enact the legislation.
What SA’s experience in the past 20 years teaches us is that to build an effective, corruption-free democracy we need something more than periodic elections, writes our executive director David Lewis. We need active, vigilant, demanding citizens persistently holding their leaders to account.
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.