Today Corruption Watch and the Institute for Security Studies highlighted the need for transparency and public participation in the upcoming appointments of the SAPS national commissioner and the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks). The organisations launched a joint public awareness campaign around these critical appointments, and will advocate for improvements in the way they are made.
Corruption Watch strongly endorses the investigation by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors into allegations of improper conduct of auditing firm KPMG, in particular its 2014 audit of Linkway Trading, the company alleged to be involved in the related Free State dairy and Gupta wedding scandals. We are a;so currently consulting our lawyers regarding McKinsey’s business dealings with Eskom to assess whether to refer their conduct to the criminal justice authorities of both South Africa and the US.
One of Corruption Watch’s successes has been the way it helps people make sense of corruption matters that affect them on a practical level, says our newest board member Sithembile Mbete. For young people, especially, the type of everyday petty corruption seen at testing centres and in schools often makes the difference between success in life or not.
Corruption Watch and the Institute for Security Studies invite media to the launch of a joint public awareness campaign focused on the appointments of the South African Police Service national commissioner and the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks).
Media invite: The Lithuanian Embassy in partnership with Corruption Watch and the South African Local Government Association invites media to attend a send-off function for young people who have been selected to attend the Transparency International School on Integrity, which takes place from 10-16 July 2017 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The programme empowers young people with the necessary skills to fight corruption in their countries.
At a meeting on 29 June to launch the final report of an independent investigations into the affairs of the Trillian group, Trillian chairperson Tokyo Sexwale noted that the state has not just been captured, but “handed over”. The principal investigator, Advocate Geoff Budlender, said in his report that the information uncovered should be of “great public concern,” and must be exposed.
The auditor-general’s latest report on the financial performance of municipalities, released last week, shows a marginal improvement for 2015/16, but overall the local government had failed to maintain the promising five-year momentum – gained in the years 2010/11 to 2014/15 – that he reported on last year.
The narrative of the state captured by President Jacob Zuma and his group of elites takes away from and does not acknowledge the participation and contribution of scores of people who work in administrative positions in the state or private sector, writes CW’s Leanne Govindsamy. This highlights the importance of the immediate commencement of the full Financial Intelligence Centre amendment act, which was signed into law at the end of April.
At Corruption Watch, our work is driven by our reporters. Many risk their safety, their jobs and even their lives to expose corruption in their communities and places of work, as well as in municipalities and private firms, and in dealing with service providers. Despite the risks, to date we have received over 15 000 reports since we opened our doors in January 2012.