Corruption Watch welcomes today’s Constitutional Court ruling on the United Democratic Movement’s application for a secret ballot in the motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma. The organisation urges the speaker to set a date promptly for the secret ballot vote in a genuine effort to uphold accountability.
The next in our integrity lecture series takes place on 29 June and coincides with Youth Month. It takes the title ‘Corruption as a hindrance for youth employment’ and is held in collaboration with Harambe Youth Employment Accelerator and Livity Africa. The event will focus on the challenges corruption poses to young people looking to find, and keep, employment.
The Constitutional Court today referred the matter of a no-confidence vote by secret ballot back to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, who earlier had claimed that she did not have the power to make such a directive. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said that the speaker was mistaken when she said that, and her decision, made on 6 April 2017, was declared invalid and set aside. The notion that a no-confidence vote by secret ballot is not constitutionally permissible was incorrect, he said.
Asset management company Sygnia has launched two new unit classes of the Sygnia Money Market Unit Trust, providing a mechanism whereby any investor or saver can contribute to change in South Africa. The firm will donate 100% of the management fees associated with two new unit classes in its Money Market Unit Trust to non-political organisations fighting corruption, both in the public and the private sectors.
Corruption Watch has urged Absa Bank to respect the public protector’s findings, released yesterday, on the CIEX report, calling upon the bank to either repay the R1.125-billion bail-out granted by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to Bankorp Limited / Absa between 1986 and 1995, or otherwise launch a judicial review. However, the organisation expressed its extreme disquiet at the public protector’s finding, apparently derived from this investigation, instructing Parliament to amend the Reserve Bank’s mandate.
Gun laws save lives, but poor enforcement and associated corruption kills, writes Corruption Watch’s deputy director Ronald Menoe. And often it’s innocent children who end up in the path of a bullet. This Youth Month, we note with sadness that according to research, the leading cause of death for children in South Africa is gun wounds (49.2%), followed by stab (44.3%) and blunt force (6.6%) wounds.
The Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday 15 June that it cannot immediately make a costs order against social development minister Bathabile Dlamini in the Sassa matter, but has ordered that the extent of her personal liability be investigated. Parties involved must submit feedback within 14 days on the process to be followed – failing that, the court will determine the way forward.
In these times of poor national leadership and rampant unethical behaviour, a business focus on and engagement with ethical conduct should be a prioritised imperative, writes Cynthia Schoeman. In this way, the business sector can meaningfully contribute toward greater ethical behaviour in South Africa and in so doing, reduce the spread of lowest-common-denominator unethical behaviour.
South Africa’s proposed national anti-corruption strategy has the potential to succeed, but success will depend on factors such as the complete autonomy and efficiency of state institutions in the country, and building the independence of crime-fighting bodies, as well as improved coordination between all role-players in the fight against corruption.