Entries by Corruption Watch

Xolobeni mining now in local hands

The Australian company involved in the controversial Xolobeni titanium mining application has announced its withdrawal from the project – but too late for Sikhosiphi ‘Bazooka’ Rhadebe. The anti-mining activist and community leader was shot dead in front of his young son in March – we were part of a group of NGOs who demanded justice for him, and issued a letter two months later lamenting the lack of action in resolving the murder.

What makes corruption complex? 

Corruption is highly resilient and evolutionary – a sure indication of its complexity, as it adapts quickly to changes in the system, such as the introduction of a law or the removal of a player. As a result, short-term successes may be unsustainable, or even generate negative effects in the longer run. Anti-corruption programmes must take this, and other characteristics of complex systems, into account if success is to be achieved.