Over the years and in many contexts South Africans have heard rumours of ‘third forces’ which are blamed for causing dissatisfaction and unrest in the country. Most recently, there were rumours of a third force involved with the recent student protests – but Zapiro has his own ideas about that third force.
Since the establishment in 2009 of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations – better known as the Hawks – arrest and conviction rates for serious crime and corruption have declined year on year, and today the success rate is a fraction of what it was six years ago.
Do you know a case of grand corruption which is in the public domain and deserves the toughest of sanctions? Nominate it for Transparency International’s Unmask the Corrupt campaign and if it is voted into the top spot TI will pursue the case and bring the perpetrator to justice.
Corruption remains a major cost for honest companies – in the 2015/2016 International Business Attitudes to Corruption survey, 30% of respondents believe they have lost deals where strong circumstantial evidence pointed to bribery by the successful competitor. The survey was conducted by global business risk consultancy Control Risks, and released in mid-October.
Our heroes for the week are the university students who protested with great courage and tenacity against a fees increase that would have put a tertiary education out of the reach of thousand. In so doing they indirectly highlighted the problems of corruption that have plagued the national student funding body.
The third Corruption Watch Integrity Lecture focused on youth participation in the upcoming municipal elections. The event took place at Constitution Hill on 23 October.
Corruption Watch has received a positive response from the Gauteng Department of Education regarding one of the schools featured in our schools report, released last week – the department plans to de-register the school after it investigated allegations of corruption and abuse of power.
South Africa has some excellent institutions, such as the National Treasury, the competition authorities, the JSE and the justice system, that comply with the law and adhere to the highest governance standards, says David Lewis, but there are too few of them.
Students, officials in the higher education department, and those in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme have all acknowledged that corruption has played a role in the current university fees crisis.