The National Student Financial Aid Scheme is embroiled in a fresh set of controversies – one that is affecting the prospects of students to finish their education. The nonchalant attitude at the scheme, and the long-standing corruption, should be of huge concern for those who serve oversight on it, since they are the same people who, year after year, promise financial relief to the underprivileged.
Corruption Watch has submitted comments on the justice department’s proposed changes to the legislative whistle-blower protection regime. Any changes, says the organisation, have to acknowledge whistle-blowers as the focal point, and the objective to ensure their broadest possible protection should be a foundational principle of the legislation and the starting point for the drafting of any definitions.
The private sector was also deeply involved in state capture, says Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso. Now business must come together to proactively work against corruption, she adds.
A recent report on attitudes towards global governance shows that the peoples of the countries surveyed are well ahead of their respective leaders in their willingness to accept innovation in global governance to confront the world’s challenges. The survey polled respondents in the G7 and BRICS countries.
The National Business Initiative, Corruption Watch, and independent global affairs think tank ODI today released a report named Addressing Corporate Corruption in South Africa: The EOH Experience. The report looks at corporate corruption with the view that it has similarly damaging effects on the economy as does state capture, and uses the EOH turnaround as a case study.
A new data tool, developed by News24 and titled the Zondo Explorer, is a valuable resource for scrutinising the people and entities mentioned in three years of testimony at the state capture commission’s hearings, and in more than 250 000 documents.
Corruption Watch and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse have questioned the findings contained in the Reserve Bank’s report on Phala Phala. While the central bank found no wrongdoing, it intends to withhold the report except for some information, and the two organisations say there are now more questions than answers and they are not satisfied that the transaction was above board.
The National Business Initiative, Corruption Watch, and ODI, an independent global affairs think tank, are launching on 29 August a report that provides insight into the social behaviours of corporate entities and the measures taken to address such misconduct, with a particular focus on the well-known EOH case in South Africa.
Consultancy firms doing business with government often operate under a veil of secrecy, with little or accountability when things go wrong. It is partly because of this that the public sector continues to lose billions of rands with no value to show for it, says Open Secrets in its latest report titled The Consultants.