Entries by Corruption Watch

Some (semi-serious) fun with AI-generated anti-corruption content

28th February 2023 in , /by

New AI tools like ChatGPT could help make anti-corruption work more efficient, writes Harvard Law School’s Prof Matthew Stephenson. For instance, by allowing the redeployment of highly-educated human beings away from tasks like basic research and drafting boilerplate language, these people could be freed up to do tasks that will bring out all of their skills. This is just one possibility – but, Stephenson cautions, we should use the opportunity to ensure our own work is more creative and distinctive.

Activists run the gauntlet every day, on behalf of others

23rd February 2023 in , , /by

Across the world, activists working in many sectors risk their personal safety and often their lives to do their job of upholding human rights. A report published recently by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, titled Victimisation Experiences of Activists in South Africa, provides a grim insight into the risks that activists across a range of sectors face every day.

Strict new measures to combat lottery corruption

20th February 2023 in , /by

The National Lottery Commission’s new board has introduced a number of measures to prevent corruption, writes Raymond Joseph for GroundUp, which has focused extensively on lottery corruption in recent years. These measures include the establishment of a new anti-corruption division, tand he appointment of three audit firms to investigate various aspects of fraud and corruption involving Lottery funds.

Corruption kills: how it made the Turkey earthquake much worse

14th February 2023 in , /by

The catastrophic earthquake which recently devastated parts of Turkey and Syria was unavoidable, because the area is prone to earthquakes. What was avoidable, writes Transparency International board member Oya Özarslan, was the corruption, poor planning and building standards, lacklustre management, greed, and other factors which made the tragedy worse and resulted in many more people losing their lives.

Civil society calls for suspension of MDDA board

9th February 2023 in , , /by

Civil society organisations and concerned individuals have written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, asking him to institute a commission of inquiry into the operations of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, and to suspend its current board, including the chairperson. “We question how a person implicated in governance irregularities at SARS was appointed to chair the board of this very important entity.”