With the news that Bain & Company has been banned from doing business with the UK government. questions must now be asked as to why South Africa has not yet debarred the company that assisted in entrenching state capture and ended up costing the country millions in taxpayers’ money.
Today Corruption Watch released a second report that analyses procurement information drawn from National Treasury data captured between 2016 and 2021. The analysis was made possible by CW’s online tool, Procurement Watch, which aggregates data from the treasury and focuses on deviations and expansions, both areas which can potentially raise red flags. as well as debarment of suppliers of contracts.
In an open letter addressed today to President Cyril Ramaphosa, 22 civil society organisations raise their concerns about shrinking civil space. Such organisations play a vital role in the support of democracy and in pushing for transparency and accountability, and the 22 signatories call on Ramaphosa to hold to account officials who threaten these organisations.
In the final part of the state capture report, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo recommended that for stronger accountability, the country’s president should be directly elected by the people. Academic and political analyst Prof Steven Friedman argues that this move may not be in the interest of voters after all.
We often refer to corruption in metaphorical terms, writes Corruption Watch legal researcher Tharin Pillay. Beyond this colourful terminology, however, is there anything useful we can learn which will help us take practical steps towards tackling both grand and petty corruption?
A global asset registry would be another important step towards achieving beneficial ownership transparency, the redistribution of immense wealth, and the reduction of inequality. But as long as opacity continues to undermine transparency, the super-rich and secretive will not have to account for their (often) ill-gotten gains.
The Counter-Corruption Summit, taking place today in Stellenbosch, aims to create a shared platform for eradicating endemic corruption in South African society. The focus of this initiative is corruption in public procurement.
It is time that President Cyril Ramaphosa comes clean on the Phala Phala saga, says Corruption Watch. The president must do the right thing and submit himself to the same processes of accountability and transparency that he demands of others.
Corruption is crippling economies across the African continent, writes social and political commentator Tafi Mhaka for Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, from Malawi to South Africa and Mozambique and further afield, high-ranking civil servants and their relatives, in cahoots with industry and business leaders, seem to have long been shamelessly stealing from the long-suffering masses.
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