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.”
In this satirical, but somewhat hopeful piece, written in advance of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech tonight, activist and academic Dr Brij Maharaj shares his thoughts on the State of the Nations address that South African residents REALLY want to hear. If only.
In planning his upcoming State of the Nation address, writes Corruption Watch’s Nicki Van ‘t Riet, President Cyril Ramaphosa must not only speak more forcefully on the fulfilment of anti-corruption promises made to the nation – he must place the very topic of corruption front and centre in the list of SONA priorities. Because South Africans, having heard all the smooth talk over and over, now want fast, uncompromising, aggressive, concrete anti-corruption action.
The crisis of dysfunctional institutions commonly arises when universities make compromised decisions on everything from tenders for infrastructure to appointments of key personnel, writes Prof Jonathan Jansen in his new book, published recently by Wits Press. “This is how institutional dysfunction begins and is sustained: through the breaching of institutional integrity.”
Like many other countries in Africa, South Africa is prey to organised crime syndicates who use it as a lucrative conduit for human, drug, arms, and wildlife trafficking. The country has some strong legislation in place but weak implementation, corruption, and a certain lack of political will puts it and its citizens at risk.
The cost that whistle-blowers pay for coming forward, said justice minister Ronald Lamola, is “counter-intuitive to the laudable goals of whistle-blowing … to mainstream integrity and expose unethical organisational cultures through detection and protection”. Speaking at a conference yesterday on reforming the criminal justice system, Lamola added that those who victimise whistle-blowers are not – but should be – held accountable for their actions.
Has South Africa done enough to escape an appearance on the Financial Action Task Force grey list, asks James George, compliance manager at Compli-Serve SA. We will know later this month, when the FATF meets in Paris. “On the one hand, we’re amending legislation, while on the other, we have widespread corruption running wild.”
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance, released on 25 January, shows a continent that has made some gains, but is in danger of losing those gains as instability increases and democracy declines.
A statutory criminal offence for the “abuse of public power” – as recommended in the second Zondo Commission report – would be a potential game changer in South Africa’s legal framework and its anti-corruption efforts, writes Natalie Keetsi for the Global Anticorruption Blog. But it is important to get it right, by careful modification of the concept, and research into similar initiatives in other jurisdictions.