South Africa urgently needs to raise the bar when it comes to empowering, incentivising, protecting and rewarding whistle-blowers. A recent webinar hosted by Mail & Guardian on this important topic yielded some sensible and practicable suggestions.
The Special Tribunal, operating under the auspices of the Special Investigating Unit, has ordered multinational software company SAP to repay the Department of Water and Sanitation for some of the money it received under circumstances of irregular procurement. The repayment amount comes to just under half of the total money paid out – at least R413-million, out of R1.036-billion – and the associated contracts have been set aside.
Trade and Industry minister Ebrahim Patel has told Parliament that he has instructed lawyers to end the terms of the remaining members of the National Lotteries Commission board, reports GroundUp. The board has been plagued with scandal for years. It’s the right time to apply Corruption Watch’s recommendations on such appointments, sent in late 2020 to the parliamentary committee overseeing the board.
This year the Open Government Partnership marks its 10th year of operations. In 2011, South Africa was one of the eight founding countries of the organisation, along with Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, the UK and the US. Now 78 members strong, the OGP works to provide an international platform that enables domestic reformers to make their governments more open, accountable, responsive to citizens, and corruption-free.
Now that three reports from the Zondo commission are in the public domain – with one more to come – it is time for civil society to think about its role in ensuring the commission’s recommendations are implemented. Recently a group of organisations, including Corruption Watch, came together to discuss exactly this.
Countries currently imposing sanctions on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine will wait a long time for those in power to tighten their belts, writes Ilya Shumanov of Transparency International Russia. Wealthy, influential Russians have many ways of easily getting their money out of the country, while some reside in the very Western countries that are condemning their homeland. Ultimately, those who will really feel the harsh effects of sanctions are ordinary Russian citizens.
The Financial Action Task Force has approved a revision of its recommendation 24, thereby ushering in a new global standard on beneficial ownership transparency. This is not only a win for the fight against corruption and money laundering, but also a collective victory for the efforts of civil society organisations like anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International which, together with its network of global chapters including Corruption Watch, has long advocated for such an outcome.
Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke is not impressed with the financial situation at provincial health departments, and says that unpaid claims against negligence and malpractice are a major drain on the health budget. In her 2021 PFMA audit report, released in December 2021, Maluleke notes that seven provincial health departments had unpaid claims that exceeded their entire operational budget for the next year.
The Eastern Cape is the poorest province in the country, where people live in appalling conditions and are deprived of even the most basic of municipal services. Yet those who have brought about this situation refuse to be held accountable, and only residents and whistle-blowers suffer any consequences.