Two senior officials at Nketoana Local Municipality have had their day in court. One, the former CFO of Nketoana, was sentenced to eight years in prison for money laundering and fraud. This sentence brings to an end a string of financial misdemeanours and hopping from one job to another without facing any significant consequences. The other, the current CFO, made his first appearance on fraud charges.
South Africa’s Constitution was signed into law 25 years ago today, on 10 December 1996. We take a brief look at the history and background of this historic document and, as a refresher, lay out the structure of the document, with links to further information.
Corruption is seen as presenting a significant challenge for the future growth of South African businesses, write Petrus Marais and Karam Singh, with 55% of executives (according to the FTI Resilience Barometer SA report) believing that it will increase from its already unacceptably high levels. But the current political climate provides a unique opportunity to reinvigorate the country’s fight against corruption and set it back on a path of growth.
In a report released on International Anti-Corruption Day, titled Daring to Act, Corruption Watch unveils the findings of an online perceptions survey towards whistle-blowing in South Africa. The survey explores the public’s trust in institutions, awareness of existing whistle-blowing and reporting channels, and views on suggested improvements to systems that would promote a safe environment for whistle-blowing.
Dare to Act, a new report released by Corruption Watch on this International Anti-Corruption Day 2021, probes public perceptions on whistle-blowing in South Africa. We found that respondents are willing to blow the whistle on corruption should they experience it, but don’t trust the government or law enforcement agencies to protect them.
As if last year’s irregular expenditure of R109-billion by provincial and national departments wasn’t bad enough, this year the figure rose to R166-billion. Presenting the 2020/21 Public Finance Management Act audit outcomes report, auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke today revealed that although there was again improvement in audit outcomes, the irregular spending and lack of accountability continue to hold the country back.
Corruption Watch has made a submission on the Companies Amendment Bill, with a focus on enhancing transparency and accountability within the new provisions related to beneficial ownership. The organisation is concerned that the proposed amendments do not go far enough to enable effective transparency.
Corruption Watch will, at the end of December, mark the departure of both its executive director David Lewis and board chairperson Mavuso Msimang. The latter marks the end of his second term on the board of the organisation, while Lewis embarks on other projects.
Former State Security Agency (SSA) director-general Arthur Fraser will not be cross-examining any of the witnesses who implicated him in state capture earlier this year. The chairperson of the state capture commission, acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on Wednesday dismissed an application by Fraser to cross-examine a number of witnesses in the intelligence stream of evidence.