All our correspondence in the Sars matter

Corruption Watch has laid charges against South African Revenue Services (Sars) commissioner, Tom Moyane, as well as two senior Sars employees, Jonas Makwakwa and Kelly-Ann Elskie. The latter two are charged with fraud and corruption and Moyane is charged with failing to act decisively on the findings of a report from the Financial Intelligence Centre Read more >

Don’t let corruption in SA become normalised

It is not true that corruption has no victims, writes William Gumede, associate professor at Wits University’s School of Governance. Rather, it causes “disastrously inefficient economic, social and political outcomes” – among others, it diverts public resources from critical development projects to less productive, less job creation and less growth spurring ones, discourages long-term investment, Read more >

e-Governance: a useful anti-corruption tool?

Many organisations today use online technology to do business, arrange insurance and comply with regulations governing their sectors. The removal of the human element from these transactions helps make them efficient and nearly error-free, much to the satisfaction of those engaging. But can we safely say that e-governance processes work in eliminating the potential of Read more >

Fighting land corruption in a gender sensitive way

Land is critical for women in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural communities where they contribute substantially to food production and often depend on cash crops for income. But when customary law fails to recognise women as legitimate land owners, men are able to manipulate women’s land rights for their own gain, resulting in corrupt activities Read more >

Conflict of interest in monitoring green laws

Environmental oversight of mines should not be in the hands of department tasked with promoting the sector Tracey Davies and Melissa Fourie In three recent judgments, South Africa’s courts made adverse findings about actions taken by the Department of Mineral Resources and expressed concern about the competence of some of its most senior officials. In Read more >

Why SA’s courts cannot rein in a delinquent government

By Cathleen Powell First published on The Conversation Africa South Africans sighed with relief when the Constitutional Court recently handed down a judgment in the country’s social grant saga, averting a catastrophic constitutional crisis. About 17-million social grant beneficiaries would not be left without support. Unfortunately, while the court saved the country from one constitutional Read more >

Cabinet reshuffle: CW issues strong call for action

Following last night’s cabinet reshuffle, the centre of political gravity and the last hope for the South African democracy rests with the people of South Africa and their parliamentary representatives. The events have clearly established that renewal will not come from within the ranks of the ruling party which has clearly been captured by a Read more >

Why people commit white collar crimes (and how to stop them)

By Alice BrightSky First published on the FCPA blog We’ve all heard of them — the Bernie Madoffs and Michael Milkens whose cinematic crimes have painted our perception of white-collar criminality. However, while wrongdoers such as Madoff and Milken are rightly villainised for their misdeeds, their dramatic schemes tend to occlude the far more common Read more >

Ahmed Kathrada: a man of principle

We at Corruption Watch are deeply saddened by the passing of liberation stalwart Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada, who died in the early hours of Tuesday morning after complications following surgery earlier in March to relieve blood clotting on the brain. As an author, a scholar, a Rivonia trialist and struggle veteran, Kathrada was a voice of Read more >