New forum to advise, protect whistleblowers

The fight against corruption stepped up a notch yesterday in Johannesburg, with the official launch of the Anti-Intimidation and Ethical Practices Forum (AEPF). This body has been established to help professionals in certain fields who are being intimidated for exposing corruption in the workplace.  AEPF’s eight founding organisations are the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Read more >

WC ombud to bridge gap between police and the public

By Valencia Talane There’s a new sheriff in town in the Western Cape, and it is not the criminals who should be worried, but slacking, incompetent police officers. Six years after he was removed from his position as the country’s chief of state prosecutors, Vusi Pikoli is settling into his new role as the province’s Read more >

Corruption helps fuel illegal gold trade

This article, first published on Bloomberg and written by journalist Kevin Crowley, investigates the illegal mining trade which is prevalent in South Africa. Corruption, and the poverty that's often a driver of corruption, plays a significant role in the continuation of this illicit industrial activity, and it involves the miners themselves, employees of active mines, metal Read more >

What is the Seriti Commission?

​The first phase of the two-man Arms Procurement Commission, or the Seriti Commission, started on 20 January and was meant to wrap up in May with the testimony of  former president Thabo Mbeki, but his appearance was postponed because of his mother’s death. Phase two of the commission started on 21 July. The commission is investigating Read more >

Dropped charges confirm Guptagate scapegoating

The South African National Defence Force’s recent withdrawing of charges against the two officers that it implicated in the investigation into the Gupta aircraft that landed at Waterkloof Air Force base in 2013 confirms that they were chosen as scapegoats, and that the charges were designed to deflect attention from President Zuma’s role in securing Read more >

Who’s who in the arms deal?

Many of the players in the arms deal are still in the public eye. A few have died – Sicgau, Modise, Moloi – and others have been fired, resigned or come to the end of their terms of office and gone on to forge new careers for themselves. Only South Africans are included in this Read more >

ConCourt rules for DA in Nkandla SMS saga

The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of the DA in the matter of a contentious SMS – in which it said that President Jacob Zuma stole taxpayers’ money to refurbish his Nkandla home – sent to Gauteng voters just before national elections in May last year. The SMS reads: “The Nkandla report shows how Read more >

What can you get for R70-billion?

The total amount of public money involved was US$4.8-billion, or R30-billion at the exchange rate of the day. However, this figure does not take into account the costs of financing the deal, which, when added in, bring the total to around R70-billion. The acquisitions were meant to modernise the South African National Defence Force’s existing Read more >

No more secret party funding, says MVC

My Vote Counts (MVC) is an organisation campaigning to improve the accountability, transparency and inclusiveness of elections and politics in South Africa, so that all of its citizens will have a stronger voice. MVC is advocating for two key changes for accountability and openness:   *  For the South African electoral system to be changed so Read more >