A step towards elimination of secret companies

Corruption Watch executive director David Lewis chatted to Moneyweb’s Siki Mgabadeli in the wake of the news that the G20 has adopted strict new principles to tackle money laundering and undisclosed beneficial ownership. Download this interview as an MP3 Siki Mgabadeli: G20 leaders over the weekend vowed to implement an anti-corruption action plan as part Read more >

Chippy Shaik’s testimony full of denials

By Lee-Ann Alfreds Chippy Shaik, the former Department of Defence chief of acquisitions whom arms critics believe was central to the subversion and manipulation of South Africa’s controversial 1999 arms deal, has denied any wrongdoing. Testifying at the Arms Procurement Commission last week, Shaik insisted he had not:   *acted inappropriately to ensure his fraudster Read more >

G20 beneficial ownership principles: six points to note

Source: Transparency International This weekend G20 leaders adopted new high level principles on beneficial ownership transparency in Brisbane, declaring “financial transparency, in particular the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements a ‘high priority’”. But just how good are these principles? Here are six take-home points: 1. They were adopted. And that’s a Read more >

No accurate stats for corruption in South Africa

By Hamadziripi Tamukamoyo, ISS Pretoria In South Africa, the South African Police Service (SAPS) reports corruption under the broad category of ‘commercial crimes'. This frustrates efforts to monitor and identify trends in specific cases of corruption. According to the 2011/2012 crime statistics report, in the decade preceding that period the number of commercial crime cases Read more >

G20 to tackle beneficial ownership, money laundering

The G20 summit might be over for this year, but for anti-corruption activists the work has just begun. Three prominent South Africans – Corruption Watch chairperson Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, and former Constitutional Court judge Richard Goldstone – joined the call earlier in November to the leaders of the Read more >

New anti-corruption strategy for Gauteng on the cards

A people-centred government that takes extra consideration to recruit dedicated staff, punishes wrongdoers sufficiently and protects and rewards those who report corruption within its ranks. This is how delegates at the recent Gauteng Anti-Corruption Summit expressed their vision for positive changes in the provincial administration, that will aid the quest to quell corruption. The one-day Read more >

Nkandla SMS initiative set up

By Janine Erasmus Accountability (noun): the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility (Oxford). If the Public Members Unit Team (PMUT) has its way, South Africans will be paying for the R247-million upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private Nkandla residence not once – but twice. And Number One won’t bear the burden of accountability any Read more >

More transparency in tenders for Gauteng

The Gauteng department of roads and transport, with the provincial department of finance, is piloting a revised tender process which is expected to bring unprecedented levels of openness and transparency to the murky waters of government tendering. At a joint media briefing yesterday, finance MEC Barbara Creecy, with her transport counterpart Ismail Vadi, announced details Read more >

Gauteng declares war on corruption

By Valencia Talane Would a regiment of ethics officers that cuts across government’s multiple departments and their agencies help curb the growing presence of corruption in the public service? Gauteng premier David Makhura seems to think so, and he has roped in the national department of public service and administration to help infuse this system Read more >