President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the long-awaited Municipal Systems Amendment Act (MSAA) into law on 19 August – an important legislative change in the administrative management of local government. The Act seeks to regularise the appointment and performance of municipal managers and the decision-makers around them to ensure cleaner local administrations. But while political agendas Read more >
Image: Unesco On 28 September the world marked the International Day for the Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). This event, established in November 2015 through UN resolution (38 C/70) and first commemorated in 2016, aims to facilitate international discussions on policy and guidelines in this important area. Access to information plays an important role in Read more >
Source: Legalbrief The National Prosecuting Authority is injecting new life into its Estina Dairy Project investigation with yesterday’s arrest of former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane, Sahara employee Ugeshni Govender and a former director of Islandsite, Ronica Ragavan, as it attempts to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta on the same matter, while targeting other associates linked to the fugitive family, notes Legalbrief. Read more >
Image: Interpol International police organisation Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre recently ran a global awareness campaign which highlighted the extensive use of money mules in facilitating the laundering and movement of criminal proceeds. A mule or courier is a person who smuggles contraband to another area or across a border for a criminal organisation Read more >
By Lesedi Masoko “The existent level of corruption in developing countries across Africa, is high because it is entrenched in its historical roots of colonialism.” This is the view of scholars Luis Angeles and Kyriakos C. Neanidis, written in their 2014 journal article titled The Persistent Effect of Colonialism on Corruption. On this Heritage Day Read more >
Electoral democracy – a democratic government based on a system that enables all citizens to select one candidate from a list of competitors for political office in a process of election. Each citizen becomes a voter who casts a secret ballot indicating their choices. In order for the election to qualify for democratic integrity, the Read more >
Source: South African government The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained a preservation order from the Special Tribunal to freeze pension benefits of Philemon Letwaba, the former chief operating officer of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). The Special Tribunal order, dated 16 September 2022, interdicts the Liberty Group — the pension administrator — from paying Read more >
The Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) on 19 September hosted a summit titled Good Governance and Accountability in a Disrupted Economy, which focused on catalysing forward-moving processes for accountability and transparency in governance in South Africa. Guest speakers included Prof Mervyn King, author of the four acclaimed King reports on good governance, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke, Read more >
The Executive Ethics Code is unconstitutional to the extent that it does not require members of the executive to disclose donations made to campaigns for elections to positions within political parties. This was confirmed in the Constitutional Court on 20 September 2022. Investigative journalism organisation AmaBhungane brought the application to the ConCourt, asking it to Read more >