17th IACC: time for justice, equity, security, trust

The 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) took place in Panama City, Panama, last week, under the theme Time for Justice: Equity, Security, Trust. Gathering in the home town of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers, anti-corruption activists called for an end to the illicit networks that secrecy jurisdictions foster. Read more >

Corporate gifts: acceptable practice vs corruption

By Cynthia Schoeman Extracted from Ethics Can The giving and receiving of gifts is especially prevalent at this time of the year. This not only highlights the question of what is and is not acceptable and ethical, but also increases the potential for abuse. In response to the possible negative aspects of gifts, many organisations Read more >

AG: project planning is key to avoiding wastage

To always ensure that there are no funding gaps in government projects, and service delivery needs are met, it is crucial to conduct proper planning which includes the communities who will benefit from those projects. So says Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu, who released a comprehensive performance report on the urban renewal programme (URP) of the Gauteng Read more >

Information Regulator established under Popi

In May last year it was announced that the appointment of an Information Regulator was on the cards. This important body has the responsibility of protecting data subjects – people whose information is being processed – from harm and ensuring that their personal information is protected by responsible parties – those seeking the processing of Read more >

Parliament grills Sassa for answers

The executive leadership of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) endured the hot seat in Parliament recently to answer questions on the financial health of the agency and its spending history in the 2015/16 financial year. The agency logged a total of R1.1-billion in irregular expenditure, Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) was Read more >

Setting the record straight on Lokisa launch

Yesterday we released our report on corruption in the Home Affairs immigration system. Titled Project Lokisa: Asylum at a Price, the report was launched on a piece of land over the road from the Marabastad refugee reception office in Pretoria. The launch was notable for the absence of the key actor in the story – Read more >

CW exposes widespread corruption at Home Affairs

For the past two years Corruption Watch, with a number of partners, has been investigating corruption in the immigration section of the Home Affairs department. Today we released our report, titled Project Lokisa: Asylum at a Price, at a gathering outside the Marabastad refugee reception office, and the picture it paints is disturbing.     We Read more >

EC slowly advances towards cleaner governance

Departments and state owned entities seldom embrace the recommendations put forward every year by Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu. When they are, though, and a culture of consistency and improvement is adopted, it is reflected best in the decent audits they receive. Makwethu released his annual national and provincial audit outcomes yesterday. Of all the provinces audited, Read more >

Track your municipality’s financial performance

An informed citizenry is an empowered citizenry. Whether you’re someone who wants to exercise your civic responsibilities and get involved in how your municipality is run, or whether you just wish you could understand the complexities of the system a little better, we have put together a list of useful tools that will help you. Read more >