CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Corruption snapshot: 30 March – 4 April

Prosecutor jailed for corruption A former Pietermaritzburg control prosecutor has been jailed for five years for corruption after he tried to have three drug dealers freed. Zandile Radebe (45) was the control prosecutor in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court in 2006 when lawyer Frans Mashile offered him R150 000 to arrange for his three clients to be Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

More questions than answers as Tshwane replaces anti-corruption body

By Chantelle Benjamin 4 April 2012 – The disbanded Tshwane Metro Police Department's (TMPD) anti-corruption unit is to be replaced by a new unit, which the municipality says will be more efficient. Tshwane Metro Council spokesperson Console Tleane said the move will bring the division in line with international practice. “It will look into police conduct Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Whopping salaries for Mafikeng’s municipal managers

4 April 2012 – The team of senior managers in Mafikeng municipality earn almost R30-million a year, making it the second most expensive council in the country despite all evidence pointing towards poor service delivery and sub-standard performance in the North West district. This amount is according to the municipality’s submission of budgeted salaries to Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Tshwane metro police heading for a meltdown?

By Chantelle Benjamin 2 April 2012 – When a municipality, with a suspended deputy police chief and maladministration probe hanging over it, dissolves its anti-corruption unit, some uncomfortable questions have to be raised. Particularly when it appears that staff are also being intimidated. The Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) has found itself trying to explain Read more >

CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Corruption snapshot: 23 – 29 March

More South Africans believe politicians are corrupt   Forty percent of South Africans think parliamentarians and councillors are corrupt, according to the Afrobarometer survey, the Star reported. The figure increased from 2008, when 25% of South Africans thought "almost all" or "most" members of Parliament were involved in corruption, according to Dr Cherrel Africa of Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Corrupt police abuse, exploit sex workers

By Zaheer Cassim Sex workers are made extremely vulnerable by corruption in the police force, needing protection from officers who demand sex or money from them. This emerged from the 2012 Cosatu Gender Conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday 27 March, where the decriminalization of sex work was discussed. Sally-Jean Shackleton, director of the Sex Worker Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Is new police watchdog facing old problems?

By Chantelle Benjamin Researchers into law enforcement are concerned that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), a new police watchdog set to replace the existing Independent Complaints Directorate in April, is not sufficiently resourced or structured to deal effectively with corruption and other crimes. According to Gareth Newham of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

‘Shining light on graft is the best cure’

28 March 2012 – Corruption Watch delivered a strong message to parliament yesterday during the final round of public hearings on the Info Bill, arguing that the best weapon to defeat corruption is an informed public. Executive director David Lewis said “sunlight is the best disinfectant” when targeting multiple acts of corruption and that the Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Big-time bribes to bring opponent down

27 March 2012 – A job and a Beemer are the lures allegedly used by Musa Mkhatshwa, a member of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), to persuade a journalist to trash a potential opponent of Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza. Suspended ANCYL provincial secretary Musa Mkhatshwa has been accused of persuading a journalist to write negative Read more >