Corruption Watch fights Hawks Bill in parliament

Corruption Watch and its partner organisations remained firm in their stance in parliament this week, voicing opposition to the Hawks being located within the South African Police Service (SAPS). The joint presentation by Corruption Watch, the Open Society Foundation and the Legal Resource Centre was delivered during the final round of submissions on the SAPS Read more >

Joburg City welcomes corruption report

23 April 2012 – Johannesburg City welcomes allegations made against metro police by the Corruption Watch report and takes issues raised seriously. We believe criticism from the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) can improve our service delivery initiatives and urge members of the public to urgently draw our attention on any shortcomings or wrongdoing they observe from Read more >

Corruption Watch calls for ‘no more tjo-tjo’

Launching its campaign on 23 April 2012, Corruption Watch revealed that in 2010 one in four Johannesburg drivers was asked for a bribe by the metro’s traffic officers – a total of 150 000 drivers during a single year. The figures come from a Statistics SA 2010 survey. “Bribery is a major problem in South Africa,” Read more >

Joint media statement: SAPS Amendment Bill

Institute for Security Studies Open Society Foundation Corruption Watch APCOF   In order for government to comply with the Constitutional Court judgement in the Glenister case, parliament needs to draft legislation that would ensure that South Africa’s anti-corruption body (currently the Hawks) is protected from political interference and influence. It is the duty of the Read more >

Jumping the queue: an RDP housing exposé

16 April 2012 – Corruption Watch has spent two weeks gathering damning RDP housing-corruption evidence from the field and putting pressure on the authorities to respond – this is what we’ve uncovered … Residents of Pennyville, a mixed housing development near Soweto, were the first to open up. The community of about 10 000 residents live Read more >

‘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 >

Information Bill gets a beating in parliament

The Protection of State Information Bill came in for a sustained pummelling in Parliament yesterday when organisations representing the fields of media, law, human rights and the fight against corruption unanimously rejected the bill in its current form. Corruption Watch, launched by Cosatu eight weeks ago, detailed how it believed the bill could undermine the Read more >

Institutions raise voices against Secrecy Bill

Several respected institutions yesterday mounted a renewed attack on the African National Congress’ so-called secrecy bill, as submission after submission to the National Council of Provinces called for significant changes to be made to the bill. The newly formed civil society led Corruption Watch warned that the bill as it stands would impede the fight Read more >

Fighting graft to advance human rights

22 March 2012 – Students added their voice to the corruption fight at a Human Rights Day event held yesterday at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pietermaritzburg campus. All participants signed the anti-corruption pledge, committing to a bribe-free society and acting responsibly when in positions of power while encouraging others to do the same. The meeting, Read more >