Public procurement is one of the most corruption-prone activities that governments undertake. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime cites several reasons for this situation, including the volume of transactions, the multitude of stakeholders, and the close interaction between public officials and businesses. Corruption Watch (CW) has built up an extensive body of work around Read more >
By Kirsten Pearson One unique feature of public finance is the concept of lapsing funds. Any unspent government funds at the end of a financial year must be returned to the treasury. This makes perfect sense. If government is borrowing money to fund its programmes, why leave funds idle while paying interest on loans? But Read more >
Image: Alpha Stock Images The Public Procurement Act (PPA) is finally here, after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed it into law on 23 July 2024. However, the act is not yet in force, as the president has not determined the date on which it will take effect. This will be gazetted in due course. Broadly, the Read more >
Image: Wikimedia/Raimond Spekking. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Does the mining sector in Africa have all the requisite best standards in place to ensure both adequate investment and sustainable impact on the environment and the livelihood of communities affected by mining? The answer to this question is a mixed bag of legislative and Read more >
African Anti-Corruption Day (AACD), held every year on 11 July, aims to recognise the progress that has been made in fighting corruption across the continent, and reiterate the need to move with the times in developing approaches to end corruption. It also provides an opportunity to reflect on the catastrophic consequences of corruption on the Read more >
South Africa’s highly-anticipated national and provincial elections went off smoothly for the most part on 29 May 2024, though the voter turnout of just over 58% was disappointing but not unexpected. Nevertheless, the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, as well as the South African Human Rights Commission, declared the event free and fair after several days Read more >
PRESS RELEASE President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a wide-ranging interview yesterday with EWN’s political journalist Tshidi Madia and 702’s Clement Manyathela, made the claim that “commentators like Corruption Watch (CW) have said that during this term, they have seen incidents of corruption going down.” The president made this statement in the context of listing his administration’s Read more >
PRESS RELEASE The judgment handed down by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) yesterday, regarding the IEC’s appeal against the Electoral Court order on the eligibility of former president Jacob Zuma’s candidacy in the upcoming elections, represents a win for civil society, says Corruption Watch (CW). The ConCourt ruled that Zuma was not eligible or qualified to Read more >
By Janine Erasmus At face value, the activity of electioneering appears to be well-intentioned – a simple act of campaigning for your political party of choice – but dirty tricks and manipulation abound when election campaigning goes into full swing and politicians’ consciences are nowhere to be found. Politicians often play on voters’ desperation and Read more >