Parents must get involved in SGB elections

By Valencia Talane If your child attends one of South Africa’s public schools you have between now and March 2015 to think hard about who will manage his or her school for the next three years, and how. Parents must participate in all aspects of the management of their children’s schools in order for school Read more >

Mdluli fraud charges finally stick

In April we reported on the continuing efforts of Richard Mdluli, former head of the police crime intelligence division, to fight off prosecution on a range of charges – murder and intimidation, money-laundering and fraud – relating to various incidents that happened during his controversial career. These incidents include the shooting in 1999 of Oupa Ramogibe, Read more >

Nicky Rehbock: our woman in Berlin

Valencia Talane Many young people from around the world gathered in Brazil in November 2012 for the Transparency International (TI) annual anti-corruption conference. One of those was Nicky Rehbock, who was the editor of the Corruption Watch website at the time. She was so moved by the work of the global organisation – and particularly Read more >

Government keen to clean up its housing image

In the first part of our three-part housing series we outline some of the corruption-related challenges faced by the national Department of Human Settlements in meeting its mandate. The allocation of RDP houses to people who have registered their names with the government continues to be a challenge for the department of human settlements. This Read more >

SA mining at high risk for corruption

The spotlight is again on South Africa’s mining sector, this time with corruption in the sector under discussion, in the context of the country’s tardiness in prosecuting foreign corruption cases. This lack of action was pointed out in a March 2014 report released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The document, Phase Read more >

Corruption challenges are different for small companies

By Janine Erasmus Big corporates have systems in place, personnel and financial resources to deal with legal and ethical challenges. They can absorb both planned and unexpected costs, including those related to corruption, with relative ease. But what if you are running a small business – how easy is it to stick to your standards, Read more >

Some relief for Eastern Cape schools

By Valencia Talane In November 2013 Corruption Watch reported on a case of bad service delivery at an Eastern Cape school that had no chairs or desks for its learners. In fact, according to the principal, the school had received no new furniture in the 23 years that she had been there. For many years, Read more >

Challenging the system on behalf of refugees

By Valencia Talane Seeking solutions to the problem of corruption at refugee reception centres seems to be an increasingly challenging task for many organisations working in the field of refugee and asylum seeker rights. Hundreds of cases of vulnerable asylum seekers are documented regularly by such organisations with the hope that a change in policy Read more >

Corrupt officials make life tough for refugees

By Valencia Talane In May 2012 home affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni stated in Parliament that the department had noted progress in the implementation of the Refugees Amendment Act of 2011. The focus of his presentation before the portfolio committee on home affairs was the state’s improved ability to track the records of applicants of asylum Read more >