Collusion is corruption

By David Lewis The past week has been a ­watershed in two related perceptions of corruption in South Africa. The first is that the private sector bears little responsibility for corruption. The second is that no good news regarding corruption ever comes out of the public sector. The notion that the private sector was, at Read more >

CW investigations in the news

Two articles featuring the investigative work of Corruption Watch’s media team appeared in national newspapers recently. The first story, published on 29 May by the New Age, related to the suspension of three officials at the JS Moroka municipality in Mpumalanga. The original story was written by CW’s Zaheer Cassim. In the second case, senior Read more >

Corruption Watch’s big news week

Corruption Watch received extensive media coverage in the last week, ranging from our call to release a report on corruption in the Gauteng health department, to our intervention in the Nkandla saga, to the Mvula Trust R30-million tender exposé, and then our first-year anniversary report launch and press briefing. Below follow links to how these Read more >

Moss Phakoe’s spirit must galvanise us – Vavi

On March 14 2009, Moss Phakoe – a beloved husband, son, brother and father, a dedicated trade unionist and a committed ANC councillor – was gunned down, aged 52, in his car in Rustenburg as he arrived home after putting up posters for the ANC election campaign. Moss Phakoe started as a shop steward at Read more >

Real progress thanks to Mdluli judge

By David Lewis Real-life courtroom dramas are at their best when, without rhetorical flourish, a judge or advocate lays out a clear case by drawing on incontestable facts and unimpeachable arguments. By these standards, the handing down this week by Judge Ephraim Makgoba of his decision to interdict Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli and Minister of Read more >

Targeting the corrupt ‘untouchables’

South Africa is experiencing an awakening of its civil society akin to the 1970s, when unions started to organise against an unjust political regime. This time it is against corruption and to protect a fragile democracy. The launch of Corruption Watch at the start of this year came as a welcome relief to many. Funded Read more >

JMPD: Admit there’s a problem

According to Statistics SA, one in four Johannesburg drivers claimed to have been asked to pay a bribe to avoid a traffic fine in 2010. Surveys by Transparency International in 2010 and last year indicated that about one in three urban South Africans actually paid some form of a bribe to law enforcement officers during Read more >