Dear Corruption Watch, And now water licencing and fracking. We've seen the abuse of power, delays and market uncertainty caused by mining licencing, will this be more of the same? The multiple water licencing requirements will open up the opportunity for bribery or extortion in the fracking application process. And the auditor general discovered considerable Read more >
DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH
Dear Corruption Watch, We are often told that an effective remedy would be to place firms who engage in criminal or ethically suspect conduct on one of the various official blacklists that prevent them from doing further business with the state. But what about professionals like doctors, nurses, lawyers, auditors and engineers? Members of these Read more >
DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH
Dear Corruption Watch, A mining house in Kenya is considering bringing a bribery case to the International Chamber of Commerce. They allege that they were asked to pay just under $1 million to reverse a suspension of its mining licence. The company claims the suspension was politically motivated. Is this common in the mining industry? Read more >
OPINIONS
By Nicola Whittaker Recently, the spotlight has been on two pillars of our democracy, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Office of the Public Protector. At the heart of the fight is a contract entered into by the IEC, now Chaired by Advocate Pansy Tlakula, and Abland (Pty) Ltd for the lease of the Read more >
DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH
Dear Corruption Watch, In my work as a corporate advisor I am continually astonished that executives are only vaguely aware of the impact our anti-corruption laws and those particularly in the US and Britain might have on their business practices. I am often asked what top three things they should do to start assessing company Read more >
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Dear Corruption Watch, Many corrupt transactions either require professionals to execute them, or leave them in a position to be aware of them. Lawyers, engineers, auditors and doctors agree to adhere to professional codes of ethics. Theses codes should mean that those professionals party to corrupt activities should be unable to continue to practice, don’t Read more >
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Dear Corruption Watch, What is the difference between criminal and non-criminal corruption? Isn’t all corrupt behaviour a criminal offence? Where are the lines drawn? Mystified Dear Mystified, This question gets to the heart of what we mean when we talk about fighting corruption. The answer depends on how you define “corruption”. First, corruption can be Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
By David Lewis Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has injected a new sense of urgency and determination into government efforts to tackle corruption. The gazetting of the Public Administration Management Bill is evidence that this is more than talk. This legislation is potentially an obstacle to corruption at least as great as the Read more >
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Dear Corruption Watch What do you think of the judicial commission of enquiry into the arms deal? Is it likely to uncover the corruption that occurred during the arms deal, or is it just another way for those who benefited to cover it up? Interested observer Dear Interested observer At the level of principle, the Read more >