DEAR CORRUPTION WATCH

Even pensions can be scammed

Dear Corruption Watch, I am 84 and receive a civil pension from the Government Employees Pension Fund. About 10 years ago, the GEPF sent me a letter saying my increments had been incorrectly calculated and requesting that I pay back about R32 000. I ignored the letter, thinking it was a scam. I recently received Read more >

CORRUPTION SNAPSHOTS

Global snapshots: 09 October 2015

Fifa: Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and Jerome Valcke suspended Fifa has provisionally suspended its president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel Platini for 90 days. The punishments were handed out by the ethics committee of football’s world governing body, which is investigating the three over corruption allegations. – BBC.com World Bank urged Read more >

LITIGATION

SCA clarifies the legal effect of PP findings

By Pierre De Vos First published on Constitutionally Speaking It is not easy to engage in a clear-eyed and unemotional discussion of any court judgment that deals with the legal status of the findings and remedial action issued by the office of the public protector. It may therefore be of some value to try and Read more >

LITIGATION

CW welcomes judgment on protector’s powers

Corruption Watch welcomes today’s Supreme Court of Appeal judgment in the matter between Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the Democratic Alliance, in which the public protector’s powers were found to be binding. We laud the decision which found that in the absence of a review application, state and public institutions may not simply ignore the public protector’s Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Teachers are the world’s heroes

This week we celebrated the 21st World Teachers Day on 5 October – a day proclaimed by Unesco in 1994. This year’s theme was Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies. Every day at Corruption Watch, we see teachers who go beyond the call of duty and who put their pupils’ needs ahead of their own. We’ve Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

MVC: Concourt party funding ruling a mere setback

The fight to compel political parties to publicly reveal where their private funding comes from is not over yet, says My Vote Counts’ (MVC) campaign coordinator Judith February. On Wednesday 30 September the Constitutional Court ruled against the bid brought forward by the MVC to compel political parties to publicly disclose where their private funding Read more >

LITIGATION

Sassa still ducking and diving

Corruption Watch has learned of the resignation of a senior executive at the South African Social Services Agency (Sassa) who was linked to the alleged irregular payment to (CPS) of almost R317-million. This amount was for the re-registration of grant recipients. Frank Earl tendered his registration several weeks ago in what a reliable source to Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Citizens fighting corruption from the bottom up

By Daniel Hough, Professor of Politics, University of Sussex First published on The Conversation Africa How can policy-makers most effectively tackle corruption? The question is hardly new and over the years it’s one that many have given plenty of thought to. Building up a consensus on what works and why it works has proven difficult, Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Hitachi: a settlement payment is not enough

Global electronics corporation Hitachi’s settlement fine of $19-million for charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the company for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is not enough of a sanction. The Japanese multinational company has a diverse footprint in over 40 countries and boasts growing profit margins year on Read more >