Parliament, part 3 – getting citizens involved

By Valencia Talane South Africa’s Parliament is the instrument whereby laws and policies of the country are proposed and their merits and legality debated on, before being passed, shelved for later discussion or discarded within a multi-party representation. The country’s Constitution allows for members of the general public to make submissions on laws or processes Read more >

Parliament, part 2 – integrity and accountability needed

By Valencia Talane “Parliament has become dysfunctional in that I don’t know who my MP is.” This is a quote attributed to social justice activist Zackie Achmat in People’s Power People’s Parliament a magazine distributed as part of a civil society conference held under the same title in 2012. The aim of the conference was Read more >

Parliament, part 1 – its role in our society

By Valencia Talane How does Parliament serve you and me as ordinary citizens and why? How do members of Parliament come to sit in its houses? What is their purpose and who do they represent and why? With South Africa heading for its fifth elections since becoming a democracy, we answer these questions and more. Read more >

Will the Seriti Commission run out of time?

By Lee-Ann Alfreds While contracts, national industrial participation programmes, defence industrial participation programmes, credits, multipliers, scores and offsets have had a lot of airing at the Arms Procurement Commission taking place in Pretoria, they are not the word that has been heard most frequently over the last eight months. That word is adjournment. For since Read more >

Whistleblowers are heroes – our new e-book

Corruption Watch has released a brand new e-book focused on whistleblowers. In the book we talk about what it means to be a whistleblower, who can be a whistleblower, how to do it, and what laws protect the whistleblower. We also share the real-life stories of whistleblowers who chose to not look the other way. Read more >

Parties resist funding disclosure

Dear Corruption Watch, Thank you for clarifying the rules on public funding for elections, but we would like to know why private funds collected by political parties are not transparently disclosed. This matter was litigated and the parties agreed to enact a law promoting the disclosure of private funding, but it has not happened. When Read more >

Not scared to speak up

People who blow the whistle on corruption do not often get the recognition they would have earned through their courageous efforts. Despite this, whistleblowers from all walks of life put their names forward to help claim back the dignity and credibility that would otherwise be lost to corruption within South Africa’s public service. Whistleblowers put Read more >

Join us and celebrate whistleblowers

Corruption Watch, the Right 2 Know campaign (R2K), and other stakeholders will be shining the spotlight on the invaluable role of whistleblowers on Saturday 5 April. The organisations will be co-hosting a meeting in Soweto, which will feature real-life whistleblowers, including Mike and Cecilia Tshishonga, telling their stories and sharing their experiences about blowing the Read more >

ANC owes it to itself and SA to halt its abuse of power

By Mavuso Msimang Corruption Watch board member Mavuso Msimang writes that to truly honour the traditions of the century-old African National Congress (ANC), an organisation that fought hard for freedom and democracy in South Africa, the current leadership must not ignore the voices that are calling for accountability. Read his opinion piece, published in Business Read more >