Posts

Community, collaboration make for better public institutions

Ten years ago Corruption Watch ran an investigation into the dire conditions at Macosa Junior Secondary School in the Mqanduli area of the Eastern Cape. The school had no furniture for its 500 or so learners, no proper ablutions, and the walls had not been painted in years. Those learners who had a place to Read more >

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 >

Stealing hope from the next generation

Corruption in schools not only robs pupils of the benefits of feeding schemes, transport and textbooks, it also robs taxpayers of the ability to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children who only have education as a way out of poverty. Corruption Watch stats reveal that the biggest culprits in schools are governing Read more >

Corruption-watching starts as schools go back

As bells ring and classes kick off for the 2013 academic year, Corruption Watch begins its monitoring of schools – a big focus for the organisation this year. Since launching we’ve received more than 60 reports of possible corruption in schools, mostly involving the embezzlement of funds by principals and administrators, corruption in procurement processes Read more >

Unpacking SA’s education crisis – part six

In this, our sixth and final instalment on the unfolding education saga, we ask what lessons have been learned from the Limpopo textbook crisis to avoid a similar breakdown in the future, both from the government’s perspective and civil society. We look at systematic problems in the education system that affected the Eastern Cape, as Read more >

Unpacking SA’s education crisis – part five

In this, the fifth of our six-part series on the unfolding education crisis, we profile EduSolutions, its directors and those of its holding company. We examine the company’s historical relationship with public procurement, the current contracts that it has with various tiers of government, and the relationships its key directors have with leading public officials. Read more >

Union leaders perceived as corrupt

A third of union members allege there is corruption in their unions, but fewer than one in seven could ascertain that they had personally experienced it, according to a Congress Workers’ Survey released at the 11th Cosatu National Congress held at Gallagher Estate, Midrand on Monday.     The survey was conducted with 753 non-union Read more >

Expert: Neo Africa could face criminal charges

The report by Neo Africa will come under scrutiny when whistleblower and former Limpopo Education general manager of budget Solly Tshitangano takes his unfair dismissal fight to court. In its report, Neo Africa cleared senior department officials of irregularities relating to the EduSolutions contract – a conclusion not shared by other investigations. A legal expert Read more >

Unpacking SA’s education crisis – part four

In this, the fourth of our six-part series on the unfolding education crisis, we pick apart the roles and powers of the various investigative and administrative agencies involved with the Limpopo case, and identify what they are doing to resolve the crisis. Media professionals are free to use all copy and photographs from this series Read more >