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CORRUPTION NEWS

Chippy Shaik to testify at Seriti Commission

By Lee-Ann Alfreds         HE’S the umpteenth witness to be called, and the first since the Arms Procurement Commission was stunned by critic Hennie van Vuuren’s refusal to testify. But Shamim “Chippy” Shaik is no hors d'oeuvre. He is in fact, critics argue, the main course – the “key figure” in the subversion and manipulation of Read more >

HEROES & ZEROES

Seriti Commission given five more months

Judge Willie Seriti has been given another five months in which to finish investigating bribery, corruption and other acts of impropriety which might have happened during the acquisition of prime mission equipment for two arms of the South African National Defence Force in 1999. President Jacob Zuma said in a statement released last Friday that, Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

SA failing to implement OECD convention

Transparency International (TI) today published its annual progress report, titled Exporting Corruption, on the implementation of the OECD anti-bribery convention. Its revelations are thought-provoking, and in South Africa's case, unflattering. In March this year we wrote about the country’s tardiness in prosecuting foreign bribery under the anti-bribery convention of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Van Vuuren defiant at Seriti Commission

By Lee-Ann Alfreds Hennie van Vuuren, the arms deal critic who withdrew from the Arms Procurement Commission in August, appeared before it on Monday, 20 October, as instructed. The week before, Van Vuuren told Corruption Watch that "I have been summonsed to appear on 20 October and will be at the Arms Procurement Commission at Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Corruption is also a crime, SAPS

Back in September 2012, when Corruption Watch had only been existence for a few months, the organisation expressed concerns over the lack of attention to fraud and corruption-related crimes in the annual crime statistics released by the ministry of police. There was simply no breakdown of information relating to these crimes, despite numerous warnings from Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Civil society asks for dissolution of arms commission

More than 30 local social justice organisations, including Corruption Watch, have issued a joint call for real arms deal accountability. Read their statement below: The 1999 arms deal represents up to R70-billion that should have been spent on housing, education, health and South Africa’s other pressing social needs. The arms deal corrupted our politics, weakened Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Seriti Commission not fair or consistent

By Lee-Ann Alfreds The withdrawal of arms deal critics Andrew Feinstein, Paul Holden and Hennie van Vuuren from the Arms Procurement Commission was not surprising in light of the unfair treatment meted out to detractors who have participated in proceedings. This was the unanimous verdict of civil society organisations and arms deal and constitutional experts Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Commission not going to fulfil its mandate?

By Lee-Ann Alfreds THE Arms Procurement Commission is a “waste of taxpayers’ money”. Speaking on Friday 29 August, a day after he and fellow critics Paul Holden and Hennie van Vuuren announced they were withdrawing from the inquiry, Andrew Feinstein said while they had “really wanted this commission to work”, they had concluded they could Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

LHR and clients pull out of Seriti Commission

Source: Lawyers for Human Rights Media statement: Withdrawal from the Arms Procurement Commission The arms deal was a uniquely damaging moment in our young democratic history. It was concluded after decades of uncontrolled spending on foreign and internal wars by the apartheid regime. From the signing of the contracts in 1999 up to R70-billion of Read more >