Posts

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 >

Twenty years on: no more elimination of corruption

The 2014 national elections mark the 20-year anniversary of the ANC-led government and while views on whether or not the country’s fortunes have improved vary widely, even the most rosy-bespectacled of citizens would have a hard time denying that corruption has become a massive problem in recent years. Because there has been only one party Read more >

The real cost of the arms deal

By Lee-Ann Alfreds The figures bandied about are staggering. R30-billion. R71-billion. R90-billion. But what is even more staggering is the fact that no one truly knows what the arms deal has cost South Africa. When the South African government announced the controversial deal in 1999, it stated that the purchase of helicopters, submarines, frigates and Read more >

Little effort by SA to prosecute acts of foreign bribery

By Valencia Talane South Africa is not doing enough to bring to book individuals and companies linked to acts of bribery involving foreign companies and governments. Furthermore, the country’s “political and economic considerations” are thought to be contributing to this worrying state of affairs. This was recently revealed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Read more >

Local government in South Africa – part 6, procurement

So far we’ve looked at the structure of municipalities, the laws that govern their management, the way they should handle finances, and the people who manage these tasks. In the last article in our series, we explain how procurement should work in a municipality. Municipalities spend their revenue on a wide range of expenses such Read more >

Access to classified documents hampers commission

Whistleblower Richard Young was unable to cross-examine Armscor programme manager Frits Nortje because he does not have sufficient time and access to classified documents – this is one of the big concerns around the Seriti Commission, which is investigating “allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the strategic defence procurement package”. Lawyers for Human Read more >

Campaigning against corruption – 2014 elections

By Kavisha Pillay As we race up to the 2014 national elections, political parties are doing their best to convince the public that their party is best equipped to serve the country. South African citizens are demanding action against corruption, seen as a stumbling block to growth and development, and consequently many parties have highlighted Read more >

Community could have benefited from Nkandla

Public protector Thuli Madonsela yesterday released her long awaited final report into the alleged irregular and excessive expenditure on security upgrades at Nkandla, President Jacob Zuma’s private residence in KwaZulu-Natal. Madonsela’s investigation is not the first to have been conducted on the controversial construction project. In October 2012 public works minister Thulas Nxesi ordered an Read more >

Arms deal offsets – were they worth it?

In the newly democratised South Africa, who could say no to an investment into our economy of between R104- and R110-billion, with the creation of 65 000 jobs? This was the promise of the Strategic Defence Procurement Package (SDPP or arms deal) offset agreements. At the time it would cost the country around R30-billion – excluding Read more >