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Corruption Watch welcomes Mkhwebane’s appointment

06 October 2016 Corruption Watch congratulates Advocate Busisiwe Joyce Mkhwebane on her appointment as the new public protector. Mkhwebane was officially appointed today by President Jacob Zuma. Her seven-year term takes effect on 15 October 2016. Early this year, Corruption Watch launched a mass public awareness campaign, Bua Mzansi, aimed at ensuring that the selection Read more >

SCA throws out Motsoeneng case

SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng has lost yet another bid to appeal against a 2015 Western Cape High Court ruling that found his permanent appointment as COO by the public broadcaster was irrational and should be set aside. The judgment, handed down by the Supreme Court in September 2016, was attached to part B of a Read more >

One more step for incoming public protector

Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane is one step away from being named as South Africa’s new public protector. Last night the National Assembly gave her the 60% majority yes vote that she needed to make her appointment all but permanent. Her nomination was officially approved with 263 votes in favour to 79 against and one abstention. President Read more >

South Africa needs an integrity commission

by Advocate Paul Hoffman Commentators and the twitterati are abuzz, describing the symptoms of the war of attrition at present, in progress in and between the centres of power in the South African body politic. General anxiety in the land has spawned local use of the hashtag #Where do we go from here? Martin Luther Read more >

Technology can boost active citizenship – if chosen well

By Indra de Lanerolle First published in The Conversation – Africa Civic technology initiatives are on the rise. They are using new information and communication technologies to improve transparency, accountability and governance – faster and more cheaply than before. In Taiwan, for instance, tech activists have built online databases to track political contributions and create channels for public Read more >

Democracy showcase makes parly committee our hero

Our heroes for this week are the members of the parliamentary ad hoc committee to select a new public protector. Given what is arguably a far from easy task – transparently and constitutionally appointing the best person to replace one of South Africa’s most admired public figures – the members deliberated robustly and sometimes heatedly, Read more >

Is this our new public protector?

Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, an analyst at the State Security Agency, was yesterday selected by the parliamentary ad hoc committee in charge of appointing a new public protector, as the most suitable candidate to take over from Thuli Madonsela. Madonsela’s non-renewable seven-year term ends on 19 October 2016. From the start Corruption Watch intended to ensure Read more >

SA should choose all public figures this way

By Serjeant at the Bar First published in Mail & Guardian Something strange happened in South African politics last week, which was not directly connected to the local government elections that have discombobulated the ruling party. For arguably the first time in 20 years a subcommittee of the legislature did its job without fear or Read more >

Puppets should be on TV, not working as the protector

In the build-up to the appointment of our new public protector, we have engaged the services of that irreverent puppet Chester Missing for a series titled Puppet vs Protector. In it, Chester conducts short interviews with Dr Makhosi Khosa, the chairperson of the parliamentary ad hoc committee tasked with selecting Thuli Madonsela’s successor, as well Read more >