Posts

Transparency International responds to the attack against Ukraine

Issued by Transparency International Corruption fuels conflict and insecurity globally, and we are now seeing its effects acutely in the case of Russia and Ukraine. Leading democracies have facilitated this conflict by allowing kleptocrats to further their interests and power across the West. Just last week, Transparency International reported on a German state foundation secretly Read more >

What is a tax haven? Offshore finance, explained

In May 2020 Mauritius, curiously one of the African countries that perform well on the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, was listed by the European Commission (EC) as a high-risk country for money laundering and funding of terrorism. It was joined on the revised EC list by Botswana, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, among others. The former is Read more >

G20 must implement its anti-corruption promises

The role of civil society in democracy and good governance is becoming increasingly important. Acting as the voice of the people, civil society holds governments to account for enforcing the rule of law, complying with legislation and policy, and implementing promises made. When the Group of Twenty (G20), of which South Africa is a member, Read more >

G20 dragging feet on beneficial ownership

Source: Transparency International The corrupt don’t like paper trails, they like secrecy. What better way to hide corrupt activity than with a secret company or trust as a front? You can anonymously open bank accounts, make transfers and launder dirty money. If the company is not registered in your name, it can’t always be traced Read more >

Panama Papers and offshore tax havens

With Hanna Ziady First published on Moneyweb Image by Mark Lewis Corruption Watch’s executive director David Lewis spoke to financial journalist Hanna Ziady of Moneyweb on Monday, regarding the implications of the leaked Panama Papers, a story that had broken over the weekend. Read the transcript below: Hanna Ziady (HZ):  It has been described as Read more >

Open data is a key factor in fighting corruption

An open, democratic government system that gives its citizens access to information on its plans, its spending patterns and its services – it's the ideal that the world’s open data advocates work towards daily, for the nations that need it. Whether or not they will win the war against administrative secrecy remains to be seen, Read more >

Secrecy a threat to our democracy

The Right2Know (R2K) Campaign has today released its Secret State of the Nation Report 2014, which addresses certain trends, patterns and problems around secrecy in South Africa. The country is grappling with ever-greater threats to access to information, such as the Protection of State Information Bill (the infamous Secrecy Bill), which is not yet signed Read more >

Op-ed: How the Seriti Commission is failing

​Source: Kholiswa Tyiki, R2K This opinion piece by Right2Know journalist and researcher Kholiswa Tyiki takes a critical look at the Seriti Commission's seeming reluctance to make crucial documents available to cross-examiners, and calls for more public participation and pressure for the full truth to be revealed. The arms deal, which saw South Africa spending up to Read more >