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CORRUPTION NEWS

Digital Vibes saga shows importance of transparency, access to information

There is nowhere left to hide for former health minister Zweli Mkhize, his former deputy director-general Anban Pillay, and a number of other senior health department officials. With the eventual release of the 101-page report into the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) probe into the Digital Vibes, their corruption and lies are out in the open.  “This was done in the interest of fairness and in terms of the Promotion of Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Poor planning for Covid-19 relief funds left municipalities vulnerable to fraud

By Kwazi Dlamini  Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke continues to raise concerns with the way local governments have handled the Covid-19 relief funds. Maluleke released the third special audit report on Covid-19 related initiatives, together with the 2019/20 Municipal Finance Management Act report – which we cover in an upcoming article – and 43 municipalities were put under the microscope for several reasons.  They include municipalities which contributed the highest amount for irregular Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Covid-19 vaccine procurement in SA entering murky waters

The hot topic of conversation in media, in homes around the country, and on millions of lips is the rollout of South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccination programme. Corruption Watch has been following the developments with interest and concern, and indeed has warned about a repeat of the widespread greed and corruption that emerged during the first Read more >

OPINIONS

Questions linger over Jova as health department stays mum

By Karam Singh and Kirsten PearsonFirst published on Business Live Corruption Watch is trying to keep a close eye on Covid-19 vaccine procurement and rollout. Given the experiences with personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement and the impact the vaccine rollout has on each resident’s lives, we believe it is critical to monitor. But our monitoring Read more >

OPINIONS

Treasury opens up on Covid vaccine procurement oversight

By Janine ErasmusFirst published on Maverick Citizen With the upcoming deployment of South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine programme, Corruption Watch felt strongly enough about the possibility of corruption marring the process to write to National Treasury asking for clarification on aspects of the procurement process, given that emergency procurement thus far has been riddled with corruption. Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Covid millions lost to greed, carelessness, and mismanagement

At the beginning of September the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) released its first special report on the management of funds set aside for government’s Covid-19 response. The fiscal relief package was funded reprioritising the 2020-21 budgets and by securing loans. Although, regrettably, the nation fully expected gross misuse and irregularities, the sheer scale of Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Covid-19 audit flags weak controls, as expected

The report covers about R69-billion of the R147-billion spending for the period from April – when the R500-billion fund was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa – to the end of July. It has flagged, so far, glaring signs of trouble: Exorbitant spending against suppliers when compared to their pre-Covid-19 spendingSuppliers used for the first time Read more >