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Corruption Watch

Corruption Watch

By Corruption Watch

Corruption Watch is a non-profit launched in 2012 concerned with the abuse of entrusted resources or power for personal gain. Corruption Watch is concerned with any such abuse by anyone at any level of government or in business.
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Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 2

Corruption WatchNov 18, 2022

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13:40
Episode 5: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

Episode 5: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

As we have established in previous episodes of this moving and thought-provoking series about land corruption in South Africa, poor and marginalised communities have received a raw deal in their quest for inclusion and equality in the land equity dynamic since the dawn of democracy.

The stories of beneficiaries told throughout the series are testament to severe hardships, misery, and exclusion, and the absence of accountable leadership from those responsible for this neglect and abject failure to ensure equality and justice for farmworkers.

This episode explores how policies introduced along with the new democratic order could inadvertently be responsible for the continued suffering of labour tenants and other social groups trying to access and own land. This in spite of the constitutional safeguards put in place to mitigate the very hardships that are now experienced by the rural poor. Experts discuss the problems at hand, and some of the solutions that have been put in place.

Nov 08, 202341:22
Episode 4: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

Episode 4: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

In episode 4 of this important podcast series, the focus is on the living conditions of farmworkers, in particular the beneficiaries of farm worker equity schemes, and how they are consistently denied what is due to them as shareholders.

The team held numerous interviews with beneficiaries on various farms in the Western Cape, notably in the Matzikama and Witzenberg areas. Despite the Witzenberg municipality being one of the wealthiest farm areas and biggest deciduous producer in the country, the gap between the rich and poor in the region and the dire conditions of farm workers is put into stark relief.

We hear from farmworkers who speak about working on farms for their whole lives, and leaving with a fraction of what is due to them.

Different equity schemes and partnerships, managed by prominent commercial businesses, are discussed, revealing the sad reality that farm workers have been left feeling misled.

Nov 01, 202337:13
Episode 3: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

Episode 3: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

In episode 3 of the series, the CW team delves deeper into the intersection between corruption and human rights abuses in the land sector, exposing the ways in which this manifests and impacts disadvantaged and marginalised groups.

The team shares experiences from a field trip earlier this year, where they visited several farming communities in the Western Cape. Their meetings and engagements with beneficiaries and civil society stakeholders brought to light the challenges facing farm workers, the precariousness of their lives, and lack of security in terms of tenure and livelihoods. 

These discussions also highlighted the flaws in government schemes and programmes such as the equity scheme, the aim of which was to allow farm workers to share in ownership of the economy as a vehicle of transformation.

Oct 25, 202334:42
Episode 2: Land and Corruption: Story of the Marginalised

Episode 2: Land and Corruption: Story of the Marginalised

This episode explores the contentious issue of land in South Africa, and its importance as a critical resource and foundation for sustainable livelihoods, by explaining how the country’s land system works in practice. It canvasses the views of a wide range of stakeholders, from grassroots civil society organisations and activists to individuals on the left and right of the political spectrum.

It contrasts the opinions of those on the left who believe land should be returned to the black majority because of the country’s colonial past, to those on the right who believe that inequality and poverty can be addressed through employment and access to property rights.

The focus also extends to the fragmented legal framework and the role of traditional leadership that makes it difficult for people to obtain security of tenure, while also reviewing the intersection of gender, race, land rights, and corruption.

Oct 18, 202342:00
Episode 1: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised
Oct 11, 202334:59
Trailer: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

Trailer: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised

Corruption impacts access to land in South Africa and the powerful perpetuate it in this sector. Join Corruption Watch in exploring this critical topic in its podcast series: Land and Corruption: Story of the marginalised.

Oct 09, 202302:39
Leadership Crisis: It’s all in the process

Leadership Crisis: It’s all in the process

There is a well-worn phrase that you get the leaders that you deserve. This is as true in South Africa as anywhere else.

In this podcast, Corruption Watch takes us on a journey of over seven years of active campaigning for greater transparency in the appointment processes of leaders of state-owned enterprises, institutions in the criminal justice system, and those established under chapters 9 and 10 of the South African Constitution.

Host Melusi Ncala, senior researcher at Corruption Watch, addresses some of the questions around how the systems to appoint key leaders who have a significant impact on our lives have evolved, and what still needs to improve. Guests include Kavisha Pillay, head of stakeholder relations and campaigns, legal researcher Motlatsi Komote, and David Lewis, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council.

The podcast will home in on topics such as public participation in a democratic society and the difference between activism pre- and post-democracy, and will unpack one of Corruption Watch’s flagship campaigns which focused on the public protector appointment in 2016. Called Bua Mzansi, this has developed into a pivotal project for the organisation, encompassing the monitoring of various significant appointment processes and setting an important precedent in how such processes should happen in a constitutional democracy.

Jul 12, 202339:29
Public Procurement Unpacked

Public Procurement Unpacked

When you hear the word “procurement” do your eyes glaze over? Why should we care about it? In fact, public procurement – the process by which a government contracts for goods, service and infrastructure for the good of all society – is at the heart of the fight against corruption.
For decades now, South Africa’s public procurement system has been deeply dysfunctional and relentlessly abused, costing the country billions of rands and depriving citizens of the goods and services to which they are constitutionally entitled.
In this episode we unpack why this is, and what can be done about it. Through conversation with Karam Singh, Executive-Director of Corruption Watch (CW); Mmaphefo Seseni, CW’s data analyst; and Prof Geo Quinot, head of the African Procurement Law Unit and a professor of Public Law at Stellenbosch University, we learn about CW’s Procurement Watch (PW) tool which was developed in response to this dysfunction.
Jan 19, 202351:30
Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 4

Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 4

There is a need for greater transparency and accountability in the public sector in order for the public to understand how funds are being managed and spent, how decisions are made and why. In this episode, the young people being interviewed call on the government to manage public resources effectively and efficiently, and to put strong measures in place to maximize service delivery, while minimizing corruption and mismanagement of public funds. 

Nov 24, 202209:40
Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 3

Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 3

The Corruption Watch team discusses our work with whistle-blowers and some of the lessons we have learned throughout our 10-year journey in the anti-corruption space. The team explains our approaches and strategies to fighting corruption and explores other interventions needed to eradicate corruption.

Nov 20, 202214:49
Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 2

Talk back, Spitting Facts - A corruption watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 2

Young people share their day-to-day experiences of corruption and their thoughts on the culture of corruption – from its roots to the current reality. They unpack the impact of corruption on the most vulnerable groups and ways in which young people can get more involved in the fight against corruption. 

Nov 18, 202213:40
Talk back, Spitting Facts: A Corruption Watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 1

Talk back, Spitting Facts: A Corruption Watch youth-focused podcast – Episode 1

Young people express their views and understanding of corruption as well its impact on young South Africans. Furthermore, the podcast unpacks the role of Corruption Watch in the anti-corruption space, its 10-year journey as a civil society organization advocating for transparency and accountability.

Nov 14, 202213:07
Analysis of Corruption Trends 2022

Analysis of Corruption Trends 2022

The 2022 Analysis of Corruption Trends (ACT) podcast unpacks the many ways in which corruption undermines and erodes fundamental human rights. The whistle-blower reports received by the Corruption Watch between January and June 2022 highlight how public and private sector corruption persistently obstructs access to basic human rights. This emphasises that corruption is not a victimless crime, but has serious consequences for many people in the country. 

Sep 14, 202222:55
Police Corruption Under Scrutiny

Police Corruption Under Scrutiny

The traumatic experience of a whistle-blower at the hands of the South African Police Service (Saps) provides the opening sequence of this podcast that places police corruption under the spotlight. Melusi Ncala, senior researcher at Corruption Watch, paints a picture of where South Africa stands in relation to graft in the police sector, and looks at ongoing efforts of social justice and civil society organisations, along with law enforcement groupings, to combat police corruption and criminal elements within the police sector.

Between 2012 and 2021, Corruption Watch received over 36 000 whistle-blower reports of corruption, defined as the abuse of entrusted power for personal or private gain. Of these cases, over 10% relate to the police services: three fifths speak to corruption in the Saps, and 38% are about corruption at the local level, for example metro police services.

Listen to Ncala and other leading civil society activists working hard to dismantle the corruption that plagues policing in a country badly in need of protection and security for its people.

May 02, 202241:05
Independent candidates for local government elections 2021

Independent candidates for local government elections 2021

Local government elections are set to take place on 1 November 2021, and it is important that citizens cast their vote to ensure they get the best representatives.

Local government is a sphere of government that is very important to people lives – it is where people interact directly with officials and receive basic services.

Listen to our conversation with independent candidates - Tshiamo Malatji and Vincent Jones.

Oct 22, 202128:20
Analysis of Corruption Trends 2021

Analysis of Corruption Trends 2021

The Analysis of Corruption Trends report is a story of the whistle-blower cases that were received by Corruption Watch (CW) between the beginning of January 2021 and the end of June 2021. 

Join Melusi Ncala on a journey of whistle-blowers’ resilience and bravery as told by CW's head of stakeholder relations and campaigns Kavisha Pillay and senior investigator Zanele Mwale. 

Sep 20, 202126:13
Corruption in Uniform

Corruption in Uniform

In this first episode we look at corruption in the police sector in South Africa. 

Jun 13, 201915:24