When people elected to serve us, serve themselves instead

The fact that South Africa has a corruption problem is not news. Worrying? Yes. Damaging? Definitely. But news? Sadly not.So why am I choosing to hang this article off the findings of the most recent (2025) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)?Because for the past three years, nothing has changed – despite what many in government would like us to believe. The numbers don’t lie - our score has stagnated, much like our economy.South Africa’s most recent score is just 41 out of 100, the same as in 2023 and 2024. This is below the global average of 42, and puts us in 81st position out of 182 countries.This is in stark contrast to 1995, when we ranked 21st with a score of 57, alongside some of the least corrupt nations in the world, such as Belgium and Japan.Click below to read the full articlehttps://lnkd.in/daS4JxZh

Building a Corruption-Resistant Supply Chain in High_Risk Sectors

South African companies face a supply chain crisis. In the past three years, criminal networks have captured billions in government contracts through systematic fraud. Emergency procurement rules designed for disasters now serve as the primary avenue for corruption. The fraud patterns are documented, repeatable, and accelerating. Your procurement controls, built for compliance, are failing against organized schemes designed to exploit regulatory gaps.
This article explores fraudulent activities in supply chains and makes suggestions regarding what companies can do to protect their supply chain. We focus on medical equipment procurement and construction tenders in this article, two sectors where fraud patterns are well-documented and continue unchecked.Click the link below to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dvjxd5Ku

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink

How can someone with the title “Minister of Water” not be actively involved in trying to find a solution to the water crisis threatening to bring the city of Johannesburg (and others) to a grinding halt? Pemmy Majodina, our Minister of Water and Sanitation, recently announced she is “washing her hands” of South Africa’s water crisis. (Luckily for her, she still has the water with which to do this – unlike millions of her fellow citizens).As I write, residents in numerous parts of Joburg have been without water for over two weeks; many for far longer. Schools, businesses and clinics have had to close. It’s an unmitigated disaster caused by a catastrophic, multi-system failure.Click below to read the full article. https://lnkd.in/dj9n8jUh

Allegations Are Not Facts

The Madlanga Commission has captured national attention since its establishment in July 2025. Public hearings, dramatic testimony, and serious accusations against senior officials have dominated headlines. But amid the spectacle, a critical principle is being forgotten: allegations are not facts.This matters. For executives making strategic decisions and government officials navigating policy choices, the distinction between what has been claimed and what has been proven is not academic. It determines how you assess risk, protect your organization, and avoid costly mistakes based on incomplete information.Click the link to read the full article - https://lnkd.in/dWkkHwXD

Protect Whistleblowers or Sacrifice the Country

South Africa has a long history of ignoring landmark reports.The findings of the Zondo Commission is just one standout example. I could also list reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, the Marikana Commission of Enquiry, and the Unrest Report following the riots of July 2021, among many others.Which is why I’m unwillingly sceptical that the report released in December 2025 by The Whistleblower House will make any real difference to the shocking state of affairs that inspired it. (Visit ttps://whistleblowerhouse.org/ to view the report)It’s also, though, why I have to speak out. I cannot sit still and be quiet while the lives and livelihoods of good, honest, and brave South Africans continue to be threatened.The report in question should have stopped this country in its tracks.Click below to read the full article. https://lnkd.in/d4vtNW5u

How South Africa Talked Its Way Off the Corruption List While Corruption Got Worse

South Africa just passed an international test it might fail in 18 months’ time.On October 24, 2025, the Financial Action Task Force removed South Africa from its grey list of jurisdictions with weak money laundering protections. Government celebrated. Business leaders expressed relief. International banks noted the development.Three months earlier, President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced the Madlanga Commission to investigate allegations that criminal syndicates had infiltrated police, prosecutors, intelligence operatives, and parts of the judiciary. When hearings began on September 17, testimony revealed a justice system under siege.The contradiction demands attention. South Africa convinced FATF evaluators that its reforms were sustainable while a senior police commissioner testified that the criminal justice system faced "total collapse."You need to understand what this means for your business, your investment decisions, and South Africa's economic future.Click below to read the full articlehttps://lnkd.in/dj_G8dYB

Can we no longer trust judges in South Africa?

South Africa is a country where trust in public organisations is at an all-time low. But in the middle of an endless wave of wrong-doing allegations against State-Owned Enterprises, hospitals, and numerous local and provincial municipalities, one institution has always seemed safe from the evil tendrils of corruption: our judiciary.So the arrest on corruption charges of a sitting high court judge in November last year sent shock waves throughout the entire country.Gauteng High Court Judge Portia Phahlane is charged with allegedly receiving millions to rule in favour of one of the factions involved in the succession battle of the International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC).Mr Xola Nqola, the portfolio committee chairperson of the Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, said, “The arrest has the potential to erode South African citizens’ trust in their judiciary,” he said. “The most troubling aspect is the alleged use of money. In a corruption-infested society such as ours, it would be too slippery a road if judges started accepting brown envelopes on matters that are before courts awaiting adjudication.”Click below to read the full story.https://lnkd.in/d5Hr-bZQ

The Untouchables - When Exposing Corruption Is Not Enough

Over R1.2 billion. That is what South African taxpayers have spent on just four major commissions of inquiry over the past decade. The money funded years of testimony, thousands of pages of evidence, and hundreds of recommendations. Yet when you ask how many people have been prosecuted, the number drops to a trickle.The pattern repeats itself. A scandal breaks. Public outrage builds. The government announces a commission of inquiry. Months turn into years. The commission delivers its findings. Then silence.This is the commission cycle that South Africa cannot seem to break.Click below to read the full story. https://lnkd.in/dJMQA8eq