JGL Forensic Services - Where Integrity and Business Meet

Whistleblowing - Counting The Cost of Courage

South Africa’s reputation as an ethically dodgy and pervasively corrupt country is sadly becoming as much a part of our identity as our magnificent scenery, wonderful game parks and colourful people. And, as so often happens when something becomes this common place, we become desensitised to it. Our sense of disgust and moral outrage lessens with every story of corruption that emerges. We develop a shoulder-shrugging, “well, what do you expect?” attitude that makes even just the thought of ever eradicating corrupt practices from both our private and public sectors a seemingly unattainable pipe dream.
 

Deepfakes - When Seeing Is No Longer Believing

We’ve probably all seen those amusing posts on Facebook. The ones where videos of Barack Obama or Donald Trump have been cleverly doctored so it looks as though they’re singing a rap song. They make us laugh, no one gets hurt and it’s all good, harmless fun.
The same process is also used (albeit at a much more complicated and professional level) in live action, animated movies, such as the recent remake of Disney’s The Lion King. But there is a dark side to the rise of this seemingly innocent, deep-learning technology, and it’s spawned a growing concern about the potential for abuse.

Working From Home During Covid - Risk vs Reward

With a scan three day South Africans were told that they would go into lock-down on the 27th March 2020.
Businesses all over the country scrambled to set up their key employees to work from home. While this measure was designed to help keep employees safe from infection risk, it inadvertently created a danger of a very different kind. People usually worked in enterprises or on university networks that were closely monitored and secured.
The sudden move to unsecured home networks left a gaping hole for criminals to exploit. 

Never Go To War With A Man Who Has Nothing To Lose

As our long lockdown continues, with no immediate end in sight, the edges are starting to unravel. We hear more and more, on various media platforms, how people are growing increasingly restless and frustrated, challenging the Government’s decisions on what is and isn’t permissible under level 4 restrictions. Why, for example, can we buy winter clothes but not underwear? Why can’t we buy cigarettes? Of course, these are only some of the frustrations for South Africans.
Underneath it all, a deep and dangerous fear is growing. Companies are cutting jobs, cutting salaries or putting people on unpaid leave. Livelihoods are being threatened. People are hungry. As is often the case, individuals will bear the brunt of any recession, and we can expect to see an increase in improper conduct as people cross the line to protect their positions. The longer the lockdown continues, the more the pressure will build.

Is Twitter The Biggest Porn Site In The World?

The South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) recently released a report outlining measures to reduce the risk of exposure – accidental or intentional – to adult material online by children. 
The most worrying of these is that none of the proposed regulations apply to social media – specifically sites like Twitter and Reddit.
The problem is that social media sites and search engines are viewed as “ancillary service providers.” As such, adult content found on social media is not defined as “online commercial pornography” and is therefore exempt from having to adhere to the new age-verifiction legislation proposals. The best that governments can do is ask these sites to take action against those who don’t comply with general content guidelines. But if none is actually taken, there’s nothing the Powers That Be can currently do to penalise them.

The ANC Integrity Commission. Agent for Change or Shameless Electioneering?

The ANC has said it believes the Integrity Commission will play a crucial role in sanitising the ANC’s image leading up to the 2024 elections. This is interesting, as its main function should surely be to find and prosecute government officials guilty of corruption, fraud and other wrongdoings.
I

What Makes Good People Do Bad Things

Warren Buffet believes that those who cross ethical lines are “neither saints nor criminals, but well-meaning leaders who sometimes fail to consult their moral compass while speeding ahead in a landscape full of tripwires and pitfalls.”
But what about those whose moral compass is already a little off? It doesn’t then take much to nudge them even further off the straight and narrow.

Is Eskom Too Big To Fail?

PetroSA charges Eskom around R1 per litre more than it costs you and me to buy diesel from our local petrol station.
Eskom has previously tried to obtain a wholesale diesel licence from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy which would save around R4 billion a year. This application was denied
You just can’t make this stuff up.
 

Is South Africa Being Strangled by Family Ties?

Nine.
That’s how many times assassinated whistle-blower Babita Deokaran was shot just days after exposing suspected corruption to the tune of R850 million at Tembisa Hospital on Gauteng’s East Rand.
She was 53 years old.
As she lay dying outside her home, minutes after dropping her teenage daughter at school, her killers made their speedy getaway.
Over a year later, six men have been arrested and are facing trial for the shooting.
 
 

A Crisis or a Leadership Crisis?

Power, greed and pride – a toxic triumvirate driving decisions of bad leaders. Scratch the surface of a crisis and, predictably, individuals, groups or nations with toxic motives will be revealed. Typically, the origin of man-made crises is flawed leadership.