As it celebrates its tenth anniversary, Corruption Watch (CW) has released its annual report themed 'Pushing for Change' which highlights South African whistleblowers' contribution to the fight against corruption.

CW executive director Karam Singh said the past decade reveals a volatile experience for brave whistleblowers who have not been deterred by intimidation, stringent lockdown conditions, or threats to their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives.

“We pledge to continue our work in applying pressure on decision-makers, top officials and leaders in the public and private sectors, and to honour our commitment, made all those years ago in 2012, to work towards the creation of a corruption-free South Africa. An essential part of this work is to ensure adequate protection and support for whistleblowers, without whom we would not exist,” he said.

South African whistleblowers have been, at times, threatened and killed for revealing corrupt leaders and deals that have caused the South African economy to suffer.

As recently as 2021, the shocking news of the brutal assassination of Gauteng Health Department whistleblower Babita Deokaran signalled a treacherous environment for whistleblowers.

CW reports that there has been an ongoing willingness of people to share their stories and experiences of corruption and expose it at all levels of society despite the risks involved.

The organisation received 3 248 corruption reports in 2021, a decline from the 4 780 in the previous year.

Eighteen per cent of these accounts relate to allegations of maladministration, followed by 16% of reports of procurement corruption and 16% of reports relating to abuse of authority.

Fraud accounts for 14% of reports, misappropriation of resources comes in at 12%, and dereliction of duty at 8%, all of which featured prominently throughout the Covid-19 period and its various stages of lockdown.

Singh says since its inception, CW has made it a priority to expose small-scale corruption, sometimes called petty corruption, alongside the cases of grand corruption, believing that it matters as much as the cases making headlines for its profound impact on people’s day-to-day lives.

The breakdown of corruption reports by institution reveal 67% of reports on corruption or misconduct in the public sector  – of these, 28% are at national government level, 24% at local government level, 8% at provincial government elevel and 3% at State-owned entities.

A significant 33% allege corruption has been identified in the private sector.

Corruption in the policing sector topped the scale, representing 10% of overall corruption reports, followed by corruption in schools at 5.8%, with Covid-19-related corruption constituting 3.6% of reports.

Reports of corruption in the South African Police Service (Saps) ranged from abuse of authority such as the use of State resources to exert pressure on or use of violence against civilians, to dereliction of duty, where police personnel failed to act on complaints against their own.

Also prominent were bribery and extortion solicited from the public, particularly when people sought the protection of the police, or were falsely accused of being in the wrong.

Corruption in the policing sector included abuse of authority (40%), dereliction of duty (35%) and bribery or extortion (26%).

Highlighting one of the keystones of CW’s contribution to the anti-corruption fight is its work on campaigns that have arisen from the public’s reports of alarming trends of corruption in specific sectors.

Among the highlights of CW’s campaign work was the February 2021 launch of the much-anticipated Veza Tool that promotes transparency and encourages public participation in monitoring and engaging with the Saps.

Since its launch, the organisation has attracted 12 000 users to the site and has received 115 whistleblower reports on police misconduct and corruption, the majority emanating from Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape.

Engagement on the site has also included over 480 ratings of police stations across the country, and more than 40 nominations for ethical and honest cops.

CW continued its focus on monitoring and advocating for improved processes around key leadership appointments in the country, having made six submissions to Parliament and various parliamentary committees during the year.

Corruption in the health sector remained a point of focus in 2021 through targeted interventions via representation on the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum, as well as work in monitoring procurement and engaging with procurement reform through the Open Contracting for Health and Procurement Watch projects.

CW says the end of 2021 also marked the departure of former executive director and one of the founders of CW David Lewis, as well as former chair of the board Mavuso Msimang.

Singh says their legacy in putting in place a vital resource for addressing the damaging effects of corruption on the state of the country will resonate for many years to come.

“The stewardship of both David and Mavuso has made us the robust and resilient organisation that we are today. Their vision of a country finally emerging from the grip of corruption remains as relevant as ever, and we will continue to forge ahead to make that vision a reality, to adapt our work to the shifting environment that we find ourselves in, but also to support and address the prevailing concerns of our whistle-blowers,” Singh said.

Report Attached.