Ministers close ranks around N
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Ministers close ranks around Number One as Nkandla report is released

The Security Cluster of Ministers have closed ranks around Number One as the State releases its own Nkandla report ahead of the Public Protector’s more hotly-awaited one. As many expected, the State has defended everything down to the large swimming pool as esssential to the First Family’s protection, although some overpayment for individual items has been admitted to

The fake interpreter: cringe,
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The fake interpreter: cringe, the beloved country

An entire planet watched yesterday as a man stood next to Barack Obama and Jacob Zuma and signed. It was, in our day and age, absolutely expected that deaf interpreters would be on hand to make an event such as this accessible to the millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people around the world who have an equal stake in the legacy of Nelson Mandela. The cameras worked, the budget was there, the heads of state were there, the speeches were read (some to lusty boos). But what the deaf ‘heard’ was nothing but dead air: the signer was a fake

SA remains in bad company in 2
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SA remains in bad company in 2013 corruption rankings

This year’s 2013 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) – a respected global ranking of clean government and clean business – will not make much of a Christmas present for South African public and private sector managers and their employees. But the fact that South Africa still ranks 72nd out of 177 countries polled will be most embarassing to the ruling party on the eve of what is set to be this country’s most contentious election since democracy

E-tag card & car keys
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For whom the bell e-tolls: rage, calm and defiance on day one

While motorists complain of ‘the gantry who stole Christmas’, the rage against the e-tolling machine goes much deeper than cost and inconvenience. Will motorists, churches, labour and opposition parties manage to catalyse themselves into sustained resistance, or are e-tolls really a fait accompli?

Dina Pule’s nepotism only the
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Dina Pule’s nepotism only the tip of South Africa’s corruption iceberg

Elaborate methods are used by South African civil servants, politicians and even headteachers to extract public money into their own pockets. The latest incident of corruption saw Dina Pule, South Africa’s former Minister for Communications giving her boyfriend’s company a R6 million tender — yet her punishment consisted of being publicly reprimanded and fined one month’s salary. Even South Africa’s president has been accused of corruption — so how deep does the problem go and what is being done about it?

South Africa to launch Anti-Co
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South Africa to launch Anti-Corruption Bureau in July

The South African government continues struggle with “rampant” corruption as Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announces new Anti-Corruption Bureau. But some MPs have already questioned the bureau’s future effectiveness, saying that its budget of R17 million was too little compared to state corruption estimated at billions of rands.