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

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

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?

British businessman Mike Hale left South Africa four years ago after £1.5 million went missing from his insurance business. He has now been found after a 13-year-old girl saw a campaign to try and trace him on Facebook and recognised him as her PE teacher.

The State has requested a delay of unspecified duration in order to examine whether Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on President Zuma’s homestead at Nkandla would jeopardise national security. However, Madonsela has dismissed the security concerns as part of a systematic delay strategy by ministers

Next week, the trial of Julius Malema will begin in the Limpopo Province capital. More than 3000 Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supporters are expected to show their support for Malema, colloquially known as Juju, starting with a night vigil on the eve of the trial

Several government ministers have applied to interdict the Public Protector in a bid to secure more time to examine her Nkandla report before it is released to the public

South Africa’s respected Institute for Security Studies has recommended that National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega step down until investigations underway against her have been completed

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?

A former Durbanite has been convicted and jailed in the UK for money laundering part of the proceeds of a £5.7 million international fraud scheme.

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.