Corruption is to be dealt a telling blow with the launch on Thursday of an autonomous watchdog that will enable victims of graft and ordinary citizens to make reports that will be swiftly attended to by independent professionals.

Corruption Watch is supported and financed by some corporate foundations and companies including Aveng, Ernst & Young and the Industrial Development Corporation. It will have its own staff, including lawyers, auditors and accountants as case officers.

David Lewis, its executive director and former chairman of the Competition Tribunal, said Corruption Watch had a website to enable victims of corruption to lodge complaints.

The Cosatu-initiated organisation will gather, analyse and expose information.

The watchdog was launched in a former communal cell in the women’s section of the then infamous Number Four Prison, in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The body will be independent of the government and organised business.

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said at the launch that he looked forward to its positive contribution to the concerted efforts of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster in government to uncover and prosecute perpetrators of corruption.

Part of Corruption Watch’s work would be to strengthen the accountability of those – in both the public and private sectors – who are in a position to influence the deployment of, and access to, public resources.

The watchdog collects information from victims, accomplices and whistle-blowers, documents media reports and research studies in other public sources, gathers information through its online reporting form, analyses data to identify patterns and endemic sites of corruption, and investigates and publicises research reports on hotspots of corruption.

Radebe said that the existence of Corruption Watch was testament to the fact that corruption could only be defeated with the concerted effort of all the people.

“We are confident that Corruption Watch will be an independent voice and barometer on the strides we, as a nation, are making towards combating corruption. It will also ensure that there is nowhere to hide where corruption is concerned,” he said.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said corruption was not exclusive to the public sector. “There are various forms of corruption in civil society and the private sector. Public sector corruption also involves members of civil society. If there were no corrupt people in civil society, there would be no corruption in the public sector.”

Cosatu’s general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, said that the loss of huge sums of money had a devastating effect on the economy as resources that could have been spent on improving health care and education systems and helping economic growth were being squandered. - Business Report