South Africa
News and blog
Zambia convicts former foreign minister in "helicopter corruption trial" with international support
Warm congratulations to our partners at the Drug Enforcement Commission and National Prosecution Authority of Zambia for a successful outcome in a high-profile corruption case involving Zambia’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs. Former Minister Joseph Malanji was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on 4 September 2025, having been convicted of seven out of eight counts of corruption. The offences include the misappropriation of funds designated for one of Zambia's overseas diplomatic missions and the acquisition of two helicopters with illicitly obtained funds. Former Treasury Secretary Fredson Yamba also received a three-year sentence in the same case, which involved the irregular transfer of K108 million around USD 4.5 million from the public treasury. The multinational investigation involved close cooperation with agencies in several jurisdictions, including the Asset Forfeiture Unit of South Africa, which moved swiftly to identify and freeze one of the helicopters. Assistance from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR and Stolen Asset Recovery StAR Initiative also proved vital. Gilbert Phiri, Zambia’s Director of Public Prosecutions said: The conviction of the former Minister, in this instance, demonstrates that Zambia is serious about fighting grand corruption and holding those responsible for misappropriating resources for their own benefit, to account. We are grateful to our international counterparts for their essential cooperation in the recovery of the proceeds and to our partners in ICAR and StAR for their support. Training and case assistance The Basel Institute has been working with the Zambian authorities since 2021, through specialist ICAR advisors embedded with partner agencies. The advisors provide technical assistance on complex financial crime cases, including through training and case-based support. The programme is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which is also a core donor to ICAR. Commenting on the success, ICAR Director Iker Lekuona said: Our training is carefully tailored to the laws and procedures of the countries in which it is delivered and focuses on a follow-the-money approach. This is complemented by our case support team who work hand in glove with investigators and prosecutors to achieve results like these. I am delighted to see the fruits of these efforts, which we hope will deter further corruption and increase citizen trust in government. GFAR Action Series in action Zambia has also benefited from being a focus country of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery GFAR Action Series for the last two years. This is a platform for asset recovery practitioners to make progress on priority cases through direct engagement and meetings. ICAR partners closely with the Stolen Asset Recovery StAR Initiative and International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre IACCC in the initiative. Emile van der Does, Coordinator of the StAR Initiative, said: This confiscation through the GFAR Action Series shows the power of cross-border cooperation. Congratulations to Zambia, South Africa and ICAR for their leadership in returning assets and reinforcing accountability. The StAR Initiative is delighted that the GFAR Action Series platform could help facilitate this outcome. South Africa: rapid asset seizures Adv. Ouma Rabaji-Rasethaba, Head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit of South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority, said: I think this is going to strengthen anti-corruption in Southern Africa. We need to have both convictions but also the recovery of illicitly acquired assets. Our cooperation demonstrates that South Africa is no haven for the proceeds of crime and that the Asset Forfeiture Unit will use all powers at its disposal to recover those proceeds, no matter how senior the culprits might be. This is evidence of the rule of law in action and we are committed to working hand in hand with our international partners in this endeavour. Learn more Article in the Lusaka Times : Malanji Convicted in Helicopter and Property Corruption Case About the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR About the Stolen Asset Recovery StAR Initiative of the World Bank and UNODC and the Global Forum on Asset Recovery GFAR Action Series.
Southern Africa’s fight against corruption needs Collective Action
A high-level meeting of heads of anti-corruption agencies in the Southern African Development Community SADC last month was a chance to take stock of member countries’ efforts to tackle corruption. The meeting allowed for a reflection on many ongoing activities and discussions around Collective Action in the region this year. It was the perfect opportunity to reflect on how to galvanise joint efforts against the region’s biggest scourge. Speaking to delegates, Scarlet Wannenwetsch, Collective Action Specialist, highlighted the underused capacity of the private sector. Businesses are full of dynamism and talent, both of which are critical in fighting corruption and other transnational crimes. To harness the private sector’s potential, she emphasised the importance of building trust by fostering regional multi-stakeholder networks. Bringing together anti-corruption champions from the public sector, private sector and civil society helps to create “good” networks – ones powerful enough to fight the corrupt networks that are holding back development in the region. Appetite for engagement The Basel Institute has been a long-standing partner of the SADC Secretariat through the work of the Private Sector team. Our team has been impressed by the level of innovation in the region. Some feature in a publication capturing good practices that was created by, with and for anti-corruption agencies in Africa. We have also been training SADC corruption prevention officers on how to engage with the private sector through Collective Action approaches. Our partners consistently express a desire for more opportunities to engage and exchange with other stakeholders. They realise that no one group can tackle corruption alone. Working towards building a community of practice To sow the seeds for such a regional multi-stakeholder network, we launched the first Southern African Anti-Corruption Collective Action Forum earlier this year in collaboration with the Southern African Anti-Corruption Network SAACoN and The Ethics Institute. The event brought together participants from the private sector, civil society and government institutions to discuss concrete opportunities for learning and collaboration. For many, it was the first time they had met at the regional level. The event was also a chance to celebrate progress. CoST Uganda won our Southern Africa Anti-Corruption Collective Action Award for its outstanding achievements in tackling corruption and raising business integrity in the region. What’s next? In order to build on the momentum of the Forum and on the energy of the SADC region’s anti-corruption leaders, it is crucial that member states continue to prioritise collaboration and Collective Action. Government anti-corruption agencies needs close, sustained collaboration with the private sector and civil society if they want to develop a more inclusive strategy to prevent corruption – and if they want that strategy to actually work in practice. That applies not only at the country and sector level, but at the regional level too. And that’s what Collective Action can bring. We look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with the SADC Secretariat and wider partners to support anti-corruption Collective Action in the region. Learn more about our work on the B20 Collective Action Hub and find inspiration in its global database of initiatives.
Community of practice emerges from Southern Africa Anti-Corruption Collective Action Forum
Across Southern Africa, leaders from the business community, civil society and government are coming together to strengthen business integrity and thus catalyse the region's huge economic potential. That groundswell of multi-stakeholder action – anti-corruption Collective Action – was on display on 31 May at the Southern Africa Anti-Corruption Collective Action Forum. The Forum marks the emergence of a regional community of practice that will sustain and multiply the efforts of the 66 inspiring professionals present. Held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the one-day Forum was organised by the Basel Institute on Governance together with The Ethics Institute and Southern African Anti-Corruption Network SAACoN . This event was held with the support of the Siemens Integrity Initiative. Joint action against corruption Among the participants were representatives of businesses and industry associations; governments, including anti-corruption agencies and offices of the ombudsman; and civil society organisations. Highlights included: A provocative panel on how institutions like the stock exchange can improve corporate governance in a country. A group reflection on the challenges that anti-corruption Collective Action initiatives encounter in Southern Africa and ways to overcome them. Whistleblowing in the private and public sectors and changing the culture to one of “speaking up” about corruption. Breakout sessions on new training or reporting tools and certification opportunities. A keynote speech by Mosilo Mothepu, a former CEO at Trillian Financial Advisory who blew the whistle on state capture. Her speech, like her book Uncaptured , emphasised the challenges of facing endemic corruption and the need to stand together. The participants had a preview of the Basel Institute’s new, free Collective Action online training course. Soon to be launched on our virtual learning platform Basel LEARN, the course takes users through the fundamentals of setting up an anti-corruption Collective Action initiative. CoST Uganda wins Collective Action Award CoST Uganda – the Ugandan arm of the global Infrastructure Transparency Initiative – was presented with a prestigious Anti-Corruption Collective Action Award for its outstanding achievements in tackling corruption and raising standards of business integrity in the region. Gilbert Sendugwa, CoST Senior Regional Manager for Africa, commented: This Award is not just for CoST Uganda but for the government, private sector and civil society partners that have worked together to increase disclosure and undertake assurance processes to give meaning to disclosed data, and more importantly the government’s commitment to implement recommended reforms. This Award inspires us to continue on this path. The other two finalists – the Fisheries Transparency Initiative and MozUp Enterprise Development Center – were also praised for their untiring efforts to bring business, government and civil society together to address specific corruption challenges in the fisheries sector and among Mozambican small businesses. Coming up View recordings of the panels in this YouTube playlist. View the forum summary. The regional gathering of anti-corruption leaders builds on the success of the International Collective Action Conference series hosted by the Basel Institute on Governance in Switzerland between 2014–2022. Further regional forums will take place in Southeast Asia in late 2023 and in Latin America next year. See the Basel Institute’s B20 Collective Action Hub for more information on upcoming events and Collective Action generally, and follow our Collective Action-focused newsletter, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
New Green Corruption case study: Hout Bay and the illegal lobster trade – recovering illicit proceeds of IUU fishing and wildlife trafficking
We have just released a detailed case study on the prosecution of a South African fishing company, Hout Bay Fishing Industries, and efforts to recover the company's illicit assets. Published under our Green Corruption programme, the case study is authored by Advocate Caroline Dutot of Ardent Chambers, Jersey, with contributions from Howard Sharp, QC. The company was accused of overfishing lobster and other protected fish in deliberate breach of government-established quotas, leading to what environmental experts claimed was a free fall in lobster numbers. Until the criminal investigation commenced, large quantities of illegally caught lobster and fish were exported from South Arica to the USA, generating vast profits for the company that were stashed in complex offshore legal structures. The case study contains numerous important lessons for those seeking to follow the money in large wildlife trafficking or related cases of environmental crime. Read it here: Hout Bay and the illegal lobster trade: a case study in recovering illicit proceeds of IUU fishing and wildlife trafficking .
What is an Ethically Aware Supplier – and how does it support business integrity in Africa?
Local certification is emerging as an interesting way for large companies and their supply chains to help address compliance and due diligence issues that can be a barrier to business. A recent Basel Institute working paper showed how local certification programmes developed with a Collective Action approach can help: SMEs to develop and demonstrate robust anti-corruption compliance procedures; ease due diligence for large companies seeking suppliers in local markets; raise standards of integrity across a market or geographical area. The Ethically Aware Supplier Induction EASI programme of The Ethics Institute in South Africa, first developed as a project of the Siemens Integrity Initiative, harnesses this innovative approach. Its expansion into other African countries under a recent grant of the UK Business Integrity Initiative Challenge Fund shows how agile and flexible Collective Action can be – even when working in very different and challenging contexts, and in the face of a global pandemic. Kris Dobie, Manager – Organisational Ethics at The Ethics Institute, gives an insight into the project below: What is the idea behind EASI? Multinational companies want to do business with suppliers that are committed to operating with integrity and that actively manage their corruption risks. This is partly to manage their own legal and reputational risks. From a big-picture point of view, this can have a positive consequence in developing markets: by insisting on high standards of anti-corruption compliance through their supply chains, multinationals can become an important driver of good governance. But in practice, SMEs need support and training. Who better to support SMEs in their compliance journey than their larger customers? What exactly is EASI? EASI helps companies that want to train their suppliers by providing an online interactive short course in business ethics. The aim is to make participants aware of key ethical issues that are relevant to their companies. It is based on the principles of the UN Global Compact and the content is benchmarked against the supplier codes of conduct of several large companies. Members of the senior management of SMEs – with influence over the companies’ business ethics and operations – can complete the course on behalf of their businesses. If they pass the assessment, we certify the company as “ethically aware”. This emphasises their knowledge and awareness of integrity issues relevant to their company and of the main ethical requirements of multinational enterprises. We don’t certify the company itself as ethical. You can find out about the course on the EASI website or watch this two-minute YouTube video: Where do the large companies come in? Ideally, this foundational online training is combined with a live group session where suppliers and representatives of the larger companies come together for a structured discussion on some of the key topics. We find that significant additional learning – on all sides – takes place here. Many of the compliance officers, procurement specialists and internal auditors who have taken part in these discussions tell us how eye-opening it is to learn of the realities faced by their suppliers. Rolling out EASI throughout supply chains Our strategy involved large organisations taking charge of rolling out the EASI programme throughout their supply chains. We started close to home, with the Coalition for Ethical Operations. This is a private sector-led Collective Action initiative that The Ethics Institute facilitates. Its members, who are multinational companies, commit to promoting ethical business across Sub-Saharan Africa and to training their suppliers. We also partnered with the UN Global Compact local networks in Kenya and Ghana. When the pandemic hit and travel became impossible, we managed to free up funding to partner with the UN Global Compact network in Nigeria, as well as the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia. What adaptations did you make to address covid-19? The meetings went online, of course, and sadly webinars replaced business breakfasts and face-to-face engagements. This was rather challenging to facilitate. Group discussions in person foster trust, whereas building a relationship between strangers on a video call is not quite the same. Attendance and attention were also lower online. Nevertheless, we enrolled 34 multinationals and 82 individuals in the EASI programme across those four countries, and have certified a similar number of SMEs so far. How did you promote the programme despite the pandemic restrictions? We believe that business networks are key to reaching more companies, large and small. After all, they are about business getting together to collectively raise the bar. This is why it has been fantastic to partner with the UN Global Compact networks and with the Addis Chamber. Companies that engage in the EASI programme clearly see its value. One large telecoms company is currently rolling out the EASI programme to subsidiaries and operating companies across its group. If a couple more in this sector follow, EASI will become a form of industry standard. And that’s when tangible change will really occur. Improving together There are however a number of issues we are still grappling with. The feedback we get tells us that this is a really good product, but it still needs to be marketed to take off internationally – and anti-corruption practitioners are not necessarily marketers. We want to strike the balance between making the programme accessible to as many companies as possible, while ensuring they value it properly. Dealing with "products" as an ethics non-profit organisation has proven to be a healthy learning curve. These are issues that I know many fellow practitioners are grappling with in their contexts, as they seek to attract a critical mass of companies to their initiatives. Learning from and supporting each other, such as at the recent peer learning workshops hosted by the Basel Institute or the roundtables as part of their wider certification project, are crucial. We also thank the Siemens Integrity Initiative and UK Business Integrity Initiative for their support in making this idea become a reality for ourselves and hundreds of companies across Southern Africa. \ \ \ About The Ethics Institute The Ethics Institute is an independent public institute with the vision of ‘Building an ethically responsible society’. They pursue this vision by working with organisations in the public and private sectors where they offer a range of services related to organisational ethics, including training, assessments and advisory services. See www.tei.org.za About the UK Business Integrity Initiative and Challenge Fund The UK's Business Integrity Initiative Challenge Fund was launched to support innovative, business-focused, Collective Action initiatives aiming at reducing corruption or promoting human rights to improve the investment climate in emerging markets and developing countries. IMC Worldwide has been working closely with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office FCDO as the Business Integrity Initiative Challenge Fund Manager. Find out more. About the Siemens Integrity Initiative The Siemens Integrity Initiative promotes projects around the world that seek to combat corruption and fraud, supporting educational and training programmes as well as Collective Action, which is building alliances against corruption in a joint effort between business and institutions to establish clean markets and ensure fair competition. See siemens.com/collective-action.
Publications
Engaging the private sector in Collective Action against corruption: A practical guide for anti-corruption agencies in Africa
This guidance seeks to capture and explore the innovative approaches that African governments have developed to address the demand and supply sides of corruption more effectively and sustainably. It is designed to help government institutions, in particular national anti-corruption agencies, engage with the private sector more effectively to prevent corruption.
The document highlights good practices identified through interviews, desk research and a 2021 Southern African Development Community (SADC) training on “Emerging anti-corruption issues and private-sector engagement for SADC anti-corruption agencies”.
Africa offers many examples of innovative, unique and context-sensitive approaches to engage the private sector in anti-corruption efforts. Ghana’s National Anti-Corruption Action Plan, for instance, offers an award scheme and is looking into providing tax benefits to companies that enforce anti-corruption measures and demonstrate leadership in the fight against corruption. Other agencies and governments in the region, such as Morocco, are currently discussing implementing a reward system for compliant companies that can be considered when companies bid for public tenders.
These examples demonstrate how African governments proactively seek to tackle corruption and collaborate with the private sector.
From the initiatives captured, three common strategic approaches can be identified to underpin effective and impactful engagement:
- Raising awareness, guiding and working with the private sector to more effectively address corruption risks.
- Identifying and providing incentives to companies investing in their compliance programmes.
- Demonstrating leadership by actively participating in Collective Action and public-private partnerships.
This document is a follow-up of a practical global guide published in July 2022 and was produced with the support of the Siemens Integrity Initiative.
It is freely shareable under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. Please credit the Basel Institute on Governance.
Hout Bay and the illegal lobster trade: a case study in recovering illicit proceeds of IUU fishing and wildlife trafficking
Published under our Green Corruption programme, this is a case study about a South African fishing company, Hout Bay Fishing Industries, that overfished lobster and other protected fish in deliberate breach of government-established quotas. The case study contains numerous important lessons for those seeking to follow the money in large wildlife trafficking cases.
The extent of unlawful overfishing was such that environmental experts have claimed that lobster numbers in South Africa were in free fall and that the terminal decline was only halted when a criminal investigation commenced, thereby bringing the illicit activities to an abrupt halt. Until then, large quantities of illegally caught lobster and fish in South Africa were exported to the USA and there sold for vast profit.
Despite successful prosecutions in both South Africa (of the fishing company) and the USA (of the principals of the fishing company), there were significant forensic difficulties in tracing profits that were placed in complex offshore trust and company structures. The result was that although there is some evidence that the profits from this enterprise were at least USD 60 million, the total sums recovered by confiscation orders were around USD 20 million.
Permissions and citation
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please cite Dutot, Caroline. 2021. Hout Bay and the illegal lobster trade: a case study in recovering illicit proceeds of IUU fishing and wildlife trafficking. Basel Institute on Governance (Green Corruption Case Study 01), www.baselgovernance.org/publications/GC1
Transparency in Corporate Reporting: South Africa 2020
This report examines the corporate governance practices of 100 corporations operating in South Africa. Its methodology and findings highlight the importance of active engagement in Collective Action as part of anti-corruption compliance programmes and reporting.
The press release summarises the recommendations as follows:
The report concludes that the fight against corruption cannot be waged within individual corporations alone, but must extend across a broad scope of organisations, within and outside the business sector.
What is required is an all-encompassing collective action by the corporate sector, as well as its interaction and co-operation with other elements of society similarly engaged in fighting corruption – what could be defined as an “all of society” approach. There is a case to be made for collaboration on anti-corruption programmes with a range of other stakeholders, including NGOs, civil society organisations, academic or media organisations, and the public sector.
The assessment covers whether or not companies engage actively in Collective Action, calling it a “crucial element” in corruption prevention alongside transparency, training, risk assessments and control systems.
'Islands of integrity'? Reductions in bribery in Uganda and South Africa and lessons for anti-corruption policy and practice
This paper sets out lessons from a mixed-methods study that identified and explored ‘positive outlier’ cases of bribery reduction in challenging governance environments. It discusses the two cases the research examined in depth:
- a 50 percent reduction in bribery in Uganda’s health sector while in other sectors bribery rates increased (2010-2015);
- an almost 15 percent reduction in police-related bribery in South Africa’s Limpopo province while in other provinces it reduced by less than four percent (2011-2015).
The findings suggest the importance of disrupting corruption patterns and of unintended consequences for anti-corruption policy and practice.
Stocktaking of Anti-Corruption and Business Integrity Measures for Southern African SOEs
This report aims to provide an overview of business integrity and anti-bribery legislation, policies and practices applicable to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
- Part 1 provides a rationale for considering the impact that corruption-prevention and business integrity measures have had in some jurisdictions, based on available academic literature on this subject.
- Part 2 summarises the framework in seven SADC countries for combating corruption and for encouraging responsible business practices. It also focuses on the application of this framework to SOEs by governments, as well as measures taken by SOEs to limit their exposure to the risks of corruption.
The report was undertaken on behalf of the OECD Network on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Southern Africa and is based on voluntary responses to a questionnaire and supplemented with desk research.