It is clear to me that the difference between success and failure is marked by the total commitment, direction and example-setting from the top leadership of an entity coupled with an unwavering commitment to following up and investigating every incident that is reported. Needless to say, this should be done objectively and professionally.

The public is not easily fooled and for a service to be successful it has to earn its stripes. Only once people are happy that their concerns are being addressed will they embrace a service.

If not, as is patently the case with the embarrassing performance of the President's Hotline, the people will vote with their feet.

This will be the benchmark by which Corruption Watch will be measured, and one can only hope it makes the grade.

Ongoing awareness and accessibility are also critical success factors and it should be obvious that it is absolutely pointless and ineffective to have a big launch followed by a deafening silence.