R100,000 for best Hawks anti-corruption proposal

04 April 2012 - 15:55 By Sapa
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Lobbyist Hugh Glenister said on Wednesday he plans to award R100,000 to a Southern African who can offer the best remedy for developing an anti-corruption framework for specialist police unit, the Hawks.

His competition invites anyone under the age of 30, or a university, to submit their "best practice" implementation of a Constitutional Court ruling, which forces Parliament to remedy the Hawks' lack of independence by September.

Last March, in a case largely initiated by Glenister, the Constitutional Court ruled that chapter 6A of the SA Police Service Act be sent back to Parliament for amendment because it made the Hawks vulnerable to political interference.

The court suspended its order of constitutional invalidity for that period to allow for the amendment to the law. Public hearings are scheduled for April 23 and 24.

Glenister said the only way to fight corruption was to allow all levels of society to have their say.

"Corruption is a disease that affects every single one of us, no matter your age, profession, location or economic dispensation," he said.

"Most of all, it affects young adults, because they are the ones that will be left to fix the mess that we have allowed to happen."

Competing teams and individuals have until July 31 to submit their proposed draft legislation and explanatory memorandums in English, using less than 5,000 words.

Submissions would be evaluated by a panel of retired South African judges.

If a university faculty won, it would receive R50,000 and give the remainder to its students deemed most deserving.

If an independent person was chosen, they would get R10,000 and the remainder would go to the best university submission.

The decision would be announced on September 30.

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