SHOWING ITS TEETH: The Jali Commission on prison corruption

Some regard the Jali Commission as another expensive exercise aimed at making recommendations that have little effect. To many South Africans, the Grootvlei video on prison corruption televised nationally this year, was the beginning of a revelation. But would this video have seen the light of day if the Jali Commission did not exist? And would there have been a specialised unit to investigate corruption, had the commission not been there? It is likely that the Jali Commission has indeed changed the way in which commissions of this kind are perceived.