[6] The launch, held at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, was attended by a range of government officials, including former minister of Justice and Correctional Services of South Africa Jeff Radebe, civil society and business leaders including Jay Naidoo, Mark Haywood, Mary Metcalfe, and Njongonkulu Ndungane, and a range of mainstream media organisations.

David Lewis, founding executive director of Corruption Watch, said: "We have formed this organisation to enable citizens to report and confront public and private sector individuals abusing their power and position.

Corruption Watch is the South Africa lead for the project and works with various civil society and private and public sector representatives.

As of 2022[update] the Corruption Watch board comprises Karam Singh (executive director), Themba Maseko (chairperson), Gugu McLaren-Ushewokunze, Marianne Giddy, Bridgitte Mdangayi, Zukiswa Kota, and Karabo Rajuili.

It operates a reporting system which encourages members of the public to share their experiences of corruption through SMS, fax, e-mail or online through its website, mobi-site, or Facebook page.

[21] The organisation uses this information from the public in various ways,[22] including research, preparing contributions to legislative or policy development, undertaking strategic litigation on matters that are in the public interest, investigating a selected number of reports (of necessity this number is limited because of resource constraints), developing campaigns, and more.

[27] Whistle-blowers are the primary source of information for Corruption Watch but sometimes the organisation conducts its own investigations and reports are created based on those findings.

[29] Corruption Watch also produces public education material, usually related to their campaigns or with current focus areas.

The available communication channels include Corruption Watch's website, a WhatsApp number, social media, e-mail or post.

For instance, these may be cases involving basic health or education services which affect the most disadvantaged South Africans.

The organisation prepares research reports on these hot spots to expose and find solutions to systemic corruption.