AG offers little comfort to long-suffering municipal residents

By Kwazi Dlamini Lack of accountability in local government continues to impede on service delivery and leads to the deterioration of municipalities, says Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke in her recently released  2021/2022 audit outcomes of the Municipal Finance Management Act. Reporting to Parliament on 31 May 2023, Maluleke said that most municipalities are struggling to Read more >

Poor governance in water sector is significant cause for concern

Image: Wikimedia CommonsUsed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license South Africa is expecting an important visitor on its shores soon, in the form of the UN special rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana. He is an international human rights law expert, and will examine the country’s position on toxics and human Read more >

Cagey politicians delay Scopa quest for Eskom answers

By Kwazi Dlamini The parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) is still seeking answers on the matter of tackling corruption at Eskom. This comes after presidential security advisor Sydney Mufamadi failed to provide the committee with information it requires regarding the ongoing investigation against senior ANC politicians implicated in former CEO Andre de Ruyter’s Read more >

Provincial health depts’ legal claims costs cause for concern

The state of the government’s bill for medical claims is a cause for concern, particularly because it has grown significantly over the years, to the point where some provincial health departments could not keep up. That is, healthcare facilities entrusted with the lives of South Africans every day are paying more towards medical claims than Read more >

Gold Mafia scandal to be investigated – but can SA authorities pull off a success?

By Kwazi Dlamini President Cyril Ramaphosa, answering to questions in the National Assembly in mid-May 2023, has reiterated his commitment to clamping down on illicit financial activities and money laundering in South Africa. His statement comes weeks after the jaw-dropping Al Jazeera documentary Gold Mafia, which exposed an extensive network of gold smuggling and money Read more >

DPSA describes public sector professionalisation as “burning issue”

At the beginning of May, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) presented its 2023/2024 annual performance plan to the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Service and Administration, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. At the same meeting the Public Service Commission (PSC), National School of Government, and Centre for Public Service and Innovation presented their Read more >

SA universities corruption: problem more widespread than initially thought

By Kwazi Dlamini A recent report by an independent assessor into the affairs of the University of South Africa (Unisa) has recommended that the institution be placed under administration, and senior management and council of the institution be relieved of their duties. Investigator Professor Themba Mosia found deep signs of instability, mismanagement, financial irregularities, amongst Read more >