Posts

Groups, NGOs bemoan plans to reopen schools

Corruption Watch The Department of Basic Education’s plans to reopen schools on 1 June 2020 have been met with criticism, with calls for the minister, Angie Motshekga, to reconsider choosing a later date or face a court action. Motshekga, in a press briefing held on Monday, 1 June 2020, said the postponement of the reopening Read more >

Government’s not so reliable food-delivery service

By Kwazi DlaminiFirst published in City Press South Africans with the means to do so have been using the tap of a finger for meals to be delivered to their homes, since the country went into Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown level 4 earlier this month. Between technical glitches that hampered said deliveries and complaints over the Read more >

Auditor-General has eye on Covid-19 relief package

The Auditor-General (AGSA) has briefed Parliament on its role during the Covid-19 disaster, and given insight into possible delays in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) audits. Both audit processes are crucial to managing the use of the public purse as they track and identify irregular spending, among others. Read more >

Covid-19 has worsened an already tough situation

Tsietsi Willem Moshebi Lockdown has been an experience that I will never forget, with the coronavirus being the reason for the deaths of many people around the world. People like myself and millions others nationwide were vulnerable even before Covid-19 came and disrupted lives. I have been without a job for more than a decade Read more >

CSOs request resumption of Zondo hearings

UPDATE, June 2020: In a letter dated 15 June, the Zondo Commission replied to the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture to say that despite the strict lockdown regulations, the commission was able to do a substantial amount of work remotely in the weeks since the country shut down. The letter reiterated that hearings Read more >

Give small business opportunities

Pierre Mpapele Government has created great expectation for small businesses to afford them opportunities to supply Covid-19 supplies. We were invited to register on the government portal and on the central database, but that was the end of the engagement. People who do not have clothing businesses are at the forefront of opportunities to supply Read more >

CW warns of opacity in emergency procurement measures

Corruption Watch, in fulfilling its commitment to ensuring accountability and the integrity of public finances, sent a letter to National Treasury (NT) on Thursday, 7 May 2020, expressing its concern regarding the repeal and release of different instruction notes relating to emergency procurement under COVID-19. The release of successive instruction notes has created legal uncertainty Read more >

Busting the curfew to get home

Guest contributor The seven-day grace period for people to move from one province to another during lockdown came to an end at midnight on Thursday, 7 May 2020. Thousands of people took up the opportunity to either return to their places of work or go home. Before lockdown I had travelled from Johannesburg to Durban Read more >

Load shedding blues for some communities

Betsie du Plooy Since lockdown started, the Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM) started their own load shedding. From day one, Bethal and the townships of Embalenhle and Emzinoni had load shedding, at times for three or four hours per day, and other times for up to seven or eight hours. They created a so-called schedule, but Read more >