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Treasury’s 2021/22 annual report gets qualified audit opinion from AG

National Treasury (NT) has finally tabled its 2021/22 annual report in Parliament, after finance minister Enoch Godongwana had asked the parliamentary speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to extend the deadline of 15 January. NT’s 2021/22 annual report was delayed because of an ongoing dispute between NT and the Auditor-General of South Africa (Agsa), which gave the report Read more >

The year that was – review of Parliament’s 2022

First published on Parliamentary Monitoring Group 2022 was another eventful parliamentary year. With the year done and dusted, we review some of the legislature’s activities and highlights from this period. The year got off to an ominous start with a devastating fire that gutted large parts of the National Assembly. This had a ripple effect Read more >

Govt to track employees who resign to avoid disciplinary processes

It happens in government and the private sector, over and over – employees fingered in irregular activities resign before disciplinary proceedings can be instituted against them or before a sitting disciplinary committee can make a recommendation. By so doing, these employees hope to escape accountability for their actions. In the words of Eskom CEO Andre Read more >

Weakened law-making system leads to inadequate legislation

Image: Wikimedia Commons, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license South Africa’s law-making regime is another casualty of the corruption and mismanagement that was prevalent during the state capture years, writes Caroline James, advocacy co-ordinator at amaBhungane. Here she describes how amaBhungane and Corruption Watch had to rush to get their joint submission Read more >

CW and AmaB submit on anti-money laundering bill, express concerns

In a comprehensive joint submission to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance today, non-profit organisations Corruption Watch and AmaBhungane expressed concern that the haste with which the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill was developed may have compromised its effectiveness. The bill was prepared in a matter of months after the Financial Read more >

New inspector-general of intelligence almost a done deal

On Tuesday 13 September 2022, the National Assembly (NA) approved the nomination of Imtiaz Ahmed Fazel as the new inspector-general of intelligence (IGI) of South Africa. In terms of Section 7(1) of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act, the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) is mandated to recommend a candidate for approval by at least Read more >

Parliament can do a better job of oversight, says monitoring body

The make-up of parliamentary portfolio committees; the political orientation and leadership skills of their chairpersons; and their ability to effectively hold members of the executive to account are all factors that will determine if Parliament will from here on perform its oversight mandate as recommended by the Zondo commission in its report. Civil society body Read more >

Directly electing our president does not guarantee accountability

By Steven FriedmanFirst published on My Vote Counts Academics who teach politics do not believe that their knowledge equips them to judge court cases or to represent parties in legal actions. But judges and lawyers tend to believe that legal training somehow equips them with a knowledge of politics greater than that of their fellow Read more >