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First Nene budget due today

Last year this time then-minister of finance Pravin Gordhan impressed the nation when he delivered his medium term budget policy statement (MTBPS). Gordhan announced, among other developments, that severe austerity measures were to be put in place to cut down on wild spending. Today his successor Nhlanhla Nene presents his first medium-term budget, also known Read more >

Local govt going back to basics

The second presidential local government summit (PLGS) promised action in transforming the performance of municipalities from mediocre, in many cases, to excellent, and ensuring that efficient municipalities remain that way. Ministers, premiers, mayors, executive mayors, municipal managers, speakers, chief whips, technical officers, traditional leaders, and other senior local government officials convened in Midrand on 18 Read more >

Good and bad of audit reports

  By Valencia Talane Depending on which way you look at it, the municipal audit report for the 2012/13 financial year offers either a positive or a miserable outlook for South Africa's local government landscape. The report was published last week by the auditor-general, Kimi Makwetu. As Pravin Gordhan, the minister in charge of local Read more >

Gordhan questions the rules

Valencia Talane The one-size-fits-all approach to the governance standards of local government does not work and needs a rethink, according to Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan, who was responding to the latest auditor-general report on municipalities on 30 July, said that the standard requirements for metro municipalities, for example, could not Read more >

New Cabinet appointments a mixed bag

In what was arguably his most keenly anticipated Cabinet announcement, President Jacob Zuma both appeased and disappointed South Africans with the appointments and redeployments he revealed to the country on Sunday. Economic prosperity, good governance and oversight and a clear commitment to combat  corruption were key areas of pubic concern ahead of the announcement of Read more >

Chief procurement officer makes progress

By Valencia Talane Finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s national budget speech, delivered on Wednesday afternoon, was a display of good news in terms of government efforts to improve the country’s fiscus over the years as well as firm warnings towards those who do business in a dishonest way.   On government spending in particular – an Read more >

New e-book focuses on procurement corruption

Corruption in government procurement processes is a major concern amongst South Africans, as it results in billions of rands of the national budget going down the drain. Many citizens have decided to do something about it – between our launch in January 2012 to the end of January 2014, we have received 465 reports related Read more >

Business can play a vital role in fighting corruption

While its main focus remains on the abuse of public resources, Corruption Watch believes that business also has a crucial role to play in combating corruption. The civil society organisation has reached out to CEOs of leading companies in South Africa to explore opportunities for collaboration and involve business as an active partner in fighting Read more >