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Inadequate sanitation facilities in South Africa, particularly in schools, highlight an urgent need for intervention, says WaterCAN, an initiative of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA). According to WaterCAN’s Executive Manager, Dr Ferrial Adam, the prevalence of pit latrines, the failing state of wastewater treatment, and children’s safety risks in schools still reliant on pit …
Johannesburg is facing a severe water crisis that demands immediate and sustained action from authorities, businesses and residents. The recent water crisis meeting between the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, the Gauteng Premier, Rand Water and the City of Johannesburg (see the joint statement here) was a critical step, bringing together key stakeholders from the …
Eskom’s immediate threat to switch off power to parts of Joburg abated after intervention from the Minister of Electricity and Energy over the City of Joburg’s unpaid R4.9bn bill. JoburgCAN questions how the metro and Eskom ended up in this position. After a year of first delayed payments and then refusing to pay, the City …
The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) says there is no truth to a series of claims about transparency in relation to its finances, made by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA). The national roads agency has dismissed OUTA’s claims as being baseless, demonstrating a complete disregard for information which is readily available …
City of Joburg chaos leaves residents facing power cuts: The alarming warning from Eskom that the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) could face power cuts because of a dispute over a R4.9 billion electricity bill has sent angry shockwaves through the country’s economic hub. JoburgCAN, an initiative of OUTA, on behalf of residents’ associations and alongside …
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has made a submission to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) opposing Eskom’s pricing application, saying this would result in a 66% price hike over three years. “South Africa cannot afford this,” says Estienne Ruthnam, OUTA Senior Project Manager. “Our submission addresses significant concerns regarding Eskom’s proposed electricity …
MTBPS 2024 underlines the need for municipal reform to get basic services delivered The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS 2024) illustrates how widespread and unmanaged government dysfunction affects delivery. This is one of the most illuminating sentences in the MTBPS, found in the Water and Sanitation vote: “No mega regional bulk infrastructure project phases were …
On Wednesday, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana will share with South Africans the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), which provides an update on our economic and financial position and compares our actual performance with budgeted projections. This is also an event at which Minister Godongwana communicates adjustments to government’s spending because of changes to our …
Minister Blade Nzimande ignored procurement irregularities for a decade, but the new Portfolio Committee on Higher Education won’t allow this to carry on A tender that escalated by more than 1200% (from R6,6m to R89m) awarded to a bidder that should have been disqualified at the functionality stage, a mere five-day window from the placing …
Sanral has revised its financial accounting to depict e-tolls were collected when this was not the case, only to reverse the income though increased impairments. OUTA notes that Sanral has changed its financial reporting practices from the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to the Generally Recognised Accounting Practices (GRAP) in 2023/24 and, in so doing, …
The South African public have been listening to politicians talking about removing the tax components in order to lower the price of petrol for many years now, but nothing has really come from these not-so-bright suggestions. The only relief the public has seen was a brief reduction in the General Fuel Levy in 2022, when …
OUTA told Minister Creecy how the driving licence card machine tender was manipulated, and now welcomes her announcement of an AG investigation. OUTA welcomes Transport Minister Barbara Creecy’s announcement that the driving licence card machine tender award and contract will be investigated. This follows a meeting that OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage had with Minister Creecy …
This bill is supposed to improve conflict resolution, but CAN has concerns about political overreach The Community Action Network, an initiative of OUTA, will monitor the passage of the so-called Coalition Bill when it goes through parliament, as this bill could fundamentally impact local government. According to CAN Project Manager Jonathan Erasmus, the revised deadline …
OUTA wants mayors and councillors to pay the costs of unlawful municipal manager appointments and fruitless special meetings. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s local government Initiative, the Community Action Network (CAN), believes the proposed amendments to a slew of local government legislation will weaken accountability. The Local Government: General Laws Amendment Bill 2024 introduces more …
The AG’s report shows that municipalities continue to ignore the law, mismanage projects, mess up the paperwork, spend money badly and pass budgets that they don’t have the funds to implement The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) expresses grave concern over the Auditor-General’s report on the 2022/23 audit outcomes for local government, which reveals a …
Appeal to the new Minister of Labour to fix the problems with the fund
The RTMC says it won’t provide OUTA with its research report showing how “communicable diseases” affect its decision, while the Department of Transport says the report doesn’t exist The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has ignored the research it conducted in 2022 which recommended extending the validity of driving licence cards, and justified this by …
Civil society asks new Home Affairs minister for a meeting to raise concerns about the unrepresentative electoral reform panel. OUTA has joined a collective call by civic society to meet with Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber to raise concerns about the inadequacy of the new electoral reform panel. “The process of setting up …
Hundreds protest in Braamfontein
This is OUTA’s take on what came out of the Joburg Crisis Alliance meeting on Thursday 26 July 2024. In Kliptown, Soweto, the birthplace of the Freedom Charter, residents do not have electricity, water, decent roads or economic opportunities. Residents from Naturena have visited City of Johannesburg offices so often with service delivery complaints that …
The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) is making a public call for the resignation of Councillor Kabelo Gwamanda, the Executive Mayor in the City of Johannesburg. This call is made in the wake of the significant decline in citizen confidence and trust in the leadership of the Executive Mayor and his Mayoral Committee. Since its establishment …
OUTA is demanding transparency from Department of Transport and its entities over the unexplained delay in replacing the driver’s licence card machine, the failure to extend the validity of the cards, and the licence transaction fees. “We are concerned that the secrecy is hiding problematic activities,” says Advocate Stefanie Fick, OUTA Executive Director. OUTA wants …
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), through its initiative JoburgCAN, is raising alarm over the City of Johannesburg’s recent introduction of a prepaid electricity surcharge, describing it as a poorly conceived strategy to address the City’s burgeoning customer debt, with debt older than three months now standing at an alarming R49.650 billion. “The new prepaid …
“This is an unreasonable expense for low-income households, who already pay higher kWh/h charges than those on conventional meters,” says OUTA. The City of Johannesburg’s recent decision to impose a new R200 fixed service charge (R230 including VAT) on the prepaid high-usage electricity tariff, effective from 1 July 2024, has raised widespread concern among residents …