The Gupta brothers may not be off the hook yet. Justice minister Ronald Lamola last week announced enhanced extradition and co-operation moves between the UAE, to where the brothers had fled after the fall of their erstwhile crony Jacob Zuma, and South Africa, where they built their business empire.
Nominations and applications for the next public protector are now open. Read our article on the criteria for the post, give it some thought, and send your application or nomination to the parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee to Nominate a Person for Appointment as Public Protector before 16h00 on 7 July 2023.
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke, presenting the annual municipal audit outcomes to the parliamentary standing committee on the auditor-general on 31 May 2023, said the dismal report was yet another reminder of the urgency with which oversight bodies must engage with their duties.
The tragic, and unnecessary outbreak of cholera in Hammanskraal, which has left almost 30 people dead, is yet another example of poor governance and mismanagement in South Africa’s water sector. Reports just released by the Department of Water and Sanitation show a drastic decline in standards of management of the country’s precious water supplies.
Ahead of his visit to South Africa in July, UN special rapporteur on toxics and human rights Marcos Orellana invites all interested individuals and organisations working on issues related to toxics and human rights and implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes – including representatives of civil society organisations, journalists, experts, and academics – to provide input for the preparation of his visit.
Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts is still seeking clarity on certain points related to Eskom corruption, which former CEO Andre de Ruyter revealed earlier this year. However, neither De Ruyter, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, nor national security advisor Sydney Mufamadi have assisted the committee in this respect, all rather passing the buck than giving straight answers.
Hospitals around the country face a daily challenge of inferior or no proper infrastructure to meet the medical needs of communities – this situation exacerbates the mounting medico-legal claims with which provincial health departments have to contend. While provincial health departments have to meet their service delivery goals and ballooning legal woes mean that development money has to be used to settle claims.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured the country that implicated parties in the far-reaching network on money laundering revealed in Al Jazeera’s Gold Mafia docu-series, will be investigated. But some are sceptical that the country’s bumbling law enforcement authorities are capable of carrying such an investigation through to a successful conclusion.
A good start to the year for Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke so far, as she has received some reprieve in her legal battle with the Road Accident Fund regarding reporting standards on the one hand, and managed to show a positive impact of her office’s extended powers on state institutions in her recent reporting before Parliament, on the other.