Local government in South Africa – part 5, finances

The second-last article in our local government series tackles the issue of finances. Funding from the national government is essential for the running of municipal administrations as well as the delivery of services to their communities. There are regulations that prescribe how the finances of municipalities should be run Municipalities are required to provide services Read more >

Tlakula did make inappropriate moves

Corruption Watch has reported before on the questionable leasing deal entered into by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) – a deal that saw the IEC in 2009 signing a contract to rent its new head office building in Centurion, at a cost of R320-million over 10 years. In October 2011 the United Democratic Movement's Bantu Read more >

Local government in South Africa – part 4, the law

In part four of our local government series we take a look at the key pieces of legislation that are relevant to local government. South Africa’s Constitution not only creates local government, but also sets out its objectives in various pieces of legislation. These regulate different areas of local government including the establishment and development Read more >

The latest from the Seriti Commission

Follow our regular updates, straight from the chambers of the Seriti Commission. 24 March 2014: Last Monday, the commission returned to Richard Young’s request for documents and time to allow for adequate cross-examination of Armscor programme manager Frits Nortje. Documentation remains an issue for Young, who has decided not to cross-examine Nortje at this point, Read more >

Belief in offsets was naive

By Lee-Ann Alfreds The premise was irresistible: 64 165 jobs would be created and between R104-billion and R110-billion in investment attracted in return for spending just R30-billion, plus finance costs, on arms. So the South African government, unable to resist, duly contracted with several foreign arms companies to supply fighter jets, submarines, corvettes, helicopters and Read more >

Arms deal offsets – were they worth it?

In the newly democratised South Africa, who could say no to an investment into our economy of between R104- and R110-billion, with the creation of 65 000 jobs? This was the promise of the Strategic Defence Procurement Package (SDPP or arms deal) offset agreements. At the time it would cost the country around R30-billion – excluding Read more >

Local government in South Africa – part 3, the councillor

By Valencia Talane Twelve years ago Simphiwe Zwane participated in her first service delivery protest in Thembelihle south of Johannesburg. The event was a landmark case of a community revolting against government plans to relocate thousands of families from one area to another. Today the 36-year-old mother of two is a councillor in the City Read more >

List disproves ANC claim of fighting corruption

The ruling party has just released its National Assembly list, and there are some names on the list which Corruption Watch followers will have seen on our pages before. The likes of Dina Pule, Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Humphrey Mmemezi are again up for leadership positions, despite the fact that they, and others, have been found Read more >

Local government in South Africa – part 2, who’s who

Municipalities are complex institutions with a wide range of powers and duties. It is important to know who the officials and role-players in municipalities are, and to understand their duties and responsibilities. They are the people and structures responsible for the efficient running of a municipality, and they are the ones who must answer to Read more >