President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the long-awaited Municipal Systems Amendment Act (MSAA) into law on 19 August – an important legislative change in the administrative management of local government. The Act seeks to regularise the appointment and performance of municipal managers and the decision-makers around them to ensure cleaner local administrations. But while political agendas Read more >
By Moepeng Talane The community of a Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, township is engulfed in a hopeless situation of uninhabitable houses falling apart around them, after allegedly being duped by banks and developers into buying property built on land not suitable for such. Residents of Delmore East Ext 2 say they are gearing up for a civil Read more >
Image: CoGTA By Kwazi Dlamini In the 10 years of its existence, Corruption Watch has worked on scores of corruption reports coming from the Eastern Cape (EC). Mismanagement and corruption are virtually the order of the day, and there seems to be no end to the shenanigans. Therefore, it did not come as a surprise Read more >
Image: Morné van Rooyen By Kwazi Dlamini One hundred days after the local government elections, there seems to be no end in sight to the goings-on at the Karoo Hoogland municipality – specifically, regarding the allegedly irregular appointment of its municipal manager. The Northern Cape municipality has remained mum about the appointment of Jan Fortuin, Read more >
By Kwazi Dlamini A unique set of events played out in two Free State courts last week, with one local municipality right at the centre of it. The chief financial officer (CFO) of Nketoana Municipality, Xolani Malindi, made his first court appearance on 8 December, facing fraud charges, while former CFO Vincent Mkhefa was on Read more >
By Moepeng Talane The Public Service Commission (PSC) may have gotten rid of the main players in a nepotism scandal that rocked the institution early in 2020, leading to the dismissal of its director-general (DG), but the body is far from clearing itself of the stigma of a hithertofore largely unknown culture of autocracy and bad governance that has plagued it for years. This is according to a whistle-blower who spoke to Corruption Watch on condition of Read more >
By Moepeng Talane In a recent newsletter distributed by his office, President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned the differences between honest and dishonest public servants, claiming that although the public service has become known over some years more for dishonest conduct, there is still hope for restoring its image and confidence in its mandate. He was commemorating the beginning of public service month, observed officially in September very Read more >
By Kwazi DlaminiFirst published on Maverick Citizen A state-funded poultry farming project in KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga, meant to help develop the local economy, is embroiled in financial distress and factional battles, allegedly caused by public officials meant to manage it. The matter has since reached the courts. The KwaMhlanga Poultry Project (KPP) is mired in allegations Read more >
By Kwazi Dlamini As the nation settled in to a strict lockdown in March 2020, put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Cyril Ramaphosa made a promise to the public; the promise was that government would help those severely affected by the lockdown, and it would protect the funds put Read more >