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Can business save Joburg – without letting leaders off the hook?

By Janine ErasmusFirst published on News24 In Nerina Street, Randburg, City of Johannesburg (CoJ), lies the site of a water burst that has been excavated and left open for at least two years. The repair job was never completed – piles of sand extend into the pothole-ridden road, forcing cars to swerve around it into Read more >

Public urged to comment on Reviewed White Paper on Local Government

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) encourages the public to comment on the Reviewed White Paper on Local Government, which was gazetted by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa on 7 May. This is the second round of comments, with the first having taken place in mid-2025, and the reviewed white Read more >

Human rights provision fails when corruption is present

By Janine Erasmus South Africa, as it does every year, observed Human Rights Day on 21 March under the month-long theme of A Legacy of Courage: Protecting Rights, Preserving Humanity. In his address on the day, President Cyril Ramaphosa surprised nobody when he said corruption was one of the biggest obstacles and challenges to improving Read more >

Community project presents corruption research findings to EC legislature

Corruption Watch (CW) today led a group from 10 community-based organisations (CBOS) supported under the Strengthening Action Against Corruption (SAAC) project in presenting the preliminary findings of a corruption risk assessment report on local government in the province.   The report highlights risks associated with poor governance and weaknesses in controls that emerged across various Read more >

Water woes and lack of municipal accountability for neglected villagers

Working in the field of community development often lays bare the intersectionality of issues of human and socio-economic rights, climate governance and even corruption that manifests in the absence of accountability. The realities of all this are all too familiar for Sizeka Mavumengwana, the director of Ukhahlamba Legal Advice and Development Agency  (ULADA) based in Read more >

Can municipal corruption be likened to organised crime?

It’s another year at the polls for South Africa, with the focus this time on municipalities. At the end of 2026, citizens will vote for their local government representatives in an election that will take place between 2 November and 1 February 2027. This is a crucial event in the democratic system because local government Read more >

Deadline extension for submissions on Local Government White Paper review

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) minister Velenkosini Hlabisa officially launched the review of the White Paper on Local Government on 20 May 2025. Hlabisa called for all interested parties to make submissions, saying that the success of the review relies on a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, and that contributions were required across all three Read more >

Political intervention needed to save local govt: Maluleke

Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke on Wednesday revealed to Parliament that only 41 of South Africa’s 257 municipalities obtained clean audit outcomes in the latest Municipal Finance Management Act audit outcomes for the 2023/24 financial year – although this is an improvement from the previous reporting period’s 35 municipalities. Furthermore, 99 municipalities obtained unqualified outcomes with findings, Read more >