Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read
03 June 2025 | 08:00 CAT

OUTA report lays bare South Africa’s deepening crisis—calls for citizens to step up as government fails to act on corruption and protect whistleblowers. (Image – TimesLIVE)

“South Africa is spiralling into dysfunction, with collapsing services, rising inequality, and a lack of political will to tackle corruption.”

This alarming statement opens the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa)’s 2024–25 annual report. According to Outa Chairperson Simile Ndlovu, the responsibility to confront the country’s deepening crisis has now fallen squarely on the shoulders of its citizens.

Outa CEO Wayne Duvenhage, in an interview with Radio Islam on the report’s findings, delivered a sobering reality: the anti-corruption promises that once ushered President Ramaphosa into office have all but faded. “You would have thought under the ticket of anti-corruption… things would be better, but they’re actually worse,” he remarked.

More than three years since the Zondo Commission’s damning findings were released, no significant arrests or prosecutions have materialised. “Absolutely ignored,” Duvenhage says bluntly, noting that the whistleblowers who dared to expose corruption are often the ones who suffer most, dismissed, endangered, or worse. “Their livelihoods… some of them lose their lives like Babita Deokaran,” he adds.

One of the most harrowing trends Outa highlights is the silencing of whistleblowers through trumped-up charges and suspension. The organisation’s secure, anonymous reporting platform now prioritises protection over publicity: “Do not be known… record conversations carefully and anonymously.”

The impact of corruption reaches across sectors. Duvenhage outlines extensive irregularities in the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas), where nearly R20 billion , meant to uplift youth is “spent on tender manipulation, ghost learners and companies getting training money they shouldn’t.”

Still, amidst the bleakness, there are sparks of accountability. Outa marked major victories this past year, including the cancellation of the Karpowership deal – a project that would have cost South Africans four times the price of electricity — and the long-overdue termination of the controversial e-toll system.

A new tool in Outa’s arsenal is its “delinquent director project”, a civil action approach to bar corrupt officials from ever sitting on governance boards again. “It takes time and money, but someone has to do it,” Duvenhage insists.

While signs of reform remain slim, Duvenhage finds hope in the new government of national unity. “We’ve seen pushback on VAT increases,” he notes, adding that some officials have begun engaging Outa to address corruption.

“It’s a long way off from where we should be,” Duvenhage says. “But we’ve got to seize the opportunities and keep the pressure up , even if the president himself isn’t taking it seriously.”

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Annisa Essack and Wayne Duvenhage.