{"id":98147,"date":"2025-06-03T08:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=98147"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:29:11","slug":"state-of-the-nation-outas-stark-warning-on-south-africas-governance-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/state-of-the-nation-outas-stark-warning-on-south-africas-governance-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"State of the Nation: Outa\u2019s Stark Warning on South Africa\u2019s Governance Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n03 June 2025 | 08:00 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

OUTA report lays bare South Africa\u2019s deepening crisis\u2014calls for citizens to step up as government fails to act on corruption and protect whistleblowers. (Image – TimesLIVE)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSouth Africa is spiralling into dysfunction, with collapsing services, rising inequality, and a lack of political will to tackle corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

This alarming statement opens the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa)\u2019s 2024\u201325 annual report. According to Outa Chairperson Simile Ndlovu, the responsibility to confront the country\u2019s deepening crisis has now fallen squarely on the shoulders of its citizens.<\/p>\n

Outa CEO Wayne Duvenhage, in an interview with Radio Islam<\/em><\/a> on the report\u2019s findings, delivered a sobering reality: the anti-corruption promises that once ushered President Ramaphosa into office have all but faded. \u201cYou would have thought under the ticket of anti-corruption\u2026 things would be better, but they’re actually worse,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n

More than three years since the Zondo Commission’s damning findings were released, no significant arrests or prosecutions have materialised. \u201cAbsolutely ignored,\u201d Duvenhage says bluntly, noting that the whistleblowers who dared to expose corruption are often the ones who suffer most, dismissed, endangered, or worse. \u201cTheir livelihoods\u2026 some of them lose their lives like Babita Deokaran,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

One of the most harrowing trends Outa highlights is the silencing of whistleblowers through trumped-up charges and suspension. The organisation\u2019s secure, anonymous reporting platform now prioritises protection over publicity: \u201cDo not be known\u2026 record conversations carefully and anonymously.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cspent on tender manipulation, ghost learners and companies getting training money they shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 and the long-overdue termination of the controversial e-toll system.<\/p>\n

A new tool in Outa\u2019s arsenal is its \u201cdelinquent director project\u201d, a civil action approach to bar corrupt officials from ever sitting on governance boards again. \u201cIt takes time and money, but someone has to do it,\u201d Duvenhage insists.<\/p>\n

While signs of reform remain slim, Duvenhage finds hope in the new government of national unity. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen pushback on VAT increases,\u201d he notes, adding that some officials have begun engaging Outa to address corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long way off from where we should be,\u201d Duvenhage says. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to seize the opportunities and keep the pressure up , even if the president himself isn\u2019t taking it seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/a> with Annisa Essack and Wayne Duvenhage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 03 June 2025 | 08:00 CAT \u201cSouth Africa is spiralling into dysfunction, with collapsing services, rising inequality, and a lack of political will to tackle corruption.\u201d This alarming statement opens the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa)\u2019s 2024\u201325 annual report. According to Outa Chairperson Simile Ndlovu, the responsibility to confront […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":98148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/unnamed.jpg?fit=750%2C422&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-px1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 01:35:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}