For decades, South Africa’s PFMA-listed public entities - Eskom, Transnet, Denel, PRASA, SAA, NSFAS, the SETAs and many others - were meant to deliver services that underpin our economy and people’s lives. Instead, they’ve been gutted by corruption, mismanagement and waste. Eskom sits with crippling debt and rolling blackouts. Transnet’s decline has choked exports. NSFAS has left students stranded while billions vanish. SETAs meant to equip young people with skills have become havens for inflated contracts and cadre appointments.

The tragedy is not just the financial loss - it’s the collapse in services that South Africans rely on daily. And through it all, the executives and directors who presided over this mess have mostly walked away untouched.

OUTA believes this cannot continue. That’s why we’re in court to close the accountability gap. Our case is about strengthening the law so that if you lead a public entity and enable corruption - through action or neglect - you face real consequences, not a golden handshake.

South Africans cannot keep footing the bill while public entities are looted and leaders walk away scot-free. This case is about setting a new standard: leadership must come with responsibility, and responsibility must come with liability.

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