OUTA report: It’s up to citizens to rebuild accountability

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) 2024/25 annual report, released today, reflects on South Africa’s deteriorating governance landscape and the growing role of civil society in holding the state to account.

In the annual report, OUTA Chairperson Simile Ndlovu warns that South Africa is increasingly becoming a dysfunctional state, characterised by collapsing service delivery, growing inequality, and the state’s inability to act on corruption.

“We must all realise that nobody is coming to save South Africa; we must do it ourselves,” writes Ndlovu, urging citizens to get involved in rebuilding accountability.

“Thank you to whistleblowers and ordinary South Africans who stand up, speak out and participate in defending our constitutional democracy. Please continue doing what is right; your actions give us strength.”

OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage echoes the urgency, describing a nation where corruption continues largely unchecked.

“Three years after Judge Raymond Zondo delivered his findings from the State Capture Commission, his recommendations continue to be ignored. Individuals implicated in large-scale corruption and theft of public funds remain free,” writes Duvenage in the report.

“Against this backdrop, OUTA’s work remains critical. We continue to be inundated with information, whistleblower reports and requests for support, which inform and fuel our projects to expose corruption, inefficiencies and wasteful expenditure.”

Duvenage thanks OUTA’s contributing supporters, who are primarily individual members of the public and small businesses, “whose contributions are vital to the success of our work”.

The report outlines key highlights from the past year’s work, including:

• The collapse of the multi-billion-rand Karpowership deal, following OUTA’s successful legal challenge. “Without our legal intervention, this disastrous deal might have proceeded unchecked and become one of the most spectacular wastes of public funds ever,” notes Duvenage in the report.
• The halting of a flawed tender for the new driving licence card machine, after OUTA exposed irregularities and alerted the Transport Ministry.
• The development of the ParliMeter, a new public dashboard to monitor Parliament’s performance and promote data-driven democracy.
• Ongoing challenges to electricity tariff hikes, toll concession secrecy, and corruption in student funding and skills development entities.
• The launch of a new Delinquent Director project, targeting unethical public officials for lifetime bans from leadership positions.

The “Overview of OUTA Projects” section in the report documents a concerning pattern of institutional secrecy, particularly the routine rejection of lawful information requests under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. Advocate Stefanie Fick, Executive Director of OUTA’s Accountability Division, calls this trend “a pervasive and systemic resistance to transparency and accountability within many government institutions” that fuels corruption, weakens oversight and undermines service delivery.

Despite these challenges, OUTA maintains strong collaborative ties with oversight bodies like the Auditor-General and the Special Investigating Unit, and continues to engage constructively with Parliament, government officials, and communities.

Ndlovu says that OUTA exists not to oppose the state, but to strengthen it, so that South Africa fulfils its constitutional commitment.

“As much as I wished that by now we could say the country was turning the tide in the fight against corruption and maladministration, we are far from that reality. Unless there is a meaningful change in the will of politicians in power to fight the scourge of corruption head-on, the people of South Africa will have to rely on the relentless work and pressure from civil society to quell and minimise the damage. OUTA remains committed to this mission,” says Duvenage.

The full OUTA Annual Report 2024/25 is available at www.outa.co.za