Dear OUTA Supporters,

South Africans are often told things are improving. That progress is being made. That government has a plan.

Listening to Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero’s recent State of the City Address, I found myself wondering which city he was talking about, because it certainly did not resemble the Johannesburg many of us live in today.

I would love to live in the city he described. A city of growing investor confidence, functioning infrastructure and effective governance. Instead, residents are dealing with broken traffic lights, worsening road conditions, collapsing water infrastructure, billing chaos, unreliable electricity supply and a city administration sinking deeper into financial crisis.

My concern is not only the scale of the decline. Instead, I am more concerned about the growing disconnect between mindset of political leaders who espouse such messaging, which is far from the truth of lived reality.

Even in a local election year, there appears to be little urgency to meaningfully fix what is broken, however, I get a believe there is less of an ability to do so due largely to a combination of ineptitude and a lack of funds. And then to crown it all, this same leadership structures that created the current mess are presenting themselves as the solution. A case of the arsonists who present themselves as firefighters. 

What we have extends far beyond Johannesburg, and is a reflection of self-preserving governing ecosystem in which accountability is replaced by narrative management.

In a similar vein, this was also evident when the Constitutional Court recently stepped in to instruct Parliament to perform its oversight role in the impeachment process linked to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Phala Phala matter. Think about what that says about the state of accountability in South Africa. The country’s highest court had to remind Parliament to do the very job it exists to do.

Parliament is meant to hold executive power accountable. It cannot become subordinate to political interests, party protection or internal power dynamics. Yet increasingly, many South Africans witness Parliament’s political theatre, strategic maneuvering and party management taking precedence over oversight and consequence management.

We saw this erosion during the Zuma years and into Ramaphosa’s presidential era. The arrival of the Government of National Unity signaled a shift toward stronger accountability and institutional integrity, however, some would say it has fallen far short of expectations, with the continued fragility and ineffective oversight mechanisms that come under pressure when  political considerations outweigh constitutional responsibility. 

This however doesn’t mean that everyone or everything within these institutions is failing, as there are many capable, ethical and hardworking administrative officials within Parliament and across the public sector who continue to keep systems functioning under immense pressure and dubious political environments that undermine good governance, rather than strengthen it.

The result is a country where unnecessary governance failures keep surfacing, giving rise to unnecessary costs was wasted precious resources to address them, than ought to be the case. 

What does irk me are the comments and statements I hear on many occasions - often from people in leadership who are generally well meaning - that our municipalities or government departments are too broken to fix. One only needs to be reminded of how cities were totally destroyed after invasions and bombings in war, only to be restored and improved on over time. Nothing is insurmountable, however nothing changes when it comes to rebuilding, until something shifts in the attitude and mindset of those in political power, fueled by a society willing to support and address the challenges.  

And that is precisely why organisations like OUTA continue to matter.

Civil action organisations exist because oversight cannot be left entirely in the hands of political structures that too often fail to act decisively against abuse of power, maladministration and corruption. It becomes even more challenging when people inside the system are beneficiaries of the turmoil. Independent civic organisations fight to address the accountability gap. They investigate. They challenge. They litigate where necessary. They amplify whistleblowers, shining the light and applying pressure where institutions hesitate.

This work is rarely quick and seldom easy. Real accountability and meaningful change is often frustratingly slow. But without sustained civic pressure, many of these issues would simply disappear beneath the next political headline.

South Africa is not short of laws, commissions, policies or promises. What we continue to lack is consistent enforcement, meaningful consequence management and the political will to place public interest above political convenience.

That is why active citizenry matters, and active citizens come in the form of people who support the organisations and people that do the hard yards.

Wayne Duvenage

CEO, OUTA