Tag: wasteful expenditure

Starting a new business is an exhilarating venture, filled with both opportunities and challenges. However, the path to success requires more than just a great idea - it demands a strategic approach, careful planning, and the ability to adapt to evolving market conditions. 

In the challenging economic circumstances that South Africa currently faces, the impact of fiscal responsibility – the balanced use of government spending and tax to influence the economy – on taxpayers, businesses, and the nation's overall economic well-being cannot be overstated.

We urge government to fast track professionalisation of local government finance units. This follows the Auditor-General (AG), Tsakani Maluleke’s presentation on the 2021-22 Local Government Audit Outcome to the Standing Committee of the Auditor-General (SCOAG) on Wednesday, 31 May which continues to reflect poor audit outcomes as a result of poor financial planning, inadequate financial controls, skills and capacity, governance and accountability.

Just days after Mpho Phalaatse was removed as Johannesburg’s mayor, a letter to all municipal entities surfaced on social media, in which the Acting City Manager of Johannesburg instructs the boards of municipal entities to cease holding any “strategic sessions, including the [sic] Board and Sub-Committee meetings” until further notice.

The 2019-20 local government general report released by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) on 15 June continues to emphasise the lack of accountability and consequence management in local government which impacts service delivery and municipal finance management.

The proposal for a universal basic income grant (BIG) has been on the table for almost 20 years. It was first recommended by the Committee of Inquiry (Taylor Committee) into a Comprehensive System of Social Security for South Africa in 2002, after a number of civil society organisations had petitioned for it on account of persistent poverty and structural inequality.

The municipal skills shortage has reared its nasty head again. This was identified  by the Auditor General (AG), Ms. Tsakani Maluleke, who briefed parliamentary committees on the 2019/20 local government audit outcomes and the COVID-19 relief funds expenditure in a session on 22 June 2021.

Government's first duty is to protect the rights of citizens. Instead, ours has prioritised yet another bailout of R10.5 billion for the failed South African Airways (SAA), with a further R6.5 billion in the pipeline. This while citizens die in hospitals lacking basic personal protective equipment, staff and oxygen supplies, and there remains no vaccine on the horizon.

The Presidential Commission Report on the 4th Industrial Revolution makes several strategic recommendations, but it needs to be followed by agile policy and regulation. The Presidential Commission on the 4th Industrial Revolution (the Commission) was tasked with drawing up a strategy to enable South Africa to participate fully in the fourth industrial revolution (the 4IR). Its report was published on 23 October 2020.

South Africa’s access to healthcare and housing is 'increasingly deteriorating', according to the 2020 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG). The IIAG assesses governance in 54 African countries based on public goods and services that citizens have a right to expect from their governments, and the responsibility of a government to deliver.