non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Civil Action - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...

organisation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

government corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, inf ...

misappropriation In law, misappropriation is the unauthorized use of another's name, likeness, identity, property, discoveries, inventions, etc without that person's permission, resulting in harm to that person. Another use of the word refers to intentional a ...

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

crowd funded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.tax revenues throughout all levels of

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. OUTA's mission is to be a trusted vehicle for positive change, promoting and advancing the

South African Constitution The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Gover ...

and other

democratic process Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choose gover ...

es by: * Challenging and taking action against

maladministration Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration. The definition of maladministration is wide and can include: *Delay ...

and corruption and where possible, holding those personally responsible to account for their conduct and actions. * Challenging policy and the regulatory environment as and when deemed as irrational, unfit or ineffective for their intended purpose. * Working with communities and authorities in improving administration and service delivery, within all spheres of Government. Remaining

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased po ...

, OUTA relies on funding from the public, business and other donor institutions, to perform their work through investigation,

research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

,

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

,

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

and litigation.

Activities

OUTA has chosen to focus its efforts on the

South African government The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authori ...

's management of

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

entities:

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

, South African Airways, the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

and the South African National Roads Agency. This focus is due to the

Auditor-General A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...

revealing a fivefold increase in irregular spending from 2007 to 2015, with much of the unaccounted-for expenditure taking place at the subnational level. OUTA is currently involved in a number of investigations, many of which centre around those involved in state capture and corruption related to politically connected officials and business individuals.

History

OUTA was initially established in early 2012 as the Opposition Against Urban Tolling Alliance, an association of business organisations that grouped together to challenge the South African Government's plan to introduce an urban electronic toll collection, e-toll (South Africa), in the province of

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

.

Rule of Law Campaign

In 2015 OUTA launched its Rule of Law campaign which undertook to challenge the scheme by launching a

crowd funded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

"eToll Defence Umbrella" to defend road users who defied the scheme, in the event that the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) issued summonses against defaulters. OUTA's campaign challenged Government's claims, exposed public complaints and system weaknesses, which in turn generated a successful civil disobedience campaign that reduced eToll payment compliance from 40% in June 2014 to around 25% by 2020.

Mandate expansion and name change

In February 2016, OUTA changed its name to Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, to accommodate the expansion of its mandate to challenge corruption and

maladministration Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration. The definition of maladministration is wide and can include: *Delay ...

in the

South African Government The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authori ...

and its state-owned entities.

No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act

In June 2017, OUTA provided insights and proof of state capture and corruption to Parliament by releasing its ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report, which largely implicated the disgraced former President Jacob Zuma. Leading up to the vote of no confidence in President Zuma in August 2017, OUTA published its ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report, which was a narrative complication of the Gupta leaks which linked him to state capture.

Treason, fraud, theft and corruption charges

Evidence in the ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report lead OUTA to lay

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

charges against Public Enterprises director general Mogokare Richard Seleke and Communications Minister

Faith Muthambi Azwihangwisi Faith Muthambi is the former Minister of Public Service and Administration and former Minister of Communications of South Africa. Career Muthambi held a number of positions prior to her appointment to President Jacob Zuma's cab ...

, fraud and

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

charges against Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, and corruption and fraud charges against Malusi Gigaba as the former

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. Several commissions of inquiry insured into the officials influence by the

Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...

.

Judicial commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture

In 2018

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in Janu ...

began its public hearings. OUTA made its first submission to the

Zondo Commission The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in Janu ...

on Monday 17 September 2018.

Delinquent director

In March 2017, OUTA and the South African Airways Pilots' Association (SAAPA) brought an application in the Pretoria High Court for an order to declare Dudu Myeni a Delinquent Director, based on her conduct and actions during her five-year term as chairperson of the South African Airways (SAA) board. On 27 May 2020 Pretoria High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay declared Myeni a delinquent director and banned her from holding any directorship position for life. Myeni was ordered to pay all legal costs of the action. The judgement and evidence has been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority so a criminal case can be pursued.

References

External links

OUTA website

‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ Report
{{Greater Johannesburg, pol Civic and political organisations of South Africa Anti-corruption non-governmental organizations Non-profit organisations based in South Africa Corruption in South Africa Anti-corruption activism Advocacy groups in South Africa Political advocacy groups in South Africa Organizations established in 2013 Civic and political organisations based in Johannesburg

Vision and mission