Open Secrets Newsletter | July/August 2024
As we step into Spring, let’s take a moment to reflect on the highlights of July and August.
Open Secrets calls for more heads to roll following Mthimkhulu’s sentencing
Non-profit organisation, Open Secrets, is calling for – what it terms – the heads of the architects of corruption at Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to roll.
‘Suspicious that Simelane can’t provide loan documents’
Head of investigations at Open Secrets, Michael Marchant says it is suspicious that Simelane claims the money she received was allegedly a legitimate loan, but cannot provide documentation to prove that.
Justice Minister must act swiftly in face of VBS loan allegations
Lester Kiewit speaks to Michael Marchant about how the Justice Minister Thembi Simelane needs to respond urgently to reports she received a loan of over R500 000…
Open Secrets Radio – Universal Basic Income Grant: Who stands to profit? | Q&A with Open Secrets investigators
In this episode of Open Secrets Radio, we discuss the key issues surrounding the potential implementation of a Basic Income Grant in South Africa and ask, who stands to profit? Tune in as Open Secrets investigators Abby May, Zen Mathe, and Michael Marchant dive into the concept of a basic income grant as a form of social protection; its potential to address poverty and inequality; and concerns around the digitization of South Africa’s grant system.
Where The (Mine)y Resides with Zen Mathe and Michael Marchant
In the fourth episode of the African Climate Alliance Podcast’s Cancel Coal season, Zen Mathe and Michael Marchant from Open Secrets uncover the power and money dynamics within South Africa’s energy landscape as well as the lessons that can be learned for achieving an equitable and just energy transition.
Suspected war criminal living the good life in Cape Town
The organisation Open Secrets revealed in its latest investigation that Christoph Huber, a Swiss national living in Cape Town, is suspected of having made millions from the war in the DRC.
Christoph Huber: Accused of DRC war-profiteering but living easy in South Africa
A Swiss businessman is alleged to have found significant business opportunities in the 1990s war that killed six million Congolese. A new investigation by Open Secrets, published here for the first time, has tracked him down to the picturesque southern tip of Africa, where he lives in million-rand homes.
VBS affidavit leak raises questions about NPA’s security systems
Open Secrets’ Micheal Marchant says the NPA needs to look at its internal systems following the leak of an explosive affidavit on the VBS case.
Will Rwandan genocide come back to haunt PW Botha man?
Cape Town-based non-profit organisation (NPO) Open Secrets wants Pretoria resident Willem “Ters” Ehlers prosecuted for aiding and abetting the April 1994 Rwanda genocide.