With a reputation of being incapable of managing the technical constraints of its internal systems, it must be questioned why the South African Social Security Agency and the South African Post Office would make Postbank the preferred partner to take over the administration of social grant payments.
Digital Profiteers: The digitalisation of the South African welfare state explained Open Secrets TV Who are the digital profiteers lining up at the trough of the South African digital welfare state? Illustrator Brandan Reynolds and Open Secrets’ investigators Abby May and Zen Mathe breakdown the findings of Open Secrets’ investigation, Digital Profiteers: Who Profits Next…
Coming soon on Open Secrets TV… Digital Profiteers Illustrated Date: 20 May 2022 Time: 18:00 (Johannesburg) Where: Open Secrets TV Have you read Open Secrets’ latest investigative report, Digital Profiteers: Who Profits Next from Social Grants? No? Perhaps you’ve planning to get round to it, but life, work and that series you have been bingeing,…
On 29 March 2022, Open Secrets and Black Sash together with over 60 activists hosted a workshop on Digital Profiteering at Community House in Cape Town. In this video Open Secrets’ Investigator, Ra’eesa Pather speaks to one of the workshop participants Feziwe Sigqumo about the digitalisation of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant system.
Newsletter: April 2022 Nothing is mahala! The same holds true for “free” social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook – they have turned us into products. We call these category of corporations – digital profiteers. Do you recall how the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) allowed companies like Net1 and CPS to abuse…
What’s at stake in the GovChat vs Meta personal information ‘data war’? Daily Maverick | Abby May and Michael Marchant | 12 April 2022 On 14 March, the Competition Commission of South Africa upheld a complaint by South African tech company GovChat against Meta Platforms Inc and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Facebook. The commission referred the tech giant…
Open Secrets investigation raises red flags around the digitalization of grants process CapeTalk: Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto | 29 November 2021 Abby May, an investigations Intern at Open Secrets, speaks to John Maytham about an investigation which highlights the threats to privacy and vulnerable individuals when private companies co-create the digital infrastructure used by the…
Ciaran Ryan | Moneyweb| 7 December 2021 Who would have thought the Covid-19 pandemic would present a potential gold mine for companies specialising in the harvesting and selling of data? Apple’s market cap, now $2.6 trillion, is up 136% since the onset of Covid. If it were a country, Apple would be the eighth largest…
CPS Social Grants Management Still a Secret | Interview with Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations Radio 786 | 6 December 2021
Open Secrets investigation raises red flags around the digitalization of grants process CapeTalk: Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto | 29 November 2021 Abby May, an Investigations Intern at Open Secrets, speaks to John Maytham about an investigation which highlights the threats to privacy and vulnerable individuals when private companies co-create the digital infrastructure used by the…
