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The latest print coverage of Open Secrets’ work in print journalism and collaborations with civil society partners.

We have catalogued all of Open Secrets’ coverage in the print and digital media publications in this blog reel. This includes: our self-published blogs, pieces in the media which cite our work, and articles covering our investigations, legal cases and advocacy.

You will also find some serialised versions of our investigative work which we have partnered with media publications for publishing, like the Unaccountable series and the Declassified series which are featured on the Daily Maverick. Other notable media partners include: the Financial Mail, News24, Mail &Guardian and Sound Africa. You can also access all the pieces written about Open Secrets work by other civil society organisations and social movements here.

Fake it ’till you make it: How an SA arms company built UAE armoured vehicles

The UAE is selling well-equipped armoured vehicles to African states under a ‘Made in Emirates’ label. But documents from a whistleblower show that these are South African-designed vehicles built by the staff of Integrated Convoy Protection, a South African company. The vehicles were built in the UAE by ICP staff using parts exported from South Africa. Open Secrets can now publish this story following a three-week gag order obtained by International Convoy Protection (ICP) from the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town that prevented us from saying anything about this story.

PRESS RELEASE: Gag order lifted – Open Secrets victory in urgent interdict filed by armoured vehicle company Integrated Convoy Protection

The Western Cape High Court has dismissed the urgent interdict application brought by Integrated Convoy Protection (ICP) against Open Secrets. The interdict sought to silence Open Secrets and prevent the publication of an article about ICP’s contract to supply armoured vehicles to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Is the Private health care sector putting profits above people? | METRO FM Talk with Faith Mangope

Luthando Vilakazi discusses Who Owns South Africa? Private Healthcare on METRO FM Talk with Faith Mangope

Critical South African investigative organisation slapped with gag order

Investigative nonprofit Open Secrets has confirmed that it is currently “unable to speak on a matter of significant public importance” due to a court-imposed restriction.

Unknown judge in unknown court gags Open Secrets from saying… | GroundUp

Open Secrets, an organisation which exposes economic crimes and human rights abuses, has been issued a prepublication gag order. This appears to be the most draconian prepublication interdict we have come across.

Gigaba engages with IDAC over Transnet corruption probe

IDAC says former Public Enterprises minister Dr Malusi Gigaba will not appear in court today. Gigaba met with the directorate today after receiving what he described as a summons from the NPA. The alleged charges relate to the procurement of locomotives and other activities at Transnet during his tenure. Open Secrets’ Michael Marchant weighs in.

Open Secrets’ WOSA report untangles Private Telecoms | Radio 786

Over the past few months Radio 786 has been highlighting the Open Secrets series of reports, titled Who Owns South Africa?. The first report unpacked how a powerful few control our economy and politics, while the second looked at the private control of healthcare. The latest report looks at Private Telecoms. It uncovers how just a few corporations, that’s MTN, Vodacom, Telkom, and Cell C, dominate the sector and profit from essential communication services.

The political muscle behind South Africa’s mobile giants | Currency News

A new Open Secrets report alleges that the country’s biggest mobile firms have used political ties to protect their interests across Africa.

The Hidden Power of Private Telecoms – Interview with Tessa Dooms

LISTEN | Ra’eesa Pather, Senior Investigator at Open Secrets joins Tessa Dooms on POWER Perspective to discuss Open Secrets’ latest report Who Owns South Africa: Private Telecoms

Open Secrets Reveals the Powerful Owners Behind South Africa’s Private Telecoms – SAfm

LISTEN | Ra’eesa Pather, Senior Investigator at Open Secrets joins Koketso Sachane on The Meeting Point to discuss Open Secrets’ latest report Who Owns South Africa: Private Telecoms

INVESTIGATION: Who Owns South Africa? Vol.3 | Private Telecommunications

Discover how MTN, Vodacom, Telkom & Cell C dominate South Africa’s telecom industry in Volume 3 Open Secrets’ Who Owns South Africa series. This volume reveals how these players impact the rights of people around the world, their relationships with powerful politicians, and the growing role they play in selling financial services.

PRESS RELEASE | Open Secrets Reveals the Powerful Owners Behind South Africa’s Private Telecoms

PRESS RELEASE | Open Secrets Reveals the Powerful Owners Behind South Africa’s Private TelecomsMedia statement News Print Media Online State Capture Profiteers Who Owns South Africa? October 28, 2025 Cape Town, South Africa Open Secrets has launched the latest volume of its incisive new Who Owns South Africa series that exposes the powerful players who…

Frans Mathipa murder | Open Secrets investigators probe Lt Col. Mathipa’s murder – SABC News

Open Secrets Director, Hennie van Vuuren on SABC News updating on the findings so far related to the murder of the Hawks investigator Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa in August 2023 and the kidnapping of two Ethiopian nationals — Abdella Hussein Abadiga and Kadir Jemal Abotese — in December 2022.

The cost of Eskom’s secret pricing deals | Currency News

Eskom’s secretive pricing deals with aluminium giant South32 reveal how claims of ‘commercial confidentiality’ are used to block access to information in the public interest.

Our Annual report is here!

Our Annual report is here!News Newsletter October 8, 2025 Nolwazi Nene Mamello Mosiana In 2024/25, Open Secrets’ work was broadcast, debated, and acted on, and it was sustained by the commitment and support of partners within civil society and on occasion by engaged state institutions. In this report we reflect on Open Secrets’ impact and…

Who Owns South Africa? | The Dan Corder Show

Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets was a guest on The Dan Corder Show on eNCA explaining Open Secrets’ research into the billionaires and big businesses that own much of South Africa’s industries.

‘Who Owns South Africa’ report points to ‘commodification’ of healthcare in private sector | Daily Maverick

A report by the non-profit Open Secrets has condemned the ‘financialisation’ of healthcare in South Africa, with researchers arguing that the private healthcare sector is being used for profit-taking by a small group of powerful actors at the expense of affordability and access for patients.

HEALTH FEATURE: South Africa’s Healthcare Inequality | Power 987

South Africa’s private healthcare sector is controlled by a handful of powerful groups, pushing up costs and deepening inequality. As the government pushes ahead with National Health Insurance (NHI) reforms, it faces stiff resistance from entrenched private interests. Open Secrets lawyer Luthando Vilakazi explores how corporate power shapes healthcare access and what it means for ordinary South Africans.

Open Secrets report: Who Owns South Africa – Private Healthcare: Medical Aid Schemes and Private Hospitals | SAFM

Luvano Ntuli, investigator at Open Secrets, on The Meeting Point with Koketso Sachane about part 2 of its series Who Owns SA, “Private Healthcare: Private Medical Aid Schemes and Private Hospitals.

Who Really Owns Private Healthcare in SA? A Deep Dive into Profits, Power & Inequality | KAYA 959

South Africa’s two-tier health system is under the microscope again – and in the latest instalment of Who Owns South Africa, Open Secrets peels back the curtain on private medical aids and hospital groups. Phemelo Motene speaks to Open Secrets’ Head of Investigations, Michael Marchant, about the money, the monopolies, and the future of our health system.

Open Secrets Annual Report 2024-2025

In this 2024/25 Annual Report, we reflect on Open Secrets’ impact and achievements in the past year, measured against our organisational objectives.

INVESTIGATION | Who Owns South Africa? – Private Healthcare: Medical Aid Schemes and Private Hospitals

South Africa’s healthcare sector is marred by deep rooted inequalities, with millions relying on an overly strained and under resourced public healthcare system. In this instalment of Who Owns South Africa, Open Secrets turns the spotlight on to the role of private players in the health care system and shows how the concentration of private power shapes the sector.

Get your ticket! Who Owns South Africa? | Private Healthcare

Who Owns South Africa? | Private Healthcare is the second event of Open Secrets’ new investigative series Who Owns South Africa? (WOSA). Get your ticket!

Open Secrets investigates SA’s inequality | Point of View with Phemelo Motene

POV speaks to Michael Marchant discussing the first instalment of Open Secrets’ new investigation, Who Owns South Africa – The System: Money, Power and Politics. The investigation examines how concentrated wealth and corporate dominance continue to shape South Africa’s economy and democracy.

Who Owns South Africa: The System- Money, Power and Politics | CREATIVE CORNER

Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, on POWER CREATIVE CORNER about the “Who Owns South Africa?” (WOSA) series. Its first profile, The System: Money, Power and Politics, explores how concentrated wealth and corporate dominance influence policy, deepen inequality, and hinder social progress.

Open Secrets report reveals Who Owns SA | Radio 786

South Africa’s democracy is under pressure from things like unchecked corporate influence, to political capture. Investigative non-profit, Open Secrets, has launched its series Who Owns SA, with part one, “The System – Money, Power and Politics”.

Open Secrets launches new investigative series | Newzroom Afrika

Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets speaks to Katlego Msomi at Newzroom Afrika about new investigative series ‘Who Owns South Africa?’

We Can’t See the Sunset Documentary Trailer

We Can’t See the Sunset Documentary TrailerClimate Profiteers News Open Secrets TV People's Hearing August 30, 2025 Mamello Mosiana Nolwazi Nene In a country shadowed by smokescreens and broken promises, We Can’t See the Sunset is a haunting journey into the human cost of the climate crisis. Through interviews with Open Secrets investigator Zen Mathe…

INVESTIGATION| Who Owns South Africa: The System- Money, Power and Politics

South Africa faces 33% unemployment and record corporate profits. Open Secrets’ new investigation, Who Owns South Africa reveals how money, power and politics fuel inequality.

Access to Information in the Climate, Energy, and Environmental Space

The Access to Information Network (ATI Network) compiled and submitted a report engaging with how our courts have interpreted and applied the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in cases concerning access to information, particularly on energy- and climate-related information requests.

Worries over meaningful contributions at the National Convention | Newzroom Afrika

Director at Open Secrets Hennie van Vuuren and National Coordinator at Right2Know says it looks like the National Convention convened to discuss problems that are already known in the country. Van Vuuren and Right2Know’s Sthembiso Khuluse discuss this further on Newzroom Afrika.

Get your ticket! Who Owns South Africa? | The System

Who Owns South Africa? | Money, Power and Politics is the launch event of Open Secrets new investigative series Who Owns South Africa? (WOSA). Get your ticket!

The cheap electricity deal South32 has with Eskom | 702

John Perlman chats to Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets on the cheap electricity deal between Eskom and South32. They touch on the fact that some of the deals similar to this one were developed at a time when the production of electricity was not a problem.

Presidency’s progress report on Zondo recommendations | Power 98.7 Podcast

POWER 98.7 spoke to Ariella Scher, Head of Legal at Open Secrets, about South Africa’s R1 billion Zondo Commission, whose key recommendations on prosecutions, reforms, and oversight remain largely unimplemented. Asset recoveries are minimal, and institutions show little political will.

July 2025 Newsletter | Open Secrets contributes to 2025’s big accountability breakthroughs

July 2025 Newsletter | Open Secrets contributes to 2025’s big accountability breakthroughsNews Newsletter August 1, 2025 Nolwazi Nene Mamello Mosiana Despite the relentless gloom of the news cycle, 2025 has brought meaningful strides towards justice and accountability. The Dirty Dozen, the Twelve South African National Defence Force members were finally charged in connection to the…

State Capture and the failure to implement the Zondo Commission’s recommendations

State-owned petroleum company PetroSA has revealed the extensive potential corruption risks in the murky world of oil and gas.

Luthando Vilakazi on Newzroom Afrika | Hawks raid Prasa offices in Johannesburg

Hawks raided Prasa’s Johannesburg headquarters in Braamfontein today over claims of irregular tenders amounting to more than R18 billion. The raid comes over a month after Open Secrets took the Hawks and the NPA to court for failing to hold Prasa ‘looters’ accountable. Open Secrets lawyer Luthando Vilakazi reacts.

Why Andrew Chauke’s suspension from NPA is no surprise

Lester Kiewit speaks to Open Secrets Senior Investigator Ra’eesa Pather, about the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Andrew Chauke, following claims that threaten the credibility of the National Prosecuting Authority and his questionable conduct in office.

Ra’eesa Pather on Newzroom Afrika | Ramaphosa suspends Chauke

After more than a decade at the helm of prosecutions in Gauteng, Advocate Andrew Chauke has been suspended by President Cyril Ramaphosa — pending an inquiry into his fitness to hold office. Investigative journalist Ra’eesa Pather, who has closely followed Chauke’s career and the broader collapse of prosecutorial independence during the Zuma years unpacks more.

Clean-break and Dirty Air (Part 2) | The consultants who supported CEF’s SAPREF oil refinery gambit

Consultants downplayed previous warnings given to the Central Energy Fund about the purchase of Sapref’s oil refinery in South Durban, which has serious implications for the state and the public.

WATCH| The People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers 2025- We can’t See the Sunset

Watch the recording of the People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers Part 2 which brought together communities, activists, and organisations for a powerful day of art, activism, and accountability for the climate crisis and energy crisis in South Africa.

Clean-break and Dirty Air (Part 1) | CEF ignores red flags and gives Shell and BP a clean-break on SAPREF deal

In May 2024, the state-owned Central Energy Fund (CEF) announced that it would purchase the South African Petroleum Refinery (Sapref) oil refinery in South Durban – and all its related assets – for just R1.

MOTSWEDING FM: BORESETSE: Puisano ka ngwaga fa e sa le go tlhamilwe GNU

Kelebogile Kgetse o buisana le sebueledi kwa mokgatlhong wa baagi wa Open Secrets, Letlhogonolo Letshele ka tiro ya bathati ba puso ya GNU.

Webinar: Who’s watching Parliament? (Hint: It should be you)

Think Parliament ends when the votes are counted? Think again. This sharp, no-fluff conversation, unpacks how citizen monitoring is shaking up democracy, and why Parliament is not the same thing as Cabinet (no, really – they’re different). Open Secrets Campaigner, Letlhogonolo Letshele was part of OUTA’s webinar on International Day of Parliamentarism.

PRESS RELEASE | Parliamentarians’ pension fund balks at transparency

Fossil Free South Africa (FFSA) and Open Secrets express dismay and alarm at the refusal by the South African parliamentarians’ pension fund to divulge whether it invests in fossil fuel companies and in companies trading with human rights-abusing regimes, like Israel.

The Dan Corder Show | Hennie van Vuuren

Star guests on The Dan Corder Show are Hennie van Vuuren from Open Secrets, talking about the high-profile arrests of SAPS, spoeks and soldiers, and Lelowhatsgood on South Africa’s vibrant queer culture.

The R74bn MTN lawsuit – a litmus test for corporate accountability

In April, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) delivered a landmark judgment against the MTN Group, giving the green light for South African courts to hear allegations that it acquired a telecommunications licence in Iran through bribery and corruption.

INVESTIGATION | The Climate Consultants: How Management Consultants Cash in on the Climate Crisis

The Climate Consultants, a new investigation by Open Secrets, shows how management consultants are cashing in on the climate crisis and highlights that there must be public debate about how we hold these unelected private technocrats to account.

Russian Doll revisited: Will the SANDF’s ‘dirty dozen’ expose the top brass?

The assassination of top Hawks official Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa seemed destined, until this week, to remain a cold case – another high-profile murder that is politically simply too hot to handle. This underscores the magnitude of the breakthrough in the case, led by Hawks investigators, that has culminated this week in a prosecution process targeting 12 SANDF officials. They stand charged with the murder of Mathipa, two other unnamed individuals and numerous other crimes.

IRBA report reveals systemic quality control breaches: Michael Marchant

Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets talks about the role of some auditing firms in state capture and how much accountability has been taken.

Two arrested for the murder of the hawks investigator | Hennie van Vuuren on Newzroom Afrika

Police say that two people have now been arrested for the murder of the hawks investigator Frans Mathipa – who was killed in August 2023.

Who Killed Frans Mathipa? Probing the SANDF, Abductions, and a Trail of Silence

Who Killed Frans Mathipa? Probing the SANDF, Abductions, and a Trail of Silence – Hennie van Vuuren on The View Point

SANDF members arrested for 2023 murder of Hawks officer | 702 Drive with John Perlman

John Perlman chats to Hennie van Vuuren, Director at Open Secrets on the arrest of 12 SANDF members who are currently being held for the 2023 murder of a Hawks officer.

Climate Consultants Open Secrets investigation launch

Advising Power, Serving Profit: How Management Consultants are Shaping and Cashing in on the Climate Crisis

Join Open Secrets & Lester Kiewit as we expose how consultants profit from South Africa’s climate crisis—based on insider interviews & investigations.

State-owned entities and the question of accountability

Open Secrets has applied to the North Gauteng High Court to review the conduct of the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority during the decade-long investigation into corruption at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). Ariella Scher, Head of Legal at Open Secrets speaks to Cathy Mohlahlana on The Talking Point.

Open Secrets Newsletter | May 2025

May was a month of fierce truth-telling and collective courage—from the stirring voices at our second People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers to our legal showdown with the NPA and Hawks over PRASA corruption…

Open Secrets wants Hawks to finalise PRASA investigation findings

Luthando Vilakazi, lawyer at Open Secrets, spoke to eNCA about the high court filing.

#POWERBreakfast with Tessa Dooms | In conversation with Ariella Scher, Head of Legal at Open Secrets

Hawks, NPA sued for failing to investigate corruption at PRASA. Ariella Scher, Head of Legal at Open Secrets, is in conversation with Tessa Dooms.

Open Secrets wants review of Prasa’s graft investigations

Open Secrets’ Luthando Vilakazi speaks to Michelle Craig about the group’s application at the Pretoria High Court, seeking a probe into the Hawks and the NPA’s snail’s pace in investigating alleged corruption at PRASA.

BREAKING: Open Secrets Takes the Hawks and the NPA to Court for Failing to timeously hold the PRASA looters to account

Open Secrets files court action against the Hawks and NPA over years-long delays in prosecuting PRASA corruption.

ZINE | We Can’t See the Sunset

“We Can’t See the Sunset” Zine is a powerful multimedia publication inspired by the 2024 People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers. Featuring testimonies, activist guidelines, artwork, and reflections on climate justice, the zine amplifies the voices of communities most impacted by environmental harm and energy profiteering. It’s a creative call to action for a just transition…

Eskom’s “gift” of R92 billion to South32

John Perlman chats to Michael Marchant, Open Secrets’ Head of Investigations, about the documents that were sent to Open Secrets verifying that Eskom reportedly gave South32’s Hillside aluminum smelter a 50% discount, which could total R92 billion over the course of the agreement.

Eskom’s R92bn ‘gift’ for South32

Documents given to Open Secrets confirm South32’s Hillside aluminium smelter receives around a 50% discount from Eskom that could add up to R92bn over the life of the deal. While the power utility says South Africa receives a ‘net benefit’, there is no evidence of this.

RSVP| People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers- We Can’t See the Sunset

Join us for a powerful day of art and activism at We Can’t See the Sunset: A People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers. This immersive event creates a platform to confront the climate crisis and demand a just energy transition.

Why has the NPA bungled high profile state capture and corruption cases?

Clement Manyathela speaks to Micheal Marchant, the Head of Investigations at Open Secrets about why the NPA has not been able to prosecute high-profile state capture or corruption cases.

Open Secrets Newsletter | A luta continua!

Our March newsletter reflects Open Secrets’ unwavering commitment to speaking truth to power, loudly and courageously, in honour of those who fought for justice.

#ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo | The Talking Point with Cathy Mohlahlana

SAFM | The Talking Point with Cathy Mohlahlana – Cathy Mohlahlana speaks to Abby May, an investigator at Open Secrets about the #ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo report.

Nibble the rich? A case for taxing the wealthiest South Africans

Despite loud claims to the contrary, some form of wealth tax in South Africa — especially of the very wealthiest — is both the right thing to do, and possible to achieve.

Open Secrets Newsletter | We will not be #Shutdown

February was a landmark month for South African politics, both on the home front and on the international stage. From the State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2025, the heated debate over the (very lukewarm) Expropriation Bill, the postponed budget speech, and becoming a favoured target of the Trump regime—South Africa was in the global spotlight.

Exposing MTN’s Role in Internet Shutdowns across Africa and the Middle East

Clarence Ford speaks to Jane Borman, lawyer at Open Secrets, about #ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo, their latest report revealing how MTN and its subsidiaries have been implicated in human rights violations across Africa and the Middle East.

MTN probed for human rights violations in war-torn countries

Open Secrets is investigating alleged human rights violations in war-torn and autocratic African and Middle Eastern countries by SA mobile giant MTN and its subsidiaries. This relates to internet shutdowns during wars and elections in markets like Afghanistan, Sudan, DRC and Nigeria. Open Secrets Investigator and #ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo author Abby May elaborates.

INVESTIGATION | #ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo – MTN and internet shutdowns

#ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo, a new investigation by Open Secrets, exposes MTN’s role in internet shutdowns, corruption, and human rights violations across Africa and the Middle East, revealing how the telecom giant operates with impunity and calling for urgent accountability.

LAUNCH | #ShutdownsEverywhereYouGo: MTN’s Role in Internet Shutdowns

MTN is celebrated in South Africa, but behind the branding lies a darker truth. This investigation uncovers its role in internet shutdowns during elections and conflicts, aiding oppressive regimes in Sudan, Iran, Uganda, and beyond.

G20 Summit | McKinsey and Bain inclusion reflects ‘double standards’

McKinsey and Bain & Co have been included in G20 discussions. They will play a supporting role to the B20 which represents private sector interests at the Summit. Michael Marchant from Open Secrets says this reflects double standards in the way we treat corporations. He also says support is needed for the Presidency’s call to the B20 to terminate the Bain and McKinsey contracts.

NPA experiences challenges finalising corruption matters

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it’s still experiencing challenges finalising corruption matters. Thabiso Tema spoke with Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets.

Unaccountable 00041: Even if you are an arms dealer, BNP Paribas wants your money!

This Unaccountable profile explores the involvement of BNP Paribas in enabling payments for arms transactions during the Rwandan genocide. The bank facilitated over $1.3 million in payments from the Rwandan government to arms dealer Ters Ehlers, violating UN sanctions.

Open Secrets demands answers from Home Affairs Minister Dr Schreiber regarding the granting of South African citizenship to alleged war criminal Christoph Huber

Open Secrets has called on Home Affairs Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber to explain why South African citizenship was granted to Christoph Huber, a Swiss national under investigation for alleged war crimes in the DRC, including resource pillage and mineral smuggling.

Unaccountable 00045| Lawrence Mulaudzi: Potential Partner or Perpetual Pick-Me?

Explore Open Secrets’ Unaccountable series: read about the controversies surrounding businessman Lawrence Mulaudzi, examining his involvement in PetroSA’s billion-rand contract and the broader implications for South Africa’s oil and gas sector

Unaccountable 00044: PetroSA — bankrupt but open for business

By Michael Marchant and Luvano Ntuli PetroSA’s history is a stark warning of the corruption risks inherent in the murky world of oil and gas. The state-owned petroleum company has left behind a litany of scandals that have cost the South African public dearly. Few responsible have faced any accountability. The previous two instalments of…

Export of SA’s R3 billion-worth to Israel’s allies questioned

Open Secrets has raised questions about over R3 billion-worth of South African arms exports to Israel’s allies. This as the Israel-Hamas and Hezbollah wars rage, threatening a wider Middle East conflict. Open Secrets lawyer Abongile Nkamisa elaborates.

Unaccountable 00042|TotalEnergies- Blood and Oil

Explore how TotalEnergies’ operations, from Uganda to South Africa, expose a legacy of environmental harm, human rights violations, and greenwashing tactics. Part of Open Secrets’ Unaccountable series.

Real estate industry attracting ‘corrupt’ investors

The real estate industry has been identified as a sector attracting alleged corrupt investors. An Open Secrets probe has tracked R162 million in homes purchased by politically connected individuals, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique.
Journalist Raeesa Pather, who was the lead investigator in this project, talks to Tumisang Ndlovu.

Unaccountable 00043|Shell: Prioritising Profits over People and the Planet

Explore how Shell’s operations have prioritized profits over environmental and human rights, with a focus on its controversial activities in Nigeria and South Africa.

Not exactly at arm’s length: How South Africa’s Weapons Trade Undermines Its Stance on Israel and Palestine

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

South Africa’s luxury properties used for laundering vast sums of money tied to corruption across Africa,”

South African non-profit organisation Open Secrets has revealed that luxury properties in the country are increasingly being used to launder large sums of money linked to corruption across Africa.

Prominent African families were found to have laundered their illicit money on SA homes.

On 702 Drive, John Perlman interviews Ra’eesa Pather, Senior Investigator at Open Secrets, about the investigation behind our report, For Sale: South Africa’s Property Laundromat, that shows how international money laundering has been aided and abetted by prominent SA law firms and estate agents.

Open Secrets launches report on property laundering as a means of enabling corruption

Open Secrets unveils their latest report following a multi-year investigation into how South Africa’s luxury property sector is complicit in laundering the proceeds of grand corruption from across Africa. Lester Kiewit speaks to Ra’eesa Pather, senior investigator at Open Secrets.

NPA has to investigate looted Congolese funds stashed in South African properties.

Open Secrets, PPLAAF and Congo is Not for Sale demand that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) immediately address a criminal complaint involving potential international money laundering offenses by Francis Selemani.

For Sale: South Africa’s Property Laundromat

The South African real estate agents and lawyers laundering the proceeds of corruption from Mozambique, the DRC, and Equatorial Guinea

Unaccountable 00040| Willem ‘Ters’ Ehlers – apartheid’s secretary turned genocide arms dealer

Explore Open Secrets’ investigation into Willem Ters Ehlers, a former apartheid secretary turned arms dealer, whose weapons fueled the Rwandan genocide. Part of the Unaccountable series, this exposé uncovers how impunity enables profiteers of violence.

Zondo Recommendations Tracker | Who Implements the Recommendations of the State Capture Commission?

Join us for an insightful preview of the Zondo Recommendations Tracker designed by the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture.

AmaBhungane and Open Secrets challenges PetroSA’s diesel contracts secrecy

Open Secrets and AmaBhungane have submitted information requests to PetroSA, to name the companies that received R20-billion in contracts to supply them with diesel.

Opportunity: Short Term Research Consultant

Open Secrets is looking for a researcher to research and collect data on the corporations and individuals fueling the climate crisis.

2025 Open Secrets Internships

Open Secrets is hiring three interns (Investigations, Legal, and Campaigns) to join our small, dedicated team based in Cape Town.

Greenwashing, dubious deals and secrecy: the dark underbelly of South Africa’s oil sector

An Open Secrets report raises the alarm about the way in which oil companies do business. Yet in South Africa, these companies have had a steadfast champion in mining minister Gwede Mantashe.

The Cost of Big Oil report

Open Secrets’ Head Investigator Michael Marchant joins Clarence Ford on ‘Views and News with Clarence Ford’ to uncover how corporations are pushing for expansion and profits, despite fierce resistance.

CECR 4: The Oil and Gas Majors

In the Corporations and Economic Crime Report: The Oil and Gas Majors, we expose Shell, TotalEnergies, and Impact Oil and Gas—three industry giants determined to expand their oil and gas operations in South Africa, despite strong resistance from local communities.

PowerMapper Webinar| Meet South Africa’s Energy Profiteers

Explore the key players profiting from the climate crisis and renewable energy transition with Open Secrets’ interactive tool, the PowerMapper. This tool highlights private actors driving South Africa’s coal, gas, oil, and renewable energy sectors, based on our report Who Has the Power? South Africa’s Energy Profiteers

WEBINAR: The Oil and Gas Majors: Corporate Power and the Climate Crisis

Register here to join Open Secrets and Currency for the launch of Open Secrets’ new report: The Corporations and Economic Crime Report Vol. 4: The Oil and Gas Majors.

Simelane ‘loan’ debacle piles pressure on Ramaphosa – Justice minister’s explanation ‘not convincing’, say NGOs

Pressure is mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to act against minister of justice & constitutional development Thembi Simelane, after she admitted to soliciting a loan from a company that facilitated payments from the Polokwane municipality to the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

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. We celebrated Dulcie September’s remarkable life and honored Women’s Month through a Listening Cinema; we released our 2023/2024 Annual Report; and Open Secrets Radio has two new episodes…

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…

The Tenderpreneur and the Printing Firm: Wicknell Chivayo and Renform

In this episode of Open Secrets Radio, host Mamello Mosiana dives deep into Zimbabwe’s latest corruption scandal involving the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission

Annual Report 2023-2024- Fighting the fires that must be stopped!

In 2023/24, the Open Secrets team bravely took on some of the biggest rogues in our midst. We did this with zest and zeal and in partnership with other civil society organisations.

Strange connection between South Africa’s election queue chaos and a dodgy Starlink Zimbabwe deal

The supplier of the troublesome voting management devices (VMDs) used in South Africa’s 2024 elections has been linked to convicted fraudster Wicknell Chivayo, the owner of a company that controversially secured “exclusive” Starlink distribution rights in Zimbabwe.

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.

South African company, Ren-Form, and Wicknell Chivayo embroiled in R570m Zimbabwe corruption scandal

Leaked documents and voice notes suggest that SA company, Ren-Form, inflated a tender for the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission by 235%, while its politically connected partner, Wicknell Chivayo, made payments to mystery officials.

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.

Cover photo of Willem Ters Ehlers in Open Secrets report on Rwandan Genocide

The Shocking Role of Willem ‘Ters’ Ehlers in Arming the Rwandan Genocide| Open Secrets report

Explore the global connections that fuelled one of history’s most devastating genocides. Learn how arms dealers and financial institutions played crucial roles, making profits at the expense of human lives.

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.

Open Secrets petitions NPA to prosecute man for allegedly aiding Rwandan genocide

Open Secrets is petitioning the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute a South African man for allegedly aiding and abetting the Rwandan genocide.

Open Secrets Newsletter | June 2024

We are seeking accountability for a key player in the Rwandan Genocide, we launched the Gupta Tracker, and made a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change.

NPA petitioned to probe ex-apartheid govt official for role in Rwandan genocide

JOHANNESBURG – Advocacy group Open Secrets has petitioned the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prosecute a former apartheid government official for his involvement in the Rwandan genocide 30 years later.

Open Secrets Petitions The NPA To Prosecute South African Willem Ehlers For Aiding And Abetting The Rwandan Genocide

Open Secrets submitted a memorandum to the NPA motivating for the prosecution of Willem “Ters” Ehlers, a South African currently residing in Pretoria, for the offence of aiding and abetting the Rwandan Genocide.

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change

Open Secrets and the Access to Information Coalition for the Energy Sector (ATIC) submitted a crucial report to the UN Special Rapporteur for Climate Change.

What now for Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe?

Lester Kiewit speaks to Michael Marchant, head of investigations at OpenSecrets, about what happens now that former Eskom bosses Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe have had the cases against them dropped by the NPA.

Open Secrets Newsletter | May 2024

From in-depth investigative reporting on the potential profiteers of a Basic Income Grant, to our relentless pursuit of legal accountability for those implicated in State Capture in Zimbabwe, Open Secrets continued to pursue accountability in May.

Let’s talk about Sudan: The Consequences of Unfinished Revolutions

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation invited Open Secrets investigator Luvano Ntuli to be a panelist on their webinar “Let’s talk about Sudan: The Consequences of Unfinished Revolutions”.

Universal Basic Income Grant: What should a payment system look like?

In the first two instalments of this series, we examined the weakening of the social grants payment system in South Africa and how private companies are entering the space looking to profit from access to a still largely untapped market.

Access to online platforms for grant application and payments can reduce the time and money recipients spend applying for and accessing their grants and make it safer to do so.

Universal Basic Income Grant: who will profit?

The Post Office and Postbank have failed to manage the social grants payment system. But the private sector is not an easy fix either.

The failures of the Post Office and then Postbank have led to suggestions that the private sector should play a larger role in the payment of social grants. In this article we show that South Africa’s social grants history reveals the dangers of thinking private companies are the easy answer.

Universal Basic Income Grant: who should run it?

Public debate around a Universal Basic Income Grant (UBIG) has focused on fierce disagreements about its economic benefits, whether it is financially feasible for South Africa, and if so, what the value of the grant should be. As UBIG campaigning takes centre stage in the 2024 elections, Open Secrets asks an equally important but often overlooked question: who will administer the payment of those grants?

Accountability and Peace in South Africa, Eswatini, and the DRC

Newsletter: April 2024 Accountability and Peace in South Africa, Eswatini, and the DRC We are continuing to broaden our reach. This month our pursuit of justice and accountability for economic crime took us from South Africa to Eswatini and the DRC. #AllEyesOnCongo: Peace, Justice and Accountability in the DRC On the 11th of April 2024…

Taking stock of Batohi’s efforts to turn NPA around

Newzroom Afrika | National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi says the National Prosecuting Authority’s comeback story after state capture has been nothing short of remarkable.

Has the NPA turnaround been successful?

Thabo Shole-Mashao speaks to Michael Marchant, the head of investigations at Open Secrets and Stephanie Fick, the executive director of the accountability division at OUTA about the effectiveness of the NPA in the past five years.

Swazi Secrets part 3: How to capture a bank

by Hennie van Vuuren and Abby May Published in the Financial Mail Eswatini central bank red-flags Farmers Bank licence Eswatini finance minister Neal Rijkenberg projects an air of ordinariness. His sensible suits, likely bought off the rack, are only rarely swopped out for Swazi traditional dress. But Rijkenberg is far more colourful than his looks…

Swazi Secrets part 2: The construction kingpin

In part 2 of the Swazi Secrets investigation we expose, Mitchelo Shakantu who has built a business empire with stakes across the Eswatini economy.

The Swazi Secrets leak — part 1

Swazi Secrets leak exposes the violence and corruption of eSwatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy

Vacancy: Head of Legal

Open Secrets is looking for an experienced legal practitioner to head up its legal unit, based in Cape Town.

RSVP: All Eyes on Congo

Join us on the 11th of April for a transformative networking evening hosted by Open Secrets and PPLAAF. Together, let’s forge alliances and ignite change in the DRC through meaningful dialogue.

The lawyers and auditors who cashed in on corruption at PRASA

This is the third in a series of articles on corruption and irregular money flows from PRASA’s dealings with Swifambo Rail Leasing. It follows the auditors and lawyers who cashed in on corruption at the Passenger Rail Agency, neglecting their professional duties.

The looters living it up from PRASA millions

This is the second in a series of articles on corruption in PRASA’s dealings with front company Swifambo Rail Leasing. It focuses on the activities of Makhensa Mabunda and Auswell Mashaba, the men who orchestrated the purchase of unusable locomotives for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).

The European company that profited from corruption at PRASA

This article is the first in a series of articles on corruption in PRASA’s dealings with a front company called Swifambo Rail Leasing. It focuses on Vossloh, a European rail technology company, which made billions of rands through a dubious partnership with Swifambo.

South Africa’s Civil Society demands actions against state capture

Radio Islam South Africa’s civil society has unveiled a report demanding actionable steps be taken to address state capture. The collective response, presented in Braamfontein, reflects the collaboration of civil society organisations within the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture, focusing on the findings of the Zondo Commission. Letlhogonolo Letshele, from Open Secrets, speaking…

A Collective Civil Society Response to the Zondo Commission and the State Capture Report

The collective civil society response is a reflection, by civil society organisations within the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture (CSWG), on the Zondo Commission and the State Capture report.

Coastlines for sale: The second Scramble for Africa begins

Hantu | Megan Mannion African coastlines are the newest commodity up for grabs and those involved in the latest scramble are not unfamiliar faces. International corporations such as CGG (UK) and TotalEnergies (France) are among the fifteen other foreign companies vying for the right to seismic test and/or drill for oil and gas along the…

Structural Inequalities and the Perpetuation of Atrocity Crimes

Gaynel Curry and Luvano Ntuli discuss structural inequalities and its relationship to systems of oppression as well as histories of exploitation and marginalization.

Coal’s deadly toll — Mpumalanga community members share their experiences of sickness and suffering

Sharing their experiences of living in the shadows of Mpumalanga’s coal mines and power stations, community members and activists said that the health impacts of coal use are vastly understated and not widely understood on all levels.

Have Shamila Batohi’s five years at the NPA been successful?

Lester Kiewit speaks to Michael Marchant, head of investigations at OpenSecrets, about Shamila Batohi’s five years at the helm at the National Prosecuting Authority, and whether she is making a dent in the country’s massive corruption problem.

Marchant: Impunity thrives under Adv. Batohi

NPA head Adv. Shamila Batohi has been in her role for five years but few people have been found guilty of state capture graft. Open Secrets’ Micheal Marchant says it’s not fair to blame only one institution for corruption but adds that under Batohi impunity continues to thrive.

KPMG has been linked to auditing the Gupta companies and provided auditing services to Tongaat Hulett which is currently placed under business rescue.

KPMG has signed a confidential settlement with VBS Mutual Bank

SA records its lowest score on Corruption Perceptions Index

Takudzwa Pongweni | Daily Maverick South Africa now falls into the category of ‘flawed democracies’. The latest annual Corruption Perceptions Index says efforts to fight public sector corruption are faltering. The index partly blames a global decline in justice and the rule of law. Transparency International on Tuesday released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report. …

2023 Round-up | What’s New in 2024

2023 was a busy year for Open Secrets. Our team of investigators, campaigners, and lawyers challenged powerful – and in some instances dangerous – profiteers and human rights abusers. We published four new investigative reports – including our first on climate profiteers – and continued the fight for justice and accountability for perpetrators and enablers of economic crime and human rights violations.

“Insults” don’t deserve comment – DoD Head of Communication

defenceWeb The senior communicator at the South African Department of Defence (DoD), Siphiwe Dlamini, told defenceWeb he does not respond to “insults”. This was in reaction to a hard-hitting Daily Maverick editorial in the wake of a media conference last week where SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya, made public the official…

PetroSA’s dirty business | Carte Blanche | M-Net

State-owned company PetroSA used to produce diesel and other fuels from gas at its refinery in Mossel Bay. But in 2020, it ran out of gas… and money. Two decades of woeful investments, scandals, absence of governance, and profligacy had rendered the company bankrupt. But Minerals and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, has refused to let…

SANDF says issues of torture did not form basis of inquiry, denies existence of military ‘death squad’

Generals from the top echelons of the South African National Defence Force on Thursday denied the allegations of the existence of a military squad responsible for acts of torture and murder. But they deflected on providing factual responses to many of the allegations.

MEDIA ALERT! Open Secrets seeks accountability for investigation into allegations of torture in the SANDF

In the past week a Open Secrets published “Russian Doll 3: Exposed- SANDF ‘Torture’ Squad” and “Russian Doll 4: The ‘SANDF’ Torture Squad Victim, Pule Nkomo speaks out’. On Sunday, Carte Blanche in partnership with Open Secrets also published a report into allegations of torture in the military. This is a significant story of human…

DA urges release of SANDF criminal activity report amid ongoing allegations

defenceWeb The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for access to a report into criminal activity in the military as allegations continue to swirl over rogue unit activity that includes kidnapping and torture. DA Shadow Minister of Defence…

MEDIA ALERT! The SANDF calls a media conference, is set to respond to Open Secret’s investigation into allegations of torture in the military

On Thursday, 7 December 2023 the SANDF is hosting a press briefing to address what they refer to as “allegations in the media and public domains”.

Allegations of murder, torture, corruption and abuse of power in the SANDF: Hennie Van Vuuren

SABC Morning Live Open Secrets has published a series with allegations of criminal activities within the South African National Defence Force. The organisation alleges there exists a rogue unit responsible for acts of torture and murder. According to Open Secrets, the group comprises the Special Forces Brigade, the Military Police, Defence Intelligence and Defence Legal…

SANDF torture squad | Carte Blanche | M-Net

This is a story about the bad and the brave and how an investigator on a dark journey exposes shocking secrets at the heart of the South African National Defence Force.

Allegations of ‘torture squad’ in SANDF

eNCA

Open Secrets exposes links between SANDF and Hawks investigator assassination

Open Secrets exposes a military squad allegedly responsible for acts of torture and murder. The evidence implicates at least four units of the SANDF in crimes dating back to 2019. They are the elite Special Forces Brigade, the Military Police, Defence Intelligence and Defence Legal Services.

Open Secrets implicates SANDF units in torture and murder

Open Secrets has implicated SANDF’s four units in alleged acts of torture and murders dating back to 2019. The organisation says it has it on good authority that the implicated SANDF members are stealing weapons and are using them to commit crime

The organisation open secrets says that it now has evidence of a squad of soldiers in the SANDF

SAfm Sunrise

Russian Doll 3: EXPOSED — the SANDF ‘Torture’ Squad

Open Secrets exposes a military squad allegedly responsible for acts of torture and murder. The evidence implicates at least four units of the SANDF in crimes dating back to 2019.

Competition Commission investigating 28 banks for alleged price fixing

The Competition Commission’s investigation into 28 banks for alleged price fixing involving the rand has again shone the spotlight on the conduct of banks and financial crimes.

Injustice and Impunity: Crime and corruption in austerity’s wake

The ongoing failure of South Africa’s investigative bodies and prosecuting authority to secure accountability for high-level corruption and economic crime is one of many serious risks to the country’s future.

Former Eskom boss case struck off roll

The Middelburg specialised commercial crimes court struck former Eskom boss Matshela Koko’s fraud, corruption and money-laundering case off the roll due to unreasonable delays. Phemelo speaks to the Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, Michael Marchant about the case.

Companies waiting to profit from energy transition – report

A new report by Open Secrets found that some private corporations are lining up to profit from the proposed energy transition. Open Secrets head of investigations Michael Marchant says the push for new energy creates an opportunity for corruption.

2024 Internship Opportunities

Open Secrets is hiring two outstanding candidates (one Intern: Investigations and one Intern: Campaigns) to join our team in Cape Town.

Report| Who Has The Power? South Africa’s Energy Profiteers

Media Statement| Who Has the Power? South Africa’s Energy Profiteers

Tomorrow, 15 November, Open Secrets launches its latest report: Who Has the Power? South Africa’s Energy Profiteers. The report is Open Secrets’ first to investigate South Africa’s energy sector and climate crisis. And shines a light on the private interests who seek to profit from South Africa’s current energy crisis and proposed energy transition. It…

Capital Appreciation Ltd and GovChat: Follow the database — Part Two

In the final part of this two-part series, we take a deeper look at the ways GovChat might undergo a commercial revival, who might benefit from ownership of its database, and the implications this may hold for the South African social grants system.

The crumbling partnership between GovChat and Capital Appreciation Ltd – Part One

Local technology company GovChat became a key partner of the South African Social Security Agency during the pandemic. Today, the company continues to provide a digital avenue to apply for certain grants, even though it is in business rescue and its executives resigned in 2022. This is Part One in a two-part series

RSVP: Energy Profiteers Launch

Join Open Secrets on the 15th of November 2023, for the launch of Who Has the Power? South Africa’s Energy Profiteers. Open Secrets’ Michael Marchant will be in conversation with Zen Mathe, Abby May and Luthando Vilakazi. Human rights and environmental activist, Kumi Naidoo will also be delivering a key note address on the role of activists in ensuring a just transition.

Open Secrets Condemns Israel’s War on the Palestinian people

Open Secrets stands with the Palestinian people. We call for an immediate ceasefire by the Israeli occupation forces and an end to Israeli apartheid.

Open Secrets concerned with IDAC’s independence

Public hearings into the National Prosecuting Authority Bill, which will see the establishment of the Investigative Directorate Against Corruption, began today. Open Secrets says it’s concerned about the operational and financial independence of the new body. Lawyer at Open Secrets Luthando Vilakazi has more.

Submission on the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill

On 25 October 2023 Open Secrets made a presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee of Justice and Correctional Services on the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill B29-2023. The Bill attempts to make a range of amendments including creating a permanent Investigating Directorate called the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).

Annual Report 2022-2023

In 2022/23, the Open Secrets challenged impunity with the usual tenacity and grit, talking truth to power and challenging who we call the ‘Unaccountables’.

Open Letter| Over 100 experts and organisations call on the President and Minister of Finance to halt all planned budget cuts

We’ve added our voice in opposition to Treasury’s attempts to institute severe budget cuts. We believe these cuts are misguided, dangerous to our economy and well-being, and not supported by robust evidence.

DA welcomes recommendation to fine EFF’s Floyd Shivambu over ethical breach: Michael Marchant

SABC News The DA has welcomed Parliament’s Ethics Committee recommendation to the National Assembly that the EFF Chief Whip, Floyd Shivambu be fined nine days salary after the committee found that the breached the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests. The committee found that Shivambu failed to disclose payments to him from…

Fronts, Fakes, Façades| Our letters to regulators and law enforcement agencies

We are pursuing accountability for the facilitators of state capture in Zimbabwe. This includes a Mauritian management company agent, UK based company administrators, South African law firms and lawyers and South African registered companies.

A Russian Doll, Part Two — Who assassinated Frans Mathipa and how is the SANDF involved?

South African Police Service Colonel Frans Mathipa was shot in the head and killed by unknown assassins on Sunday, 6 August 2023. Were SANDF Special Forces soldiers the skilled shooters who murdered a seasoned investigator in the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State Unit? If they were, could this explain a court application by the SANDF days before his assassination intended to stymie Mathipa’s investigation into the SANDF’s role in two abductions and potentially other crimes? Open Secrets investigates.

President Ramaphosa- Release the Lady R report!

Open Secrets and the Campaign for Free Expression lodged an information application with the Office of the President asking for the final report (and additional relevant information) on the docking of the Lady R Russian cargo vessel during December 2022.

Why should the Lady R full report be made public?

SAfm Sunrise

Mixed reactions to Lady R findings: Hennie Van Vuuren

Political parties in Parliament have expressed mixed reactions following the outcome of the Lady R vessel probe. On Sunday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation there’s no evidence that South Africa sold weapons to Russia.

Open Secrets Investigative report into consultants’ roles in state capture: Luvano Ntuli

A new investigative report by Open Secrets highlights once more how consultants greased the wheels of state capture. Big-name global consultancies have been implicated in helping South Africans to capture State-Owned Enterprises to serve corrupt ends.

Power Business| The Consultants – A Corporations and Economic Crime Report

Noluthando Mthonti-Mlambo speaks to Luvano Ntuli, Investigator at Open Secrets about their new report, “The Consultants – A Corporations and Economic Crime”.

Mystery surrounding death of Hawks detective Frans Mathipa deepens

SABC News The mystery surrounding the death of respected Hawks detective Lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa deepens. He was killed in a an apparent ambush at the Hammanskraal exit after what would have been a meeting with suspects in a matter he was investigating. Reports suggest that he was probing the kidnapping of Abdella Abadiga a…

How South Africa lost all power to the consultants

A new report by Open Secrets, revealed here exclusively, details just how consultants have pillaged the state. So how can this disturbing trend be reversed, given the country’s skills crisis?

The Corporations and Economic Crime Report- The Consultants, Vol.3

In The Corporations and Economic Crime: The Consultants, Open Secrets profiles McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Three companies that occupy immensely influential seats at the tables of the world’s most powerful corporations and governments.

Is South Africa Complicit in Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis?

South Africa finds itself at the centre of severe criticism for having a approved arms exports worth about R9.2-billion to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2015, when the two countries started their military invasion on Yemen.

Cabinet has approved a Bill to establish the NPA’s Investigating Directorate as a permanent body

Cabinet has now approved the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill. Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets talks to POWER Breakfast host Thabiso Tema on what this means for the return of the Scorpions

Unaccountable 00039: BCG – Consultant to Kleptocrats

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is one of the world’s largest consulting firms. Its corporate mission is to “unlock the potential of those who advance the world”. What BGC fails to mention is that this includes its clients who are kleptocrats and dodgy corporations

WEBINAR| Corporations and Economic Crime Report — The Consultants

Please join FM editor Rob Rose and the Open Secrets team for the launch of the The Consultants. We will be discussing the destructive power of BCG, McKinsey and Bain toSouth Africa, and what can be done to hold them to account.

‘No genuine attempt by COJ to educate property owners on rate hikes’

A round-up of news updates, including a look at threats by Santaco to take the City of Cape Town to court over the recent impounding of taxis.

The mystery of Lady R now allegedly tied to assassination?

Hennie van Vuuren, Director of Open Secrets, revealed information about Colonel Frans Mathipa, who was shot and assassinated by unknown killers, and an allegation there is a link to the SANDF Special Forces.

What was a SANDF Special Forces unit doing on the quay in Simon’s Town when containers were loaded off and on the Russian vessel the Lady R in December 2022?

SAfm

Open Secrets probe links SANDF to assassination of Hawks investigator

Hennie van Vuuren joins John Maytham to explain an Open Secrets Investigation that has aimed to uncover critical links to the August 6 murder of a seasoned investigator in the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State Unit, SANDF, Isis and the Lady R.

‘Hawks’ senior member killed by SANDF special forces unit’

Open Secrets says that it now has some evidence that appears to link the assassination of a senior member of the Hawks to an SANDF special forces unit that may also have been involved in the abduction of an Ethiopian

Russian Doll – an assassination, abductions and the mystery of the Lady R

What was an SANDF Special Forces UNIT doing in Simon’s Town when containers were loaded off and on the Russian vessel the Lady R? Open Secrets investigates.

Why Andrew Chauke has up until now been “Unaccountable”?

Lester Kiewit speaks to Ra’eesa Pather, senior investigator at Open Secrets, about the investigation into former NPA head of public prosecutions, Andrew Chauke and what is known about his role in state capture.

President Cyril Ramaphosa to receive the Lady R independent panel report

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to receive the Lady R independent panel report today. The retired judge Phineas Mojapela led the panel which was tasked with investigating allegations that South Africa sent weapons to Russia which had invaded Ukraine in February last year.

VACANCY: Administrator

Open Secrets is hiring an Administrator to join our small, dedicated Cape Town-based team. Deadline 6 August

Webinar | Fronts, Fakes, and Façades

Daily Maverick Investigative journalist, Pauli van Wyk will be hosting Prize-winning journalist, Nick Donovan, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, Michael Marchant & Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, Janet Zhou to discuss Open Secrets and The Sentry’s latest investigative report: “Fronts, Fakes and Façades”.

Zimbabwe: Biti Lays Into Mnangagwa, Tagwirei Following the Sentry Exposé

Published in New Zimbabwe and AllAfrica Sentry and Open Secrets exposé has confirmed that Zimbabwe has become a mafia state, run and controlled by cartels and syndicates, Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said. In a publicised joint investigative report titled ‘Fronts, Fakes, and Facades: How South African and Mauritian Enables Helped Move Million from…

How Zim political bigwig illegally moved funds to London

Michael Marchant explains the findings of Open Secrets and The Sentry’s latest investigative report on state capture in Zimbabwe, Fronts, Fakes and Façades.

Fronts, false invoices and offshore financial façades raise questions about Tagwirei’s Zimbabwean mine purchases

By The Sentry and Open Secrets Published in the Daily Maverick A joint investigative report by The Sentry and Open Secrets exposes how Zimbabwean presidential adviser and business tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei – the subject of numerous corruption allegations – was able to move suspect funds from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to the City of…

SAfm | False invoices are alleged to have been used to transfer funds from the Zimbabwean Reserve Bank to an offshore account in London

SAfm’s Aldrin Sampear is joined by Michael Marchant to discuss the findings of Open Secrets and The Sentry’s latest investigative report titled: ‘Fronts, Fakes, and Façades’.

Sentry and Open Secrets new report on Zimbabwe’s politically-connected oil tycoon

Mike speaks to Peter Ndoro about our Zimbabwe state capture investigation.

Channel Africa | The Sentry and Open Secrets new report on Zimbabwe’s politically-connected oil tycoon

Channel Africa’s Peter Ndoro speaks to Michael Marchant to find out more about Open Secrets and The Sentry’s latest report, Fronts, Fakes, and Façades.

Fronts and false invoices raise questions about Tagwirei mine purchase

ZimLive The report, “Fronts, Fakes, and Façades: How South African and Mauritian Enablers Helped Move Millions from Zimbabwe to Britain,” focuses on three payments that secured Tagwirei’s purchase of two Zimbabwean mines—Bindura Nickel and Freda Rebecca Gold Mine. Tagwirei, already surrounded by corruption allegations at the time of the deal, sought to create an offshore…

Zimbabwe Investigation| Fronts, Fakes and Façades

In 2019, Zimbabwean presidential advisor Kudakwashe Tagwirei moved millions of dollars in suspect funds from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to London to buy two Zimbabwean mines— Bindura Nickel and Freda Rebecca Gold Mine—for $29.5 million.

PRESS RELEASE| Fronts, False Invoices, and Offshore Financial Façades Raise Questions About Tagwirei Mine Purchase

PRESS RELEASE| A joint investigative report by The Sentry and Open Secrets exposes how Zimbabwean presidential advisor and business tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei, was able to move suspect funds from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to the City of London.

Coming soon… Fronts, Fakes and Façades

On Thursday the 6th of July, Open Secrets and The Sentry will be launching our new investigative report, Fronts, Fakes and Façades. The report tells the story of how a politically-connected oil tycoon in Zimbabwe moved suspect funds from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to the City of London using front companies, fake invoices, and offshore financial façades.

VACANCY: Lawyer

Open Secrets is hiring a lawyer to join our team based in Cape Town

ROB ROSE: Hiking the price for shoddy auditing

The price for negligent or shady auditing has just risen hugely, but will it make a difference to the number of accounting scandals in South Africa?

Lady R investigation progressing as questions remain unanswered

Open Secrets wrote to the Presidency Director-General seeking clarity and explanation on why the Lady R investigation would be secret with its report not going to be made public.

Gupta Brothers extradition PAIA – DIRCO & SSA

Open Secrets information requests to the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) and the State Security Agency (SSA) for any documentation regarding South Africa’s attempts to extradite Atul Gupta, Ajay Gupta and Rajesh Gupta.

Open Secrets calls for release of Lady R cargo details

Open Secrets is calling for public access to evidence of South Africa’s involvement in an alleged weapons transfer to a Russian vessel

Kaya 959 | Calls for government to open Lady R Inquiry

Director of Open Secrets, Hennie van Vuuren is calling on the Presidency and the US government to make public details of the mysterious cargo of the Russian vessel Lady R which docked in Simon’s Town in December 2022.

Democracy dies behind closed doors — open the Lady R inquiry

Open Secrets has challenged both the South African Presidency and the US government to make public details of the mysterious cargo of the Russian vessel Lady R which docked in Simon’s Town in December 2022.

Democracy dies behind closed doors – Why we demand to know the truth about the Lady R arms shipment

Democracy dies behind closed doors – Why we demand to know the truth about the Lady R arms shipment.

Unaccountable 00038| Net 1 and CPS- Welfare Profiteers

The most cynical corporations seek to rip off the poor. Few have been as effective as Net1 and Cash Payment Services (CPS). While they have rebranded, they have not paid back their illicit profits owed to millions of South Africans

Ters Ehlers: One man, two crimes against humanity

Niren Tolsi | Mail & Guardian Originally published in The Continent- Issue 124 During the last years of apartheid, Willem “Ters” Ehlers could feel the political tides turning. His boss, president PW Botha — who had vehemently defied all calls for reform — was under pressure. Botha’s days of leading his party, and the country,…

The Secretary: How Middlemen and Corporations Armed the Rwandan Genocide

Open Secrets delves into the Malo Arms Deal facilitated by South African arms dealer and former secretary to PW Botha, Willem ‘Ters’ Ehlers.

De Ruyter-initiated probe: how much did Eskom board members know?

How much did Eskom board members know about the André de Ruyter-initiated probe? And did we learn anything more about the corruption in the power utility?

Launch| The Secretary: How Middlemen and Corporations Armed the Rwandan Genocide

Join Open Secrets and the Continent on the 11th of May 2023, for the launch of The Secretary. The Continents Simon Allison will be in conversation with Open Secrets’ Mamello Mosiana, Hennie van Vuuren and Luthando Vilakazi

First state capture case fails

The first state capture case has fallen apart in court. The accused in the R25 million Nulane Investments trial have been discharged due to insufficient evidence against them.

LISTEN | UAE Royal Family in SA

The Eastern Cape Provincial Government confirmed that President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has landed in the Eastern Cape, on a runway he paid for. This is after the UAE denied our request for the extradition of the Guptas.

Accountability in the conduct of judges is certain: Open Secrets welcomes judgement

Accountability in the conduct of judges is certain, even when they’ve retired. This follows the Gauteng High Court’s dismissal of retired Judges Willie Seriti and Hendrick Musi’s bid to challenge

SAFM Mediated Conversation: Aljazeera’s Gold Mafia

Al Jazeera has broadcast a four party documentary showing how high ranking officials in Zimbabwe are helping people to smuggle gold of that country.

We are hiring! Open Secrets Campaigner 2023

Open Secrets is hiring a Campaigner to join our small team based in Cape Town. Application deadline: 12 May 2023.

WATCH| Spotlight on the constitutionality of Judicial Service Commission

The Johannesburg High Court has dismissed an application that would have allowed retired judges facing complaints of misconduct not to be held accountable.

Newzroom Afrika| Open secrets and Shadow World Investigations welcome the Seriti and Musi judgement

In 2020, Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations laid a complaint with the Chief Justice to refer Judge Willie Seriti and Judge Hendrick Musi to the JSC. This was over their alleged failure to investigate the Arms Deal during the Seriti Commission. The complaint also asked the Chief Justice to consider whether their actions constituted criminal misconduct and, if so, to refer the matter to the NPA for further action. In 2021 Seriti and Musi brought an application to declare the definition of “Judge” in the Judicial Services Commission Act as unconstitutional. The act allows retired judges to be held accountable for their conduct while they were in active service. That application was dismissed in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg yesterday. Open Secrets lawyer Luthando Vilakazi weighs in.

Seriti and Musi’s challenge to JSC act dismissed

The Johannesburg high court dismissed a constitutional challenge to the Judicial Service Commission Act by retired judges Willie Seriti and Hendrick Musi

Open Secrets and SWI welcomes Seriti and Musi Judgment

Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations welcomes the judgment delivered by the South Gauteng High Court which confirms that judges must be held accountable for their conduct while in active service, even after their retirement.

Judgement: Seriti and another v JSC and others

In an important victory for accountability and the integrity of the judiciary-The South Gauteng High Court has ruled that judges must be held accountable for their conduct while in active service, even after their retirement.

‘Prosecutions in high-profile corruption, state capture cases moving too slowly’

Open Secrets criticises the Justice Department for delays in prosecuting high-profile state capture cases.

How the Guptas slipped through the net

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invited South Africa to resubmit its application for the extradition of the notorious Gupta brothers, but government sources believe there is no longer any chance that the application will succeed.

Webinar: How do we hold the State Capture Profiteers accountable?

Watch Open Secrets’ Head of Investigations Michael Marchant for a webinar conversation with Professor Lukas Muntingh (Dullah Omar Institute), Mbekezeli Benjamin (Judges Matter) and Ra’eesa Pather (Open Secrets) who will help us grapple with how we can seek justice and restitution for state capture crimes.

VACANCIES: Legal Unit Head

Open Secrets is hiring a head of unit for our legal unit based in Cape Town

The South African government invites Sri Lankan officials with links to alleged war criminals for a study tour on reconciliation and transitional justice

Civil society organisations call out South African government’s invitation to “Sri Lankan officials with links to alleged war criminals.

DISCUSSION | UK lifts 3-year ban on Bain and Company: Dr Iraj Abedian & Michael Marchant

The British government has lifted the three-year ban it imposed on Bain and company last year. In August 2022, London placed a ban on its government doing business with Bain and Company.

Transnet Capture: The #ICMFiles

The #ICMFiles is a series which sheds light on how ICM and its directors made payments to various companies and individuals to flush Transnet money.

#ICMFiles|The company directors who helped the Guptas capture South Africa

This is the third piece in a series on a company called Integrated Capital Management (ICM) and its directors, who enabled and benefitted from state capture at Transnet, but have yet to be held to account.

#ICMFiles | Stanley Shane — The captured Transnet director

In part 2 of #ICMFiles series we turn the spotlight on the ICM director who helped the Guptas score big inside Transnet: Stanley Shane

Arms Deal Investigation | NGOs want former judges investigated

Judgment has been reserved in a legal battle between a pair of retired judges and two NGOs. Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations are seeking a ruling that holds former judges accountable for misconduct during their time in office. Open Secrets Director Hennie van Vuuren spoke to eNCA

Open Secrets wants arms deal commission judges to account

Open Secrets went to court yesterday to oppose the application of Judge Willie Seriti and Judge Hendrick Musi that seeks to give immunity to retired judges from accountability

Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations in court to hold arms deal judges accountable

Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations will be heard by a full bench of the South Gauteng High Court arguing that retired judges should be held to account for misconduct they committed while in active service

Arms Deal Inquiry: Why two retired judges are challenging the constitutionality of the JSC Act

Two retired judges, who presided over the Arms Deal Inquiry, have challenged the constitutionality of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Act, arguing that, under the Act, “retired judges” should not be included in the definition of judge.

#ICMFiles| Follow the money: The directors who flushed Transnet’s cash

New information obtained by Open Secrets sheds light on how ICM and its directors made payments to flush Transnet money out of sight.

How Not to Fight State Capture

South Africans must send a clear message to multinational companies around the world: you can no longer bribe your way to contracts, enable corrupt political elites, kill off domestic competitors and destroy our institutions.

SAfm | Mediated Conversation with Stephen Grootes: Deloitte Settlement

Mediated Conversation: auditing firm Deloitte had reached a settlement with the company Tongaat Hulette – over the massive auditing scandal at Tongaat.

Legal Intern Vacancy 2023

Open Secrets is hiring a legal intern to join our small, dedicated team based in Cape Town.

Michael Marchant on the Nulane Investments trial

Open Secrets Head of Investigations, Michael Marchant, weighs in on the fraud and money laundering Nulane Investments trial

2023 budget speech: Civic organisations call on Godongwana not to reduce social spending

The Budget Justice Coalition has rejected government’s maintenance of an expenditure ceiling and broad fiscal consolidation.

Unaccountable 00037: Daniel Mantsha- the slippery side of the Teflon attorney

Lawyers and law firms were instrumental in the State Capture project. From prestigious Sandton white shoe firms to crooked small-time attorneys everyone feasted. One attorney who has not been held to account for State Capture crimes is the notorious Daniel Mantsha

Webinar: What is the social cost of state capture?

Watch Open Secrets’ Zen Mathe in conversation with Moira Campbell (Corruption Watch), Devi Pillay (Public Affairs Research Institute-PARI) and Luthando Vilakazi (Open Secrets) who grapple with how we can address the social costs of state capture and seek restitution for the damage caused.

The Social Cost of State Capture Webinar

Open Secrets’ Zen Mathe will be in conversation with Moira Campbell and Devi Pillay. They’ll be exploring how South Africans can address the social costs of state captures and seek restitution for the damage caused.

Social grant payments are a mess – and the public needs answers from Sassa, Sapo and Postbank

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.

Marchant on the Nulane Case

The state has called its second witness in the Nulane case. Seven accused are implicated in a contract that saw R25 million worth of government money going to Nulane Investments to compile a report. Head of investigation at Open secrets Michael Marchant explains.

Annual Report 2021/2022

Annual Report 2021/2022 This year Open Secrets has achieved a milestone—this small but feisty and fearless organisation has turned five. What started as an idea has, through tenacity and dedication, become an authoritative civil society voice on the need to hold the powerful to account, especially big corporations that have profited off impunity.

Defending the right to access apartheid records

LHR and Open Secrets in Court Today defending the right to access apartheid records

President’s response to Zondo Commission’s State Capture report must be followed by decisive action

The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture’s media statement on the president’s response to the State Capture Report.

Unaccountable 00036: T Systems- German IT giant and State Capture profiteer

Despite glaring evidence available in the public domain, the findings of the Zondo Commission and a fresh criminal investigation in Germany, South African authorities seem uninterested in holding T-Systems to account.

Open Secrets on Zuma vs Downer and Maughan case

Open Secrets Director, Hennie van Vuuren, weighs in on the Zuma vs. Downer and Maughan case.

WATCH| Five million people owed R47 billion in unpaid funds

Michael Marchant speaks to Sakina Kamwendo about the nearly R50 billion in Unpaid Pensions that belong to almost 5 million people in Southern Africa

Newsletter |Holding Parliament Accountable for Unpaid Pensions

Nearly R50 billion. That is how much greedy and negligent pension funds and pension fund administrators owe to almost 5 million people in Southern Africa in unpaid pensions

Unaccountable 00035: Johan van der Merwe

Sello Maema is the prosecutor inside the NPA who led three of the authority’s most questionable cases at that time. Allegations of Maema’s misconduct were documented in Open Secrets’ latest investigative report: Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers.

Vacancy: Legal Intern

Open Secrets is hiring a legal intern to join our small, dedicated team based in Cape Town. Deadline: Friday, 30 September 2022 at 17h00

A Victory in the Long March Towards Justice for Unpaid Pension Beneficiaries

In December 2021, Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC), represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), brought an application in the Gauteng High Court against the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). In the spirit of greater transparency and responsiveness to the plight of pensioners, the application asked the Court to ensure…

Unaccountable 00034: Sello Maema

2 June 2022 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 34th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on Sello Maema

When the media lets state capture rogues peddle falsehoods

By Luvo Mnyobe Published in City Press This is how democracy dies. These were my thoughts as I scrolled through Twitter and saw a shameful video of Hlaudi Motsoeneng trying to humiliate senior SABC News journalist Francis Herd. Motsoeneng was appearing on Full View, a prime-time news programme, to give his view of the Judicial…

Corruption Watch | Hawks, NPA are failing the country on state capture prosecutions, convictions

Are the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and Hawks dragging their feet on cases of state capture? Social justice NGO Open Secrets thinks so and lays out its arguments in a persuasive new report published in August 2022. There are many who would agree.

Investigation: Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers

Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers — documents how the Hawks and the NPA have failed to take on state capture cases.

Accountability, not impunity: We are putting up Wanted posters!

Our efforts to bring accountability for state capture conspirators.

Prasa’s legacy of whistle-blower victimisation and corruption cover-ups is off the rails

Whistle-blowers continue to be targeted within Prasa, and there is little evidence of effective reform. The result is that working-class commuters continue to be let down by failing infrastructure and almost non-existent rail services.

Newzroom Afrika| Van Vuuren on the Gupta extradition

Six weeks have passed since Rajesh and Atul Gupta were arrested in Dubai. It follows a request by the National Prosecuting Authority and Justice Ministry, for the controversial brothers to stand trial for alleged State Capture crimes. Open Secrets Director, Hennie van Vuuren, explains.

New dawn or false dawn?

The ANC’s devotion to its policy of cadre deployment is an indication that it values its own power more than the public interest.

Kaya| Zondo let the State Capture bankers off the hook

Point of View with Phemelo Motene How did the State Capture network move billions of rand stolen from the South African people across the globe? The Zondo Commission report provides some of the details of the network of banks who profited from this — but fails to provide any remedy of how to prevent a…

Unaccountable 00033: Andrew Chauke

In this series, Open Secrets profiles the prosecutors inside the National Prosecuting Authority who motivated questionable prosecutions and unduly delayed important cases. In this instalment, we focus on Andrew Chauke, the NPA’s head of public prosecutions in Johannesburg.

Newzroom Afrika| Zondo commission slated for findings on banks

Investigators at Open Secrets have warned that the Zondo Inquiry’s alleged failure to point out the banking industry and other middlemen in state capture, may undo future work against corruption. Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations jointly submitted an exhaustive report to the commission on the matter, in 2020. They now contend that the inquiry…

‘There needs to be a reckoning’: NGO turns up the heat for NPA, Hawks to probe state capture

With all parts of the state capture report now published, civil society group Open Secrets is gearing up for the new challenge – getting SA’s law enforcement agencies to act.

SABC|Morning Live| Spotlight thrown on ANC’s role in State Capture

The Democratic Alliance has laid criminal charges against the ANC for its role in the intricate large-scale corruption that involved specific individuals, government entities, and private companies in what has become known as the state capture. Findings of the State Capture report have implicated some of the ANC senior leaders including former ANC and State…

Radio 786| State Capture and Consequences

We’ve had just about a week to digest the latest instalment of the State Capture report. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to address corruption at various levels of government, and within the governing party has been widely criticised. Several parastatals have also been eaten away by dubious deals and corrupt politicians, leaving South Africans with an…

Wanted: The State Capture Conspirators

This investigative report traces the networks of capture and corruption at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, SA Airways, Denel and the SA Revenue Service, and identifies the looters, fixers and politicians who should now be held to account

Zondo: What must happen now

What do you get if you cross a crooked president, the Gupta brothers and a corrupted ruling party? Hopefully, 20 years to life …

Zondo let the State Capture bankers off the hook

How did the State Capture network move billions of rand stolen from the South African people across the globe? The Zondo Commission report provides some of the details of the network of banks who profited from this — but fails to provide any remedy of how to prevent a repetition of these crimes.

SABC| The Watchdog: State Capture Report

SAfm| The Talking Point: Zondo Commission Report

After missing 15 June deadline, the Chief Justice Raymond Zondo Commission has finally submitted part five and six of the report into State Capture. Earlier this week, Guest: Michael Marchant – Head of Investigations at Open Secrets Guest: Cynthia Stimpel – Whistleblower and Author of Hijackers on Board

702| NPA’s Next step with the final report of the commission of inquiry into state capture being released

Guest: Michael Marchant

Atul and Rajesh Gupta get nabbed

Clement is joined by Karyn Maughan and Hennie van Vuuren to talk about the arrest of the Gupta brothers in the UAE.

‘Extradition of Guptas from UAE to SA will not be easy’

Hennie van Vuuren speaks to Refilwe Moloto about his thoughts on the extradition of the arrested Gupta brothers from Dubai to South Africa.

Spoils of State Capture: ‘UAE is banking on Batohi and her team to bungle Gupta case’ – Open Secrets

Director of Open Secrets, Hennie van Vuuren, talks about the Gupta brother’s arrest and the UAE judicial system.

UAE Banking on NPA to Bungle Gupta Case- Open Secrets

As South Africa’s prosecutors forge ahead with plans to extradite two Gupta brothers, Open Secrets is worried that the odds may be weighed against us.

Hennie van Vuuren, speaks about his doubts on the Gupta brother’s extradition process

One non-profit group is worried that the odds may be stacked against SA, in its bid to extradite the Gupta brothers from Dubai. Open Secrets Director, #HennieVanVuuren, speaks about his doubts on the extradition process.

Gupta extradition: Time to exit la-la land

City Press | Hennie van Vuuren South Africa must be wary of the motive and intentions of the UAE on the Gupta matter, writes Hennie van Vuuren. The arrest and detention of Atul and Rajesh Gupta in Dubai is the first step in what could be an epic battle to bring home two of the…

landing soon…Wanted: The State Capture Conspirators

🛩🛩🛩 Wanted: The State Capture Conspirators. Coming 30 June. Music: Abidoza and Major League DJz-Le Plane E’Landile Video production and editing: Luvo Mnyobe, Open Secrets

Reaction | Ramaphosa Farm Theft

eNCA

Gupta Arrests | UAE police working with SA officials

eNCA Dubai police effected an Interpol Red Notice issued for charges of money laundering. They say they are working with South African officials to extradite the brothers. eNCA speaks to head investigator at Open Secrets, Michael Marchant.

DISCUSSION | Unpacking arrest with the Gupta brothers and extradition

SABC News There’s been mixed reaction to the arrest of the Gupta Brothers in Dubai. According to a statement by the country’s police the two men were being held in connection with money laundering and criminal charges in South Africa. The police say they were acting after receiving an Interpol red notice which was a…

What is Dubai’s motive for arresting Gupta brothers? asks Open Secrets director Hennie van Vuuren

Newzroom Afrika There are growing concerns around how long it will take to extradite the Gupta brothers after they were arrested in Dubai. Atul and Rajesh Gupta were wanted in connection with the R24.9 million paid by the Free State Department of Agriculture for a feasibility study on potential farming projects in the province. Since…

Department of Justice to start with extradition process of Gupta brothers

702. The Clement Manyathela Show Clement is joined by the Legal Journalist, Karyn Maughan and the Director of Open Secrets, Hennie van Vuuren to talk about the arrest of the Gupta brothers in UAE and the extradition process by the Justice Department.

Unaccountable 00032: Refiloe Mokoena

State capture relies on a vast network of actors, many of whom have evaded accountability for their role in derailing state-owned entities. This network includes lawyers who have disregarded their ethical and professional duties in service of corrupt networks. Refiloe Mokoena, an attorney who served as a board member at several state-owned entities (SOEs) and as an acting judge, is one such lawyer implicated in state capture

Unaccountable 00032 Case File: Refiloe Mokoena

2 June 2022 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 32nd profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on the misdeeds of attorney Refiloe Mokoena

Newzroom Afrika: Glencore has pleaded guilty to bribery, corruption and price manipulation

Mining company Glencore has pleaded guilty to bribery, corruption and price manipulation. The company will pay about US$ 1.5 billion in fines after it admitted to bribing officials in several countries. It’s reported that among other things, money was paid to avoid government audits and to make lawsuits disappear. Head of Investigations at Open Secrets,…

John Perlman Show: The Case for prosecuting Glencore executives

The toxic chocolatier – The case for prosecuting Glencore executives

Daily Maverick| By Michael Marchant and Hennie van Vuuren for Open Secrets 31 May 2022 By pleading guilty to decades of bribery, corruption and price manipulation around the world, Glencore confirmed a poorly kept secret – criminality was a key pillar of the company’s business mode Commodity trading and mining giant Glencore last week admitted…

Digital Profiteers Illustrated

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…

Open Secrets TV: Digital Profiteers Illustrated

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,…

PODCAST | The unlawful cancellation of pension funds in SA

Mudiwa Gavaza speaks to Tabitha Paine, attorney and acting head of legal at Open Secrets, and Thomas Malokotsa from Unpaid Benefits Campaign

Civil Society Organisations takes Financial Sector Regulator to Court

Media Statement Civil Society organisations take Financial Sector Regulator to court In December 2021, Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC), represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), brought an application in the Gauteng High Court against the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). In the spirit of greater transparency and responsiveness to…

Digital Profiteers Workshop Interview with Feziwe

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.

With Digital Profiteers: Nothing is Mahala!

Newsletter: April 2022 By Mamello Mosiana 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…

What’s at stake in the GovChat vs Meta personal information ‘data war’?

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…

Unaccountable 00031: The National Postponement Authority

Unaccountable 00031: The National Postponement Authority on High Profile Corruption by Ra’eesa Pather for Open Secrets 4 April 2021 Questionable decision-making, poor leadership and political interference have collapsed public trust in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The current leadership at the authority, lead by Shamila Batohi, has yet to bring about change to address the…

Justice Raymond Zondo releases the third volume of the State Capture report

Newsroom Afrika | 15 March 2022 Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, Michael Marchant, speaks to Newzroom Afrika on prosecutions for state capture crimes, and issues in the NPA, Hawks, and the courts. Justice Raymond Zondo releases the third volume of the State Capture report which recommends more than 60 individuals for prosecution. To discuss how…

Discussion | Yemen conflict

eNCA Interview with Open Secrets’ Michael Marchant on the Yemen conflict

Media Statement: Civil Society welcomes directive to avoid further delays in Yemen arms trade case

The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division: Pretoria has requested the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) to end delays in the review application relating to permits enabling weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

SABC The Watchdog: Interview with Open Secrets’ Michael Marchant

SABC The Watchdog: Interview with Michael Marchant Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, speaks to the WatchDog following the public release of Part Two of the State Capture Report.

Civil Society Working Group on State Capture: Statement on Part 1 of the Zondo Commission’s Report

Monday 24 January 2022 || Civil Society Working Group on State Capture: Statement – Response to the Zondo Commission’s Report We urge the commission not to shy away from making robust recommendations that can act as catalyst for wholesale state reform and will help to ensure that powerful corporations and individuals that have enabled state…

Inside the reign of Bain

Inside the reign of Bain Financial Mail | Zen Mathe, Investigator at Open Secrets | 13 JANUARY 2022 The consulting firm was present for every step of the dismantling of Sars, from conception, to collusion, to capture. The first report from the Zondo commission into state capture, released on January 4, shines a light on…

Findings against The New Age in the State Capture report

Findings against The New Age in the State Capture report The Clement Manyathela Show on 702 | Interview with Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets | 12 January 2022 Clement speaks to Open Secrets’ investigator, Ra’eesa Pather, as well as Pieter Pretorius from Eskom and former GCIS DG Themba Maseko, as resistors of state capture…

Zondo: South African Airways, PwC can drag heels no longer

Open Secrets’ Michael Marchant reacts to the first part of the State Capture report, and the findings against PwC and Nkonki’s work at SAA.

Mediated Conversation: Reflection on the State Capture Report

Mediated Conversation: Reflection on the State Capture Report SAfm Sunrise | Guests include: Pauli van Wyk, Daily Maverick; Hennie van Vuuren, Open Secrets; and Mzwandile Mbeje, SABC News | 10 January 2022 Stephen Grootes of SAfm Sunrise speaks with Pauli van Wyk (Journalist at Daily Maverick); Hennie van Vuuren (Executive Director of Open Secrets), and…

Zondo: South African Airways, PwC can drag heels no longer

Zondo: South African Airways, PwC can drag heels no longer The Africa Report | David Whitehouse| 10 January 2022 Publication of the first part of the Zondo Report on state capture has finally prompted South African Airways (SAA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to start facing reality. The first part of the report by…

Thought Leadership: State Capture Report under the spotlight

Thought Leadership: State Capture Report under the spotlight Power 98.7 | In conversation with Mamello Mosiana, Head of Campaigns at Open Secrets | 9 January 2022 Stand-in host Nhlanhla Sehume is in conversation with the head of campaigns, Mamello Mosiana, at non-governmental organisation Open Secrets – which is vocal on accountability for private sector economic…

Pros and Cons of Deferred Prosecution Agreements in the State Capture Report

Pros and cons of Deferred Prosecution Agreements recommended in the State Capture Report Newzroom Afrika | In conversation with Tabitha Paine, Senior Attorney at Open Secrets | 8 January 2022 The state capture commission’s first report was released this week. It includes a recommendation to use deferred prosecution agreements for companies implicated in State Capture.…

Analysing the State Capture Report: Objections to proposed deferred prosecution agreements

Analysing the State Capture Report: Objections to proposed deferred prosecution agreements Radio 786 | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Red flags have been raised about the State Capture Commission’s recommendation that government introduce laws to allow for deferred prosecutions of corporations accused of crimes like…

Discussion | State Capture Report Hits and Misses

Discussion | State Capture report hits and misses eNCA | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Michael Marchant from Open Secrets spoke to eNCA’s Annika Larsen.

Discussion on State Capture Commission Report and insights on the findings: Ra’eesa Pather

Discussion on State Capture Commission Report and insights on the findings: Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets SABC News | In conversation with Ra’eesa Pather, Investigator at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Civil society organization Open Secrets last night hosted a virtual conversation to discuss the State Capture Commission report and its insights on…

Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, on the hits and misses in the state capture report

Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, on the hits and misses in the state capture report SABC: On Point | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets | 7 January 2022 Many stakeholders continue to pore over the contents of the first part of the State Capture report, which…

The pros and cons of deferred prosecution agreements: Is it a case of justice deferred is justice denied?

The pros and cons of deferred prosecution agreements: Is it a case of justice deferred is justice denied? Daily Maverick| Tabitha Paine and Ra’eesa Pather | 6 January 2022 The first of three reports by the Zondo Commission has proposed using deferred prosecution agreements as a tool to hold companies accountable for wrongdoing in State Capture.…

Ramaphosa’s primary responsibility is to the country, not his political party: Open Secrets

Ramaphosa’s primary responsibility is to the country, not his political party: Open Secrets SAfm: Update at Noon | In conversation with Hennie van Vuuren, Executive Director at Open Secrets | 5 Januray 2022 The Democratic Alliance has called on law enforcement agencies to immediately act following the release of the first of the three-part State…

Business with Khaya Sithole: Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1

Business with Khaya Sithole: Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1 Power 98.7 | In conversation with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets | 5 January 2022 Reflections on the State Capture Report with Michael Marchant, Head of Research at Open Secrets.

Suspend Bain & Co, urges Lord Hain in a letter to UK government

Suspend Bain & Co, urges Lord Hain in a letter to UK government Daily Maverick | Sasha Planting | 5 January 2022 Suspend Bain & Co, urges Lord Hain in a letter to UK government Management consultancy Bain & Co hoped it had put the sins of State Capture years behind it. But the release of the…

Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1

Power Business with Khaya Sithole: Reflections on the State Capture Report – Part 1 5 January 2022 Power Business with Khaya Sithole Khaya Sithole reflects on Part 1 of the State Capture Report with Steven Powell from ENS, Pauli van Wyk from the Daily Maverick and Open Secrets’ Head of Investigations, Michael Marchant.

Ramaphosa’s primary responsibility is to the country, not his political party: Open Secrets

Ramaphosa’s primary responsibility is to the country, not his political party: Open Secrets 5 January 2022 Update at Noon The Democratic Alliance has called on law enforcement agencies to immediately act following the release of the first of the three-part State Capture report. The DA says now the information is available, recommendations from the report…

The Morning Review with Lester Kiewit: Zondo State Capture Report

5 January 2022 Lester Kiewit talks to Open Secrets’ Ra’eesa Pather

Open Secrets investigation raises red flags around the digitalization of grants process

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…

Examining the NPA’s delay in prosecuting high-profile cases: Hennie van Vuuren, Executive Director of Open Secrets

Examining the NPA’s delay in prosecuting high-profile cases SABC Morning Live | In conversation with Hennie Van Vuuren, Executive Director of Open Secrets | 7 December 2021 National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Advocate Shamila Batohi says the NPA is not in a crisis and there is no widespread sabotage of the Investigative Directorate (ID) or…

We could be stumbling into a digital welfare dystopia, says Open Secrets

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 | Radio 786 | Interview with Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations

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

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…

CapeTalk: Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto

Open Secrets investigation raises red flags around the digitalization of grants process

Open Secrets investigation raises red flags around the digitalization of grants process CapeTalk: Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto | 29 November 2022 Abby May, an Investigations Intern at Open Secrets, speaks to John Maytham about an investigation that highlights the threats to privacy and vulnerable individuals when private companies co-create the digital infrastructure used by the…

How can digital systems be used in ways that cause harm

Newzroom Afrika | 27 November 2021 After President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced social assistance measures to soften the battering from COVID-19, unemployed adults aged 18 to 59 were brought into the social security net for the first time. These new grant beneficiaries were not registered with the SA Social Security Agency, so private partners such as…

Just what is the ‘new Net1’?

Just what is the ‘new Net1’? Financial Mail | Rob Rose | 25 November 2021 Fintech firm Net1 is still trying to shake the image of a company fleecing social grant recipients. But winning back legitimacy isn’t that easy. “Rehabilitation is a journey. There’s been a lot of hurt and a lot of mistrust,” says…

Inside SA’s welfare-industrial complex

With a new Covid grant, and demand for a basic income grant spiking, companies such as GovChat are getting in on the action. Is SA risking another Net1 debacle?

Investigative Report | Digital Profiteers: Who profits next from social grants?

The investigative report, Digital Profiteers: Who Profits Next from Social Grants, focuses on how the digitalisation of state services offers opportunities for corporations to generate excessive profits from digital systems that can harm vulnerable people.

WATCH | Social grants: the new frontier for digital profiteers?

Financial Mail | 22 November 2021 The FM and Open Secrets on November 25 hosted an online discussion on the dangers of the ‘digital welfare state’ In April 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced a raft of social assistance measures to provide relief to struggling South Africans as the economy took a battering from Covid. Among…

Apartheid Banks: Explainer videos

The following is a recap of the work we’ve done on the Apartheid banks. Otherwise known as Belgium’s Kredietbank (now known as KBC Group) and its sister bank in Luxembourg (then known as KBL, but changed its name to Quintet Private Bank in 2020 shortly after Open Secrets handed over its docket to the NPA).…

Annual Report 2020-2021

This report reflects the energy and commitment of the Open Secrets team to investigating the powerful and using the law to hold them to account.

Unaccountable 00030: Sfiso Buthelezi

Who are the board members and executives at Prasa who enabled and participated in the looting of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa)? This week we turn to Sfiso Buthelezi, a former deputy minister of Finance and current member of parliament whose six years as Prasa’s first board chairperson saw the parastatal procurement process systematically undermined and its coffers drained.

Unaccountable Case File 00030: Sfiso Buthelezi

This is the repository of documents cited in the 30th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on the role of current member of parliament and former board chair of Prasa, Sfiso Buthelezi.

Apartheid Banks Docket: Letter to the National Director of Public Prosecutions

SIU and Transnet a step closer in clawing back R4,2billion from locomotive company

Cape Talk | 8 September 2021 Transnet and the Special Investigating Unit were on Tuesday granted a preservation order to freeze R4.2billion sitting in bank accounts linked to Chinese company, CRRC E-Loco Supply (CRRC). They supplied Transnet with locomotives between 2011 and 2014. Michael Marchant of Open Secrets speaks to Refilwe Moloto about the significance of the move.

The Watchdog

SABC News | 7 September 2021 Open Secret’s investigator Michael Marchant speaks to Vuyo Mvoko about corruption and the private sector.

Fraser ‘must answer’ Zuma parole questions

The Citizen | Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni| 7 September 2021 If National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Arthur Fraser did not solicit an independent medical report on former President Zuma, his medical parole decision is illegal. So says the Democratic Alliance (DA) as well as legal experts who have raised red flags in the former statesman’s successful bid…

Unaccountable 00029: Roy Moodley-Mr Prasa

Unaccountable 00029 | Roy Moodley- Mr Prasa? By Lucas Nowicki Who are the shady corporate bosses who derailed Prasa? In this instalment of Unaccountable, we shine a light on Roy Moodley, a politically connected businessman whom employees at the state-owned railway company would call ‘Mr Prasa’, according to testimony at the Zondo Commission. For more…

SaferWorld | Domestic accountability for international arms transfers: Law, policy and practice

SaferWorld Domestic accountability for international arms transfers: Law, policy and practice 31 August 2021 | Open Secrets and SALC’s legal case to have the Gauteng High Court review the export of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been included in Saferworld’s latest publication, Domestic accountability for international arms transfers: Law, policy and practice.…

Unaccountable Profile Series Special: The Auditors

Unaccountable Special: The Auditors 16 August 2021 | Mamello Mosiana The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the industry are…

Unaccountable 00028: PwC and Nkonki- The auditors who clipped SAA’s wings

This profile is on PwC and Nkonki, the auditors that repeatedly gave SAA a clean bill of health while fraud and corruption soared.

Unaccountable 00028 Case File: PwC and Nkonki

26 July 2021 | This is the repository of documents cited in the 28th profile of the Unaccountable series which focusses on the role of PwC and Nkonki as auditors of the national air carrier, SAA.

Show us the receipts! Civil Society calls on accountability for state capture criminals

The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture again reiterates that law enforcement agencies should focus its attention on the individuals and corporations who have either allegedly been complicit in state capture or might have information that can assist the state in challenging the state capture networks.

Civil society groups demand State Capture criminals be held to account

Daily Maverick | Zukiswa Pikoli | 21 July 2021 Swift and decisive action must be taken to remove and hold to account compromised individuals who remain within key state institutions, say civil society organisations. The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture has called for the accountability of criminals fingered in the State Capture Commission…

Zuma postponement ruling

ENCA | 20 July 2021 Open Secrets director Hennie Van Vuuren spoke with eTV’s Annika Larsen.

Budget Justice Coalition demands that government demonstrate real commitment to socioeconomic rights and the rule of law

Daily Maverick | Zita Hansungule, Daniel McLaren, Tabitha Paine, Samantha Waterhouse | 19 July 2021 Budget Justice Coalition members are deeply disturbed by the unrest that unfolded across the country over the past few weeks. The violence and destruction are devastating at a time when many in South Africa already face hunger and poverty, made…

Unaccountable 00027: Ernst & Young and the scam that cost Mozambique $2.2 billion

This profile is on PwC and Nkonki, the auditors that repeatedly gave SAA a clean bill of health while fraud and corruption soared.

Arms deal inquiry judges cry harassment

Sunday Times | Franny Rabkiin | 4 July 2021 Retired judges Willie Seriti and Hendrick Musi have challenged the constitutionality of the Judicial Service Commission Act, saying it is unconstitutional in that it allows judicial misconduct complaints against retired judges. “We are aggrieved that we have to be put through a complaint process when we…

Arms Deal Inquiry: We are being harassed by having to face the complaint, judges

News 24 | Jeanette Chabalala | 2 July 2021 Two retired judges, who presided over the Arms Deal Inquiry, have approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to challenge the constitutionality of the Judicial Service Commission Act. Judges Willie Seriti and Hendrick Musi face an investigation for “incapacity, gross incompetence or gross misconduct”. Seriti was…

SA arms exports under scrutiny

ENCA | 17 June 2021 South Africa’s sale of weapons to countries actively involved in the war in Yemen could soon come to an end. For more, Annika Larsen speaks to Head of Investigation’s at Open Secrets Michael Marchant. Courtesy #DStv403

South Africa’s gold rush to the data digital age: Are we prepared and are we protected?

Daily Maverick | Abby May| 24 June 2021 With the move of government departments to digitisation, private companies creating the digital infrastructure will have access to millions of South Africans’ data. Many will undoubtedly seek to monetise that access. Abby May is an intern at Open Secrets. In late 2020 South African credit bureau agency Experian…

Unaccountable 00026: Vossloh- The German railway giant that derailed Prasa

Unaccountable 00026: Vossloh- The German railway giant that derailed Prasa By Lucas Nowicki In installment 00024 of Unaccountable we focused on middleman Auswell Mashaba and his shelf company Swifambo Rail Leasing, which was used as a front by Vossloh España to secure a lucrative contract with Prasa that resulted in the SOE spending billions on…

Recommendations to the Zondo Commission on Accountability for State Capture

The joint submission by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations to the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. The recommendations outlined in the submission are made based on the crucial role that corporations played in the capture and looting of state institutions. In making these recommendations, the overall objective is to ensure that history is…

Are SA weapons being used in Yemen civil war? Five questions for Open Secret’s Michael Marchant

James De Villiers | News24 | 9 June 2021 The transparency non-profit organisation, Open Secrets, and the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) last week launched an urgent Gauteng High Court application in Pretoria to review the sale of weapons made in South Africa to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Saudi Arabia and…

SA court victory in Yemen war arms supply continued

Cape Talk | 17 June 2021 Refilwe speaks to Atilla Kisla International criminal justice lawyer at Southern Africa Litigation Centre.

SA court victory in Yemen war arms supply

Cape Talk | 17 June 2021 The Gauteng High Court has ruled that the names of companies and entities exporting arms and weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, must now be made known, as these weapons are being used to carry out human atrocities in Yemen.The case was brought by the trustees of the…

SA firms with permits to export arms to Saudi Arabia and UAE to be named

Franny Rabkin | Sunday Times | 15 June 2021 Court orders National Conventional Arms Control Committee to provide a list A court on Tuesday ordered the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) to provide a list of South African arms companies that have permits to export arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — the…

Court orders disclosure of SA arms dealers allegedly linked to weapons used in Yemen conflict

Karyn Maughan | News 24 | 15 June 2021 Open Secrets and the Southern African Litigation Centre have won a significant first victory in their legal campaign to block arms dealers in South Africa from selling weapons allegedly used against civilians in war-torn Yemen. The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon granted an…

SA arms exports to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates under scrutiny

SALC and Open Secrets, will be in the Pretoria high court on Tuesday afternoon over the government-issued permits that allow SA arms companies to export weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Back to old habits? South African arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Atilla Kisla | Mail & Gaurdian | 7 June 2021 Following illegal and unethical arms trades to countries with very poor human rights records under apartheid, democratic South Africa established a legal framework so that the mistakes of the past would not repeat themselves. But 26 years later, the plan to implement a system that…

SA weapons export to Saudi Arabia, UAE may be breaking international law

IOL | Loyiso Sidimba | 13 June 2021 Johannesburg – The government may be aiding and assisting the commission of an internationally wrongful act by selling millions of weapons worth billions of rands to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and Open Secrets have accused President Cyril…

Extradition treaty: SA government positive Guptas are in UAE

The Citizen | Cheryl Kahla | 11 June 2021 The treaty could see fugitive Gupta brothers returning as early as next month. Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola clarified the extradition treaty and mutual agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday. UAE treaty: What you need to know Lack of cooperation from…

Humanitarian Groups Call For Intervention To Stop Saudi From Exporting Arms | RADIO 786

10 June 2021 | Radio 786 – 100.4 FM | Non-profit organisation Open Secrets, and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) has launched an urgent application in the North Gauteng High, seeking the names of all permit holders authorised to export arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Since 2017, Saudi Arabia stands accused of…

Former Transnet Board member and Gupta family associate, Iqbal Sharma, has been denied bail

9 June 2021 | SAFM SUNRISE Guest: Makgala Masiteng – SABC Reporter Guest: Hennie Van Vuuren – Director Of Open Secrets

Open Secrets Radio: We stand with Yemen

In this episode Open Secrets Zen Mathe and Mamello Mosiana talk about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the role of South Africa in supplying arms to parties to the conflict, namely Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

We stand with the people of Yemen

Human Rights organisations ask the Courts to review decisions to export arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

In Focus hosts a roundtable on South Africa’s relationship with whistleblowers

6 June 2021 | Newzroom Afrika The National Prosecuting Authority has a witness protection programme, where people can even assume a new identity if the situation warrants it. But what about whistleblowers? Are we doing enough to protect them and encourage more people to come forward with allegations of wrongdoing? Joining us is former Government…

OpenSecrets on how it unravelled for McKinsey’s Transnet deal

Cape Talk | 6 June 2021 Mamello Mosiana – Head of communications and collaboration at Open Secrets speaks to Refilwe Moloto about consultancy firm McKinsey that made millions off their questionable deal with Transnet and Eskom. They have now undertaken to pay back R870million, that they received from Transnet since their contract started in 2005.

Thamsanqa Malinga | Zondo has exposed ANC donor patronage network

City Press | Thamsanqa Malinga | 30 May 2021 The recent financial woes of the governing party in failing to meet its obligations towards staff salaries is an issue whose surface has merely been scratched. Much needs to be interrogated, but the sight of a once-glorious movement becoming cash-strapped does not require us to lift…

RDM weapons factory in Saudi Arabia

ENCA | 27 May 2021 Michael Marchant, a researcher at Open Secrets, spoke with eNCA’s Morena Mothupi.

Newzroom Afrika’s Thabo Mdluli is joined by Karyn Maughn and Hennie van Vuuren

Newzroom Afrika | 26 May 2021 Newzroom Afrika’s Thabo Mdluli is joined by legal journalist at News24 Karyn Maughan, and Arms Deal whistleblower and Open Secrets Director, Hennie van Vuuren to help unpack the Zuma and Thales case.

Unaccountable 00025: The Russian Bank that took Mozambique for a ride

Unaccountable 00025: The Russian Bank that took Mozambique for a ride By Mamello Mosiana The people of Mozambique have been battered in recent times by devastating cyclones and an increasingly virulent armed insurgency in the North of the country. The backdrop is a country battling state capture. This involves a coterie of corrupt politicians, multinational…

On the Wrong Track: Hensoldt AG Works with Questionable Customers

18 May 2021 | Hensoldt, like Rheinmetall, has extensive operations in South Africa. A call on the German government to ensure that German parent companies comply with the country’s ban on the export of arms to Saudi Arabia at all offshore locations. At Hensoldt AG’s Annual General Meeting this year, the civil society organisations Urgewald…

Arms deal whistleblowers still want justice, welcome probe into judges

IOL | Loyiso Sidimba | 15 May 2021 JOHANNESBURG – WHISTLEBLOWERS and campaigners against the multibillion-rand arms deal have not given up on justice for taxpayers after the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) confirmed it was investigating complaints against two judges who probed the transaction. Whistleblower Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille wants the…

Open Secrets Radio: Challenge to secretive regulations for head of South Africa’s financial sector regulator

13 May 2021| Court application by Open Secrets & UBC, represented by CALS, to challenge the appointment process of the Commissioners of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. Hosts: Mamello Mosiana, Michael Marchant, Zen Mathe Music: Mello C- Pasikolu (licensed through Creative Commons) Open Secrets Radio is powered by Hindenburg Systems

NPO goes to court to stop state from hiring top FSCA execs ‘secretly’

The Citizen | Bernadette Wicks | 13 May 2021 Tito Mboweni contends that appointments to statutory or public institutions do not always have to follow a public process. Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign is set to square off against Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in the High Court in Pretoria today, over how the…

MEDIA STATEMENT: Civil Society organisations challenge secretive appointments regulations for head of SA’s financial sector regulator

13 May 2021 Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC), represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), have approached the Gauteng High Court to set aside portions of the regulations that were made in terms of section 61(4) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act 9 of 2017 (“the regulations”), relating to the…

Judicial Conduct Committee to probe Zuma-era arms deal commission whitewash by judges

Marianne Tham | Daily Maverick | 12 May 2021 In the aftermath of a North Gauteng High Court finding, judges Willie Seriti and Hendrick Musi will now have to explain why the Arms Procurement Commission overlooked crucial information prior to making findings in 2016 that the arms deal was clean as a whistle. On 7…

Thabo Mdluli is in conversation with Paul Holden and Mbekezeli Benjamin,

Newsroom Afrika | 12 May 2021 In 2011, Judge Willie Seriti, a Supreme Court of Appeal judge, and Judge Hendrick Musi, former Judge President of the Free State High Court, were appointed to chair the Arms Procurement Commission, known as the Seriti Commission. The commission probed allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the…

Arms Deal Inquiry judges to face misconduct investigation – Judicial Service Commission

11 May 2021 | Karyn Maughan | News 24 The judges who preside over R150 Million Arms Deal Inquiry, which found no evidence of corruption in the multibillion-rand deal, are now facing and investigation for “incapacity, gross incompetence or gross misconduct”. Judicial Service Commission (JSC) secretary Sello Chiloane has confirmed that the JSC’s conduct committee…

Referral of Shadow World Investigations and Open Secrets’ Complaint to the Judicial Conduct Committee

11 May 2021 | In a letter to the Shadow World Investigations and Open Secrets, dated 07 May 2021, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo (as acting chair of the Judicial Conduct Committee) has affirmed the seriousness of the organisations complaint to the Judicial Service Commission. His letters confirms that the matter has now been referred…

Process begins to hold Arms Deal Commission Judges Accountable for Gross Misconduct

11 May 2021 | Media Statement | Shadow World Investigations and Open Secrets | On 11 August 2020, non-profit organisations Shadow World Investigations and Open Secrets submitted a complaint to the Chairperson of the Judicial Conduct Committee (of the Judicial Service Commission). The detailed complaint focused on the High Court’s damning judgment which finds that…

Seriti commission of inquiry into the arms deal

Newsroom Afrika | 11 May 2021 Paul Holden, Director of Shadow World Investigations speaks about the Seriti commission of inquiry into the arms deal.

Arms deal impasse | Civil society wants the JSC to act on Arms Deal Commission chair

SABC News | 4 May 2021 Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations have written to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) demanding a response about a complaint they filed in August 2020 asking the JSC to look into the conduct of Judge Willie Seriti and Judge Hendrick Musi regarding the Arms Deal Inquiry. The two organizations…

How South African weapons are fuelling war crimes in Yemen

The New Arab | Suraya Dadoo | 3 May 2021 As the country stood on the brink of democracy in November 1993, Nelson Mandela proudly promised that in the new South Africa human rights would be the “light that guides our foreign affairs.” However, decades later, South African-made weaponry has been deeply involved in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.…

Shadow World Investigations and Open Secrets write to the JSC.

23 April 2021 On the 11th of August 2020, Shadow World Investigations (“SWI”) and Open Secrets submitted a complaint to the Chairperson of the Judicial Conduct Committee (of the Judicial Service Commission) in terms of Section 14 of the Judicial Services Act 9 of 1994, regarding the conduct of Judge Willie Seriti and Judge Hendrick…

‘This was the moment for Ramaphosa to lay it all bare for the nation. He didn’t’

Cape Talk | Barbara Friedman | 29 April 2021 Hennie Van Vuuren, the CEO of Open Secrets speaks to Refilwe Moloto about the appearance of the ruling party president, Cyril Ramaphosa at the Zondo Commission.

Unaccountable 00024: Auswell ‘tall trains’ Mashaba: The middleman who derailed Prasa

Unaccountable 00024: Auswell ‘tall trains’ Mashaba: The middleman who derailed Prasa By Lucas Nowicki Who are the shady middlemen who derailed Prasa? We turn our attention to Auswell ‘tall trains’ Mashaba, whose business Swifambo Rail Leasing is one of the locomotives of corruption at Prasa. In last week’s instalment of Unaccountable, we discussed the politicians, board members…

South Africa is putting profit before Yemeni lives

Aljazeera | Michael Marchant & Zen Mathe | 19 April 2021 The South African state has abandoned its commitment to human rights to profit from weapons deals. In so doing, it has become complicit in war crimes in Yemen. Democratic South Africa’s commitment to human rights has never been solely inward-looking. Its constitutional order was…

Unaccountable 00023: How Prasa was looted and left for scrap

Unaccountable 00023: How Prasa was looted and left for scrap By Lucas Nowicki The link between corruption and lived experience is nowhere more obvious than the erosion of passenger train services in South Africa. Prasa’s service has declined so dramatically over the past decade that the majority of working-class South Africans who once relied on…

Audit Failure: Our correspondence with Tongaat Hulett

Open Secrets correspondence with Tongaat Hulett regarding audit failure and fraud revealed in Tongaat’s 2018/2019 Annual Report.

Unaccountable 00022: The Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation: China Inc boards the State Capture train

Unaccountable 00022: The Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation: China Inc boards the State Capture train By Hlohi Ndlovu Where is the Transnet loot and why hasn’t it been recovered? Given the government’s recently announced austerity measures targeting social spending, this question demands an urgent answer. Why have institutions such as Transnet thus far largely failed…

Public Enterprises Minister called to explain Middle East arms sales

Defenceweb | 25 March 2021 | Smoke is rising from another apparent fire demanding the attention of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, this time involving Denel associate company Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM). He has been asked for details of South Africa’s alleged involvement in the ongoing Yemen humanitarian crisis by Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentarian Michele…

SA’s state arms export industry stained by blood of Yemeni civilians

Sunday Times Live |Suraya Dadoo | 21 March 2021 | As the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) continues to approve weapons sales to countries engaged in war crimes in Yemen, SA’s arms industry bears a shocking similarity to its apartheid-era past. A new investigation by South African civil society group Open Secrets has laid…

OGH ROUNDTABLE | Window of Opportunity: Global Lessons for Governance Reform in the U.S.

Open Guv Hub | 19 March 2021 | The new Biden administration represents an opportunity for governance and anti-corruption reform in the United States, both to undo the damage done under the Trump era and to build our systems back better and with more resilience. To make the most of this opportunity, we can learn…

Is South Africa putting profits before #Yemeni lives in Yemen’s civil war?

Salaamedia | 19 March 2021 Is South Africa putting profits before #Yemeni lives in Yemen’s civil war? Zen Mathe, Researcher at Open Secrets, takes a closer look. #IftarDrive #Ramadan

South Africa complicit in war crimes in Yemen

Power Talk | 19 March | In this next segment, we look at a piece co-written by Zen Mathe which reports that South Africa has abandoned its commitment to human rights in exchange for the chance to profit from weapon deals. This in turn has made us complicit in war crimes in Yemen. Lukhona Mnguni…

Civil society groups in SA published a joint statement in support of, DCJ Raymond Zondo

Newzroom Afrika | 10 March 2021 Civil society groups in South Africa have published a joint statement in support of the State Capture Inquiry chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. The organisations, say they are against attacks on the judiciary by politicians who do not produce evidence to back their claims. Naushina Rahim has…

[LISTEN] Civil Society Organisations Come Out in Support of Zondo Commission, While Zuma Frustrating & Delaying Inquiry

Radio Islam International | 10 March 2021 | Civil Society organisation Open Secrets says with just a few months left before the Zondo Commission concludes and reports on its findings, there needs to be support for the inquiry into state capture. Some of South Africa’s foremost civil society organisations have come out strongly in support…

#ICYMI: Launch of Profiting from Misery: South Africa’s Complicity in War Crimes in Yemen

Daily Maverick and Open Secrets | 3 March 2021 | It may seem to many people in South Africa that what is happening in war-torn Yemen is a tragedy unfolding far away without any direct connection to us, and with little we can do. This is not true. This report reveals that, since the war…

Civil society comes out in support of Zondo, tells Zuma to respect the Constitution

Civil Society Working Group on State Capture | Maverick Citizen | Some of South Africa’s foremost civil society organisations have come out strongly in support of the State Capture Commission and have insisted that former president Jacob Zuma abide by the law. The 13 civil society organisations released a joint statement overnight stating that the…

Steinhoff update: German charges, conflict of interest by the NPA

Power FM | 8 March 2021 | Khaya Sithole is in conversation with journalist Karyn Maughan, author James-Brent Styan, director of Open Secrets Hennie Van Vuuren about the Steinhoff saga.

An explosive report by Open Secrets implicates SA in exported weapons to Saudi Arabia

Newzroom Afrika | 7 March 2021 | An explosive report by Open Secrets has revealed that when civil war broke out in Yemen in early 2015, South African arms companies exported weapons to Saudi Arabi and the UAE worth billions of rands. Newzroom Afrika speaks to Open Secrets researcher, Zen Mathe and human rights lawyer,…

Profiting from Misery

etv | 4 March 2021 | An investigation has lifted the lid on South Africa’s possible involvement, in gross human rights violations in Yemen. Details are contained in a new report called “Profiting from Misery”, put together by the NPO, Open Secrets. It has reportedly found that state-owned arms manufacturer, Denel and others, sold weapons…

Yemen blood and money trail leads to SA arms companies

Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto | Cape Talk | 5 March 2021 Michael Marchant of Open Secrets talks to Refilwe Moloto about an investigation that shows South African arms companies are selling weapons to those waging war on Yemenis for nearly a decade.

Unpacking the Open Secrets Investigative Report with Michael Marchant

SABC News | 5 March 2021| A new Open Secrets investigative report, Profiting from Misery: South Africa’s Complicity in War Crimes in Yemen reveals the South African arms companies that have cashed in on the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates two central parties to the Yemeni conflict. For more,…

THE BIG INTERVIEW : Michael Marchant and Salaamedia unpack South Africa’s role in Yemen War

Salaamedia | 4 March 2021| Salaamedia’s Inayet Wadee speaks to Open Secrets’ researcher Michael Marchant about the role of South African and German arms corporations in the Yemen war. Read Profiting from Misery: South Africa’s Complicity in War Crimes in Yemen

Open Secrets report: SA’s Complicity in War Crimes in Yemen

The Yemen conflict has been great business for SA arms dealers

New Open Secrets report says South Africans should demand an end to the flow of weapons to this tragedy.

SA complicit in Yemen war crimes

The Voice of the Cape | 3 March 2021 | Since the outbreak six years ago of regionalised war in Yemen that has resulted in humanitarian crisis, South African arms companies have profited from the sale of weapons to parties central to the conflict.This is according to investigations by NPO Open Secrets.Online for comment is…

Exposed: South Africa’s role in Yemeni civil conflict’s humanitarian crisis

Weapons produced in South Africa are awash in Yemen and being used by numerous parties in that war, says a report by Open Secrets.

REPORT: Profiting from Misery- South Africa’s Complicity in War Crimes in Yemen

Coming soon…a new Open Secrets investigation (3 March 2021)

On the 3rd of March 2021, Open Secrets will be launching a new investigative report containing devastating findings about private sector profiteering. To receive news of the live launch and the report, sign up to our mailing list here

Pre-trial proceedings for the Arms Deal corruption trial are expected to be heard in the court today

Newzroom Afrika | 23 February 2021| Pre-trial proceedings for the Arms Deal corruption trial are expected to be heard in the KwaZulu-Natal high court in Pietermaritzburg today. A trial date is likely to be set for one of South Africa’s longest-running legal cases. Former president Jacob Zuma and co accused, French arms manufacturer Thales face…

Unaccountable 00021: Bain and Company- The KGB of Consulting

Unaccountable 00021: Bain and Company- The KGB of Consulting By Zen Mathe Bain & Company is one of several powerful multinational corporations at the centre of corruption and State Capture in South Africa. Bain enabled the wrecking of the South African Revenue Service, contributing to economic hardship for all South Africans. Placing profit over principle,…

Big audit firms make amends – but is it enough?

Daily Maverick | Sasha Planting | 16 February 2021 | With SA’s Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba) in a full-blown governance crisis and the Auditing Profession Amendment Bill still wending its way through Parliament, two of the firms involved in SA’s gigantic accounting scandals are attempting to make right for past failings. On Monday,…

Unaccountable 00020: Credit Suisse- An enabler of mega-looting in Mozambique?

Mozambique has been battered by devastating cyclones and an armed insurgency. The backdrop to this is a state battling State Capture. This involves a coterie of corrupt politicians. However, at the centre of one of Africa’s biggest corruption scandals is a Swiss banking behemoth – Credit Suisse.

Land of glorious impunity – and how to ensure constitutional accountability for public resources

Mark Heywood | Daily Maverick | 2 February 2021 The latest scandal concerning the Gauteng Education Department’s R431-million expenditure on ‘deep-cleaning and decontaminating’ schools is symptomatic of a deeper problem: we live in a land of hopeless impunity for maladministration and corruption. It was the year Covid-19 upended our lives. But 2020 was also characterised by…

Audit Reform Act: Almost a reality — and almost appropriate

Daily Maverick | Ruan Jooste | 25 January 2021 | The Big Four auditing firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – played a systemic role in financial crimes across the globe and evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability reforms are around the corner, but will…

Looking into the effects of corporate capture and how this stifles the building and functioning of a capable state

Power FM | 19 January 2021 | In this conversation Thabiso Kotane is joined by Hennie van Vuuren, Director at Open Secrets and Lebohang Pheko, the Executive Director at the Trade Colleactive and talk about corporate capture, explore its effects of and look at this stifles the building and functioning of a capable state in…

Mediated Conversation: how do we ensure that there is no corruption during the rollout of vaccines?

SAFM Sunrise | 18 January 2021 | Guest: Karam Singh- Corruption Watch Head of legal and investigations. Guest: Professor Peter Goss – Corporate Governance Advisor Guest: Hennie van Vuuren – Director Open Secrets

State capture: Time for corporates to face the music

Business Live| Natasha Marrian|14 January 2021 | Civil society bodies push for corporations implicated in state capture to be more thoroughly grilled by Zondo. Are private corporations being treated with kid gloves by the commission of inquiry into state capture? Sections of civil society say the impression is being created that the commission, chaired by…

McKinsey and other State Capture enablers: Paying back fees is not enough

Daily Maverick | Michael Marchant |15 December 2020 | The Zondo Commission has a vital role to play in advancing the public’s understanding of private corporations’ role in State Capture. It is the commission’s duty and well within its powers to compel banking executives, lawyers, consultants and auditors to appear before it and answer questions…

Urgent call to hold corporations accountable for state capture

Civil society organisations have written an open letter to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo

Newzroom Afrika | 16 December 2020 | More than 20 civil society organisations have written an open letter to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, highlighting a list of witnesses they believe should be prioritised during the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. They say the commission should use its full power to compel them to…

Babelegi loses Appeal in the Competition Appeal Court in a matter involving the excessive pricing of face masks during Covid- 19

Babelegi loses Appeal in the Competition Appeal Court in a matter involving the excessive pricing of face masks during Covid- 19 The Health Justice Initiative (hji) and Open Secrets welcome the news from the Competition Appeal Court (CAC), in a judgement dated 18 November 2020, that the appeal by BABELEGI WORKWEAR AND INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES CC…

Unaccountable 00019: IRBA- Soft Touch Regulator in Turmoil

Unaccountable 00019: IRBA- Soft Touch Regulator in Turmoil By Michael Marchant It has often appeared that the desire of the regulatory board for auditors to protect its members overshadows its responsibility to inform the public about dodgy auditors The “Big Four” audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – are regularly implicated in audit…

Power Business with Tumisang Ndlovu: Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC)

Tumisang Ndlovu speaks to Michael Marchant, researcher – Investigations and Advocacy – Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign about the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) commissioner appointments process.

Open Secrets and UBC take Mboweni to court over financial sector regulator appointments

3 November| YouTube | Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC), represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) have applied to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on an urgent basis to ensure a transparent process to select the new Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).…

Civil Society organizations challenge secretive appointment process for head of SA’s financial reg

27 October 2020 | Newzroom Afrika | Civil Society organizations Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign, have applied to the High Court on an urgent basis to call for a transparent process in the selection of a new Commissioner of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.

Civil Society organisations challenge secretive appointments process for head of SA’s top financial sector regulator

Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC) apply to court to prevent the appointments process for the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) from proceeding in secret. 27 October 2020 Today, after 18 months of failing to get a response from the Minister of Finance, civil society organisations Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign,…

Civil society group wants Zondo Commission to prioritise key witnesses

25 October 2020| Daily Maverick | Zukiswa Pikoli | More than 20 civil society organisations have written an open letter to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo highlighting a list of witnesses they believe should be prioritised during the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, saying that the commission should use its full power to compel…

Annual Report 2020

BizNews webinar with Tim Modise: Do ethics still exist in the public sector?

8 October 2020 | Biz News | In this BizNews noon webinar (Thursday 8 October), veteran broadcaster Tim Modise is joined by Public Service Commissioner Michael Seloane and Mamello Mosiana of Open Secrets to discuss efforts to promote professional ethics in the face of collusive networks of corruption within the public sector.

Dirty Banks: Oops, they’ve done it again!

1 October 2020 | Daily Maverick | Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant | Banks are an essential cog in a global money-laundering architecture that enables the corrupt and criminal to disguise and hide the proceeds of their crimes. New revelations from the US reveal the depths of the problem of banks laundering money and the…

Apartheid Banks: NPA Docket

Don’t forget about the private sector’s role in ‘state capture’

Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto | 17 September 2020 | Let’s not forget that state capture is so much bigger and Zuma and that this corruption doesn’t exist in a vacuum – the private sector has been there every step of the way. Michael Marchant from Open Secrets in conversation with Refilwe.

Unaccountabe 00018: KPMG – At the heart of state capture

Unaccountabe 00018: KPMG – At the heart of state capture By Mamello Mosiana The Big Four auditing firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – played a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the…

Campaigning against corruption: a discussion with Hennie Van Vuuren

World Peace Foundation, 8 September 2020. The podcast series “African Voices, African Arguments” features African scholars, writers, policy makers and activists on issues of peace, justice and democracy, and is produced by World Peace Foundation and presented in partnership with African Arguments and The Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University. Alex de Waal discusses…

Justice for apartheid economic crime: Start with the bankers

Justice for apartheid economic crime: Start with the bankers Today many civil society organisations jointly call on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to crack down on corporations who assisted the apartheid state and profited from economic crimes under apartheid. To date they have escaped any accountability for their crimes in supporting and sustaining apartheid –…

Steinhoff: in the dark, still

Michael Marchant | Business Live | 27 August 2020 | Nearly three years after Steinhoff’s finances were exposed as a sham and the company lost nearly all its value overnight, it is offering shareholders and former partners a settlement agreement. Facing legal claims for over R130bn, Steinhoff’s management is proposing a R16bn settlement, payable in…

Unaccountable 00017: EY – incompetent, negligent or criminal?

Unaccountable 00017: EY – incompetent, negligent or criminal? By Michael Marchant The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of the industry…

Why we have complained to the Chief Justice about Judges Willie Seriti and Hendrick Musi

Open Secrets & Shadow World Investigations | Daily Maverick | 20 August 2020 | Our complaint has been submitted in line with the Judicial Services Act which allows for complaints to be filed where judges are guilty of either ‘gross misconduct’ or ‘gross incompetence’, among other things. We have submitted a complaint to the Chief…

Health Justice Initiative (hji) and Open Secrets admitted as joint amici (friends of the court) in Competition Appeal Court – involving Dis-Chem & the Competition Commission (pricing of face masks for COVID-19)

Media Release | 19 August 2020 |hji and Open Secrets Health Justice Initiative (hji) and Open Secrets admitted as joint amici (friends of the court) in Competition Appeal Court – involving Dis-Chem & the Competition Commission (pricing of face masks for COVID-19) On 11 August 2020, the Health Justice Initiative (hji) and Open Secrets…

The R142bn bomb: Revisiting the cost of the Arms Deal, twenty years on

Paul Holden | Daily Maverick | 18 August 2020 | The crisis of State Capture and the epidemic of corruption that undermines Covid-19 relief and mitigation efforts, find their roots in the wholesale destruction of the capacity of the state to tackle corruption lest those capacities uncover the full rot of the Arms Deal. South…

The Fox Guarding the Chicken Coop

CFO Talks Podcast | 17 August 2020 | A recent report released by Open Secrets provides fascinating insight to financial crimes in South Africa’s private and public sector. Open Secrets’ researcher Michael Marchant speaks to CFO Talks.

Unaccountable 00016: Deloot – How Deloitte gets away with it

Unaccountable 00016: Deloot – How Deloitte gets away with it By Michael Marchant The ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – all play a systemic role in economic crimes and State Capture. The evidence suggests that these firms have prioritised profit over professional duties and the law. Accountability and reform of…

JSC Complaint

Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations submit complaint to the Judicial Conduct Committee of the JSC.

Should there be an amnesty for disclosures about corruption?

Open Secrets researcher Michael Marchant speaks to Cape Talk’s Lester Kiewit

Unaccountable 00015: Arms Deal – The BAE Corruption Bombshell

Unaccountable 00015: Arms Deal – The BAE Corruption Bombshell By Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations The Arms Deal was never only about Jacob Zuma and his sweetheart relationship with French arms company Thales. We now have even more proof that it was rotten to the core and demands accountability. It is not often that…

The Cooking of the books: Economic Crimes and the Enabling Role of the Auditor

SA FM | Viewpoint | 8 July 2020 | The Auditor General recently released a report and it tells of gross financial mismanagement in the public sector. Now the public sector is bound to attract attention because it runs on taxpayer’s money. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the same unscrupulous way don’t exist in…

The Corporations and Economic Crime Report with Mamello Mosiana, Researcher at Open Secrets

Lack of independence, poor accountability and a culture of silence are some of the issues plaguing the auditing profession globally.

How the auditors keep dodging the fraud bullet

Ciaran Ryan | Moneyweb | 3 July 2020 | A new report by Open Secrets puts them back in the crosshairs. Of the roughly 1 000 people attending the virtual release of the latest Open Secrets report titled The Auditors, a good number were likely from the accounting profession. They must have been squirming in…

Is Auditing A Crisis In SA – What Are The Experts Saying?

Radio 786 | 3 July 2020 | South Africa’s top four auditing companies have been labelled as a cartel. This comes as all four of the firms have been exposed and implicated in audit failure and corrupt dealing. In a special report by Open Secrets titled ‘Corporations and Economic Crime Report’ – it details how…

SA report unravels malfeasance and poor accountability in auditing industry

Sandisiwe Shoba | Daily Maverick | 2 July 2020 | Lack of independence, poor accountability and a culture of silence are some of the issues plaguing the auditing profession globally. A new report by non-profit, Open Secrets, shows how cracks in the system have caused a credibility crisis in the industry and why this is…

CECR Vol.2| The Auditors

While the economic impact of Covid-19 will impact KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young (EY) like much of the private sector, they are cushioned by years of sustained and avaricious profit-taking.

When good auditors go bad

The auditing industry is in urgent need of serious reform

Unaccountable 00014 | BAE Systems

Unaccountable 00014 | BAE Systems – (Profit) Before Anything Else By Meghan Samaai This is an instalment in Open Secrets’ series detailing BAE Systems’ network of middlemen and agents who were paid generously in return for their political connections and influence during South Africa’s 1999 Arms Deal. This week, we turn our focus from the…

Unaccountable 00013: Fana Hlongwane – Agent of BAE Systems

Unaccountable 00013 | Fana Hlongwane – Agent of BAE Systems By Meghan Samaai This is the second in a three-part Open Secrets series detailing the lucrative relationship between BAE Systems and its covert international network of middlemen. As we saw in Unaccountable 00012, BAE, like many European arms corporations looking to profit from South Africa’s…

Justice for Ahmed Timol and other apartheid victims – A statement by the South African Coalition for Transitional Justice

Justice for Ahmed Timol and other apartheid victims Press Statement by the South African Coalition for Transitional Justice The South African Coalition for Transitional Justice (SACTJ) notes with deep concern the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that it does not intend to pursue charges against two apartheid Security Branch police officers, Seth Sons…

Zondo Commission responds to civil society concerns: Hearings to resume on June 29

Zukiswa Pikoli | Maverick Citizen | 19 June 2020 | “In South Africa, the struggle against State Capture and corruption remains part of the struggle for human rights and social justice – we will work hard to ensure that institutions like the Zondo Commission are effective,” insists the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture.…

Unaccountable 00012: John Bredenkamp – Agent of BAE Systems

Unaccountable 00012 | John Bredenkamp – Agent of BAE Systems By Meghan Samaai 18 June 2020 This week, Open Secrets continues to profile the corporations and individuals implicated in corruption in the 1999 Arms Deal but yet to be held to account. The European arms corporations that profited from the deal used a similar modus…

Countless South Africans are owed pension benefits, and yet claiming is a constant battle

Mamello Mosiana | Daily Maverick | 17 June 2020 | While few immediately associate youth issues with pensions, the reality is that many young people actively participate in and even depend on the pensions industry. This includes their participation in the ongoing struggle of millions to access more than R42-billion in pension benefits owed to…

The Unpaid Pensions Youth- the Millions Beyond the Bottom Line

16 June 2020 | Mamello Mosiana | While few immediately associate youth issues with pensions, the reality is that many young people both actively participate in, and depend on, the pensions industry. This includes their participation in the ongoing struggle of millions to access over R42 billion in pension benefits owed to individuals and families,…

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HENNIE VAN VUUREN & MIKE MARCHANT: Is Tito Mboweni asleep at the wheel?

Business Live | 11 June 2020 | Questionable appointments, or failure to appoint people, remain a blot on the finance minister’s copybook. It raises the question: has he lost interest? Tito Mboweni is a politician wrapped in contradiction. He clearly thrives on the warm affirmation he elicits from his 778,000 Twitter followers. He knows how…

A recent court ruling could see many dark apartheid-era secrets coming to light

Geraldine Frieslaar and Hennie van Vuuren| Daily Maverick | 5 June 2020| Good news and glimmers of hope are in short supply these days. This is perhaps all the more reason to take note of a recent precedent-setting court judgement. In the past week, feisty pint-sized civil society organisations prevailed against the mighty South African…

Appeals Court ruling on Reserve Bank welcomed

In a landmark ruling, the SCA set aside a High Court judgment denying SA History Archive access to documents of suspected apartheid-era financial crimes

Speaking truth to power: Dulcie September and Daphne Caruana Galizia

Neroli Price | Maverick Life | 29 May 2020 These podcasts pay homage to two women who stood up for what they believed in and paid with their life for uncovering the truth. Dulcie September and Daphne Caruana Galizia were from different countries and different eras, but they both stood up for what they believed…

A CSWG Letter to Judge Zondo: State Capture Commission of Enquiry Hearings During Covid-19

Dear Judge Zondo, RE: State Capture Commission of Enquiry Hearings During Covid-19 We write to you as concerned members of the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture, which comprises more than twenty civil society organisations. In February 2020, we presented an Agenda for Action to the Commission, which is based on detailed submissions made…

Open letter to the President: Make sure emergency funds are not wasted or stolen

Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa We, the undersigned organisations, commend you for the decisive action taken over the last few weeks in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. We note the efforts of the state in placing the health and wellbeing of people at the forefront of decision-making. However, we are acutely aware of the dire financial…

‘Dear Mr President’- Civil Society Calls for Transparency Around Relief Fund

Sifiso Zulu |Eyewitness News | 23 May 2020 | JOHANNESBURG – Civil society organisations have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa calling for transparency in the distribution of COVID-19 relief funds. The Ahmed Khathrada Foundation is one of several groups that raised concerns about potential corrupt activities and the handling of the money in government departments…

Mr President, let us help you keep the vultures at bay

Daily Maverick | 22 May 2020 | In this letter to the president, organisations raise concerns about corruption during the Covid-19 crisis. Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa We, the undersigned organisations, commend you for the decisive action taken over the last few weeks in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. We note the efforts of the state…

Unaccountable 00011: Thales – How to buy a country

Unaccountable 00011: Thales – How to buy a country By Meghan Samaai This week Open Secrets publishes the second in a series of profiles on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. This week we focus on the company at the heart of Zuma’s Arms Deal corruption scandal…

The Tim Modise Syndicate With Mike Marchant

10 May 2020 | You may be facing hardship but what if you’re owed money? Michael Marchant of Open Secrets of tells me there’s R43b in retirement funds owing to 5m beneficiaries & they don’t know about it. Find out how you can claim in this podcast.

Unpaid Pension Benefits: The billions that could help millions face Covid-19 fallout

Michael Marchant | Daily Maverick | 8 May 2020 | In the context of a strained fiscus and a dysfunctional social security agency – freeing up private assets that are owed to poor and vulnerable individuals could also go a long way to supporting the increase in social welfare grants. It is in this context…

Unaccountable 00010: Jacob Zuma – Comrade in Arms

Unaccountable 00010: Jacob Zuma – Comrade in Arms By Meghan Samaai and Hennie van Vuuren 6 May 2020 This week Open Secrets publishes the first of a number of profiles on the corporations and middlemen implicated in the multibillion-dollar Arms Deal of the late 1990s. None of these companies has been held to account. The…

MEDIA STATEMENT- Apartheid Banks: UN human rights experts call for reform of international corporate accountability mechanisms

Open Secrets and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies | 29 April 2020 | Open Secrets and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) share a common goal of holding businesses accountable for their complicity in crimes against humanity which includes the crime of apartheid. On 27 April 2018, CALS and Open Secrets laid a…

Unaccountable 00009: McKinsey – Profit over Principle

Unaccountable 00009: McKinsey – Profit over Principle By Mamello Mosiana Big consulting firms take no credit and they accept no blame. This philosophy has enabled McKinsey & Company to profit with ease from work with authoritarian regimes, troubled businesses and corrupt state-owned enterprises. In South Africa, their work at Eskom and Transnet on some of…

Apartheid and bank complicity case: UN expert urges reform of OECD review mechanism to protect human rights

Statement – United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner | GENEVA | 27 April 2020 | OECD Member States should consider establishing a mechanism to prevent conflict of interest of their National Contact Points (NPC’s) corporate review process to strengthen the procedure and its credibility. Conflicts of interest must be prevented in order…

NO TO A MILITARISED LOCKDOWN, PRESIDENCY MUST MEET CIVIL SOCIETY TODAY

Media Statement | C-19 People’s Coaltion | 26 March 2020 We, as civic organisations, trade unions, organisations of informal workers, faith-based organisations, NGOs and community structures in South Africa, are concerned about the emerging conditions for COVID-19 lockdown in our country. We see military tanks and guns rolling into our communities, but we do not…

A PROGRAMME OF ACTION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Media Statement | C19 People’s Coalition | 24 March 2020 A call for social solidarity in South Africa We, as civic organisations, trade unions, organisations of informal workers, faith-based organisations and community structures in South Africa, call on all people, every stakeholder and sector, to contain infection, reduce transmission and mitigate the social and political…

Unaccountable 00008: FNB & Standard Bank – Estina’s Banks

Unaccountable 00008: FNB & Standard Bank – Estina’s Banks By Michael Marchant The infamous Estina Vrede Dairy Project was supposed to direct public funds to ‘empower’ indigent Free State farmers and develop local agriculture. Instead, almost all of the money was looted to benefit the Gupta enterprise. This week Open Secrets focuses on two of…

Six critical areas civil society are pushing the Zondo commission to crack down on

Naushina Rahim | News24 | 18 March 2020 The reality of the modern globalised and financialised world is that corruption on a grand scale, along with organised crime and state capture, is enabled by skilled professionals, including bankers, lawyers, accountants and consultants writes Naushina Rahim ‘An Agenda for Action’ was submitted almost a month ago…

Why amnesty for state capture won’t work

Hennie van Vuuren | Financial Mail | 12 March 2020 Last week, lawyer Robert Appelbaum floated the idea of an amnesty for perpetrators of state capture. It’s a short-sighted idea, designed to appease the powerful and corrupt, says Open Secrets’ Hennie van Vuuren In the home of Joburg-based corporate lawyer Robert Appelbaum hangs a portrait…

Unaccountable 00007: HSBC – The World’s Oldest Cartel

Unaccountable 00007: HSBC – The World’s Oldest Cartel By Mamello Mosiana If Transnet was a golden goose for the Gupta family and their associates, then global banking giant HSBC played the role of tending their illicit nest eggs. This week Open Secrets examines the role of a key global enabler in the State Capture network.…

Explainer: The Enablers of State Capture in the cases of Transnet, Eskom and Estina

This investigative report shows that the systems that enable grand corruption and state capture are global in nature, and that private sector elites are central to the problem.

Application to reveal apartheid corruption secrets goes to supreme court

Estelle Ellis | Daily Maverick | 3 March 2020 The Supreme Court of Appeal on Tuesday heard the appeal by the SA History Archive Trust against a ruling that will allow the SA Reserve Bank to keep records of significant fraud, corruption and gold smuggling under the apartheid government a secret. In the latest chapter…

Set the Apartheid Secrets Free! – Statement in solidarity with SAHA

We, the undersigned organisations and individuals committed to justice for historical crimes and social justice in South Africa write in support of the South African History Archive. On Tuesday 03 March 2020 it faces the next round in an epic battle against the South African Reserve Bank in the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal. This…

Apartheid criminals still at large

Ilham Rahoot |Mail & Guardian | 21 February 2020 | The floor has been reopened. The past two weeks’ furore over FW de Klerk’s denial and hasty withdrawal of his statement that “the system of apartheid is not a crime against humanity”, as well as the inquest into activist Neil Aggett’s murder in prison, have…

Civil societies join forces to fight State Capture

State Capture and corruption go hand-in-hand with inequality and poverty

Tonight with Lester Podcast: Report The Enablers of State Capture

Cape Talk | 20 February 2020 | Listening to the testimony of bankers before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture, you might believe they were unwitting victims of the Guptas and acted quickly and virtuously to throttle their corrupt ways by closing their bank accounts in 2016. It turns out they…

“The struggle against corruption is a struggle for human rights”

Civil society working group submits recommendations to Zondo Commission

Unaccountable 00006: Nedbank and the Bank of Baroda — Banking on State Capture

Unaccountable 00006: Nedbank and the Bank of Baroda — Banking on State Capture By Michael Marchant Who laundered money for the Gupta acolytes and used the opportunity to cash in on State Capture? A new investigative report, ‘The Enablers’, co-authored by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations, details the role of bankers, accountants, consultants and…

Coalition asks Zondo commission to also focus on private sector’s role in state capture

More than 20 civil society groups have submitted their recommendations to the Zondo commission on how to reform the state and private sector in the wake of state capture.

Civil society submits to Zondo inquiry its ‘Agenda for Action’ to tackle root cause of corruption

Christi Nortier | Daily Maverick | 19 February 2020| Civil society organisations have been making submissions to the Zondo Commission for the past year. The Civil Society Working Group publicly launched a joint statement that was presented to the commission this week. It summarises their recommended strategies to ensure that State Capture does not continue.…

Lifting the lid on apartheid-era economic crimes

Lloyd Gedye | New Frame | 21 February 2020 | The South African History Archive’s battle with the South African Reserve Bank to access information pertaining to alleged financial crimes will go to the Supreme Court of Appeal. What can the South African Reserve Bank’s archive of records tell South Africans about apartheid-era economic crime?…

Calls mount for banks and the private sector to appear before the #StateCaptureInquiry

Newzroom Afrika | 12 February 2020 | Newzroom Afrika speaks to Open Secrets’ researcher Mamello Mosiana on Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations new report, The Enablers: the bankers laws and accountants that cashed in on state capture.

The bankers, lawyers and liars who enabled state capture

Ciaran Ryan | Moneyweb | 10 February 2020 | Listening to the testimony of bankers before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture, you might believe they were unwitting victims of the Guptas and acted quickly and virtuously to throttle their corrupt ways by closing their bank accounts in 2016. It turns…

‘Bankers, auditors also need to account for their role in state capture’

Jacob Rooi | Rapport/City Press | 10 February 2020 | It’s not only Jacob Zuma who needs to account for his alleged role in state capture, but also the bankers and auditors who made the shenanigans possible. This is according to Andrew Feinstein and Hennie van Vuuren, whose organisations Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigation…

Dié banke, ouditeurs en konsultante het lekker geskep toe dit staatskaping-pap reën

Yolandi Groenewald | Vrye Weekblad | 7 February 2020 | Verskeie vooraanstaande ondernemings het baie om te verduidelik oor hoe hulle staatskaping aangehelp het, blyk uit ’n verslag wat vandeesweek bekendgestel is. YOLANDI GROENEWALD was by die bekendstelling daarvan TERWYL staatskaping in die middel van die vorige dekade op sy ergste gewoed het, het ’n…

South African banks must answer to Zondo, says report

Jessica Bezuidenhout | Daily Maverick | 7 February 2020 | It’s the worst-kept secret and the most ill-explored story of State Capture: The role played by South African banks. Now, for the first time, a comprehensive report has been handed to the State Capture Commission calling for some banks whose fingerprints are all over tainted…

Why Zondo must summon banks, lawyers and consultants to answer for enabling state capture

Why Zondo must shift focus to the private sector if at least some of the billions stolen in state capture are to be recovered, and if transgressors are to be caught and punished Business Live | 6 February 2020 | By: Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations In many ways, the Estina dairy farm near…

The Enablers Trailer

Co-authored by Open Secrets and Shadow World Investigations, The Enablers investigative report, explores the largely overlooked yet extensive evidence of the role of the private sector “enablers” in state capture. The Enablers focuses on the role of banks, accounting firms, consultants and lawyers in facilitating criminal conduct that formed part of the state capture enterprise.…

Active Citizenship: Civil Society Outlooks on 2020

Mark Heywood, Estelle Ellis, Zukiswa Pikoli and Anso Thom| Maverick Citizen | 28 January 2020 | One of the unique features of South Africa’s Constitution is the role that it assigns to citizens in ensuring accountable government. We are a ‘participatory democracy’, one where active citizens play a role in ensuring that Parliament and the…

Unaccountable 00005: National Conventional Arms Control Committee – handmaiden to human rights abuse?

Unaccountable 00005: National Conventional Arms Control Committee – handmaiden to human rights abuse? By Caryn Dolley and Zen Mathe South Africa’s arms trade regulator has failed in its mandate to monitor the export of weapons to countries that, among other things, abuse human rights, or wage war against their own citizens. This begs the question,…

MICHAEL MARCHANT: No accountability at Liberty Life

After hounding out the whistleblower who exposed Liberty Life’s disastrous pension fund cancellations programme, the insurer has sat on its hands. It is extraordinary to see how pension industry insiders leap to defend insurance behemoth Liberty Life for its scandalous handling of the unlawful cancellation of hundreds of pension funds. A recent investigative report by…

Unaccountable 0004: Rheinmetall Denel Munition: Murder and mayhem in Yemen

Unaccountable 0004: Rheinmetall Denel Munition: Murder and mayhem in Yemen By Zen Mathe & Caryn Dolley Companies with South African links have been allowed to supply Saudi Arabia and its allies with weapons — despite the humanitarian destruction the war in Yemen has wrought. Yemen is at the epicentre of a regionalised civil war. Over…

Good news for 70 pensioners who track down R650,000 in unclaimed pensions

GroundUp | Ciaran Ryan | 16 January 2019 | “This may seem small compared to the billions of unclaimed assets, but it is always nice to see a direct impact” It’s nice to share good news every now and again. Late last year we published two stories (here and here) on R42 billion in unclaimed pensions owed…

Unaccountable 00003: Captured Regulator?- The FSCA and Dube Tshidi

Unaccountable 00003: Captured Regulator?- The FSCA and Dube Tshidi By Michael Marchant Open Secrets | Daily Maverick | 3 December 2019 In part two of the Open Secrets Unaccountable series, we profiled the conduct of Liberty Group in the incorrect cancellation of hundreds of pension funds when they still held more than R100 million owed…

Ex-mineworkers dig against the odds for their unpaid pensions

Christi Nortier | Maverick Citizen | 29 November 2019 | Every Friday for the past decade, Sphiwo William Casiwe has made his way from his home in Khayelitsha to the local activist hub, the Isivivana Centre, for a meeting with fellow ex-mineworkers. He clutches his satchel as he hails taxis and navigates pavements. He rests…

Unaccountable 00002: Liberty- Profit over Pensioners

Unaccountable 00002: Liberty- Profit over Pensioners By Michael Marchant More than 16 million South Africans contribute to a pension fund, most of which are run by financial behemoths like Liberty. They do so in the hope of a decent dignified life in retirement, and to ensure their dependants will be paid if they die. While…

Trade union pension funds sit with billions of rands in unclaimed benefits

Ciaran Ryan | GroundUp | 26 November 2019 R19 billion owed to beneficiaries in metal industry More than half the unclaimed benefits of R42 billion owed to roughly 4.2 million former workers are bottled up in just two trade union-affiliated pension schemes. This is one of the findings in a recent report into unclaimed benefits…

Black Sash Khuluma Event Nov 2019- State Capture: Implications for Governance and Leadership

Black Sash’s Khuluma on the 21st November 2019 was a conversation with Valencia Talene (Corruption Watch), Tracy Ledger (Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) and Naushina Rahim (Open Secrets), where they discussed State Capture: Implications for governance and leadership of the SCA ruling ordering Cash Paymaster Services to pay back 316 million to SASSA.

Unaccountable 00001: Dame Margaret Hodge MP – a very British apartheid profiteer

Unaccountable 00001: Dame Margaret Hodge MP – a very British apartheid profiteer By Open Secrets Open Secrets | Daily Maverick | 20 November 2019 Margaret Hodge has clothed herself in the claim that she has dedicated her life to fighting racism – that her very ‘being’ was anti-racist, as she said in March 2019. The…

Battle to recover R42 billion in unclaimed pension money

Ciaran Ryan | GroundUp | 19 November 2019 | A campaign to reclaim billions of rands in unclaimed benefits is about to kick into high gear. The Unclaimed Benefits Committee (UBC), representing a group of claimants, and non-profit organisation Open Secrets, are planning to lobby Parliament. “We will also be calling for a boycott of…

Who profits from unpaid pensions?

Weekend Breakfast with Refiloe Mpakanyane | 702 | 16 november 2019 | Senior Researcher at Open Secrets, Michael Marchant unpacks Open Secrets’ report looking in to the saga behind the FSCA’s unclaimed pension funds which is reportedly nearing R50 Billion now.

#PODCAST: “Open Secrets” report finds billions worth of unpaid pension funds, still under private control

Lotus FM | Newsbreak | 13 November 2019 | SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Hoossen Ebrahim – Non-profit organisation “Open Secrets” has written to the Finance Minister to investigate their report which found over 42-billion-rand worth of unpaid benefits of pension funds – still under the control of private administrators. The…

Administrators sit on more than R42bn in unpaid pension benefits — earning a fee, of course

Marianne Thamm | Daily Maverick | 10 November 2019 The R42-billion in unpaid benefits owed to more than four million South African pensioners is ‘a fundamental failure’ of public interest by state regulators and pension fund administrators, a year-long investigation by Open Secrets has concluded. Open Secrets researchers Michael Marchant, Mamello Mosiana, Leila Khan and…

What is the state of unpaid pensions in SA?

Weekend Breakfast with Africa Melane | Cape Talk | 9 November 2019 | This is the 3rd and final installment of a conversation which this show has been having about unpaid pension schemes in South Africa. Around R42 Billion is sitting in pension schemes which are administered in South Africa. These benefits have been due…

Retirement rogues and the casualties of circumstance

Ruan Jooste | Daily Maverick | 7 November 2019 | There is a mountain of money, R42bn to be exact, sitting in unclaimed benefit schemes out there, just sitting there, getting fatter, which means money for jam for the fund managers, but doesn’t afford any jam to the estimated four million people who own this…

Pension whistleblower: She lost the battle, but won the war

Sarah Smit | Mail & Guardian | 5 November 2019 | An “angry, distrustful and even vengeful woman”. This is how whistleblower Rosemary Hunter was described in an affidavit to the high court by her one-time boss, erstwhile Financial Services Board (FSB) chief executive Dube Tshidi. The former deputy registrar of pensions can laugh it…

Modise Network | Unpaid Pensions: The Bottom Line | 26 Oct 2019

While politics continues to focus the public’s attention, many may be losing out on their pensions. The network is joined by Open Secrets’ Investigator Michael Marchant to discuss this matter. Courtesy #DStv403

Open secrets report on unpaid pensions

Weekend Breakfast with Africa Melane | 702 | 26 October 2019 | Whistle blower Rosemary Hunter faced massive opposition when she called out her colleagues at the Financial services board for irregularities relating to cancelled pension schemes. As we stand, there is R42 billion in benefits is owed to over 4 million pensioners and pension…

Pensioners lose out to ‘greedy’ firms

Pension fund industry continues to profit from the R42-billion owed to the four million South Africans still waiting to be paid their pensions.

WATCH: Millions waiting for pension payouts

ENCA | 24 October 2019 | JOHANNESBURG – More than four million people are apparently waiting for pension payouts. Non-profit organisation Open Secrets said these benefits amount to more than R42-billion. Thomas Malokotsa is still waiting for benefits from his deceased father’s pension fund, more than 30 years after his death. Malokotsa joined the Unpaid Benefits Campaign…

Millions waiting for pension payouts

OFM | 24 October 2019 More than four million people are apparently waiting for pension payouts. Non-profit organisation Open Secrets said these benefits amount to more than R42-billion. Thomas Malokotsa is still waiting for benefits from his deceased father’s pension fund, more than 30 years after his death. Malokotsa joined the Unpaid Benefits Campaign in…

Report reveals over R42-billion in unpaid benefits

The massive theft of pensions should be called a crime, but because it has been perpetrated by corporate South Africa, it is put down to regulatory failure.

Who profits from unpaid pensions, asks new report probing wrongfully cancelled funds

Carin Smith | fin 24 | 23 October 2019 | A new investigative report released by advocacy group Open Secrets on Wednesday evening aims to put pressure on authorities to hold accountable those who wrongly deregistered a large number of pension funds, affecting thousands of people. According to the report, entitled The Bottom Line, Who Profits…

The Bottom Line: Dissecting new report on pension money in SA with Michael Marchant

22 October 2019 | SABC News | Tonight we look at an explosive new report on pension money in South Africa. Specifically unclaimed funds that could help millions of poor people. It will be released by the advocacy group, Open Secrets, on Wednesday. But we can bring you this exclusive, early look tonight. The report…

‘They are stealing our future’ – How state capture affects its faceless victims

Azarrah Karim | 12 October 2019 | While the state capture commission of inquiry delves deeper and deeper into the web of capture, sourcing the culprits between factional battles, those who were most affected by the crimes believe they are being sidelined. The Civil Society Working Group on State Capture held a people’s hearing at the…

State Capture gathering: Power to the People

Zukiswa Pikoli | 13 October 2019 | The People’s Hearing into State Capture took place at Constitution Hill’s Women’s Jail at the weekend. The hearing was civil society’s version of the State Capture commission of inquiry chaired by Justice Raymond Zondo. Civil society organisations and ordinary people gathered to share the direct impact State Capture…

In conversation with Arms Deal whistleblower Hennie Van Vuuren

11 October 2019 | SABC News | Former President Jacob Zuma and French Arms Company, Thales, have lost their bid to avoid prosecution on corruption charges. They’ll have to appear in court on Tuesday for the start of their trial, which has been delayed for 15 years. Zuma’s legal team argued that the National Prosecuting…

Civil society groups organise People’s Hearing on State Capture

Mark Heywood | Daily Maverick | 7 October 2019 We are more than a year into the Zondo Commission, but sometimes one can be forgiven for thinking, where are the people’s voices and who were the real victims? On 12 October a People’s Hearing in Johannesburg aims to answer those questions. In late 2018 a…

People’s Hearing To Look At Human Impact Of State Capture

Fatima Moosa | Daily Vox | 8 October 2019 For months now, the state capture commission has been taking place headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo. The commission have been looking into the allegations of state capture and corruption within the public sector. Many startling allegations have come forward from the commission. The hearings began on…

Understanding the decision to set aside the Seriti commission findings

On Wednesday, the High Court in Pretoria found the Seriti commission failed to comprehensively investigate the arms deal as it had been mandated to do. The commission, chaired by Judge Willie Seriti, ran for four years and cost taxpayers more than R130m. Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, standing in for Eusebius McKaiser, spoke to author and Corruption Watch…

Greasing the Wheels of State Capture: Corporations, Secrecy & Profit

Perspectives- Robbin’ the Hood | 25 August 2019 | Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant | Any analysis of state capture is incomplete if it fails to grapple with the network of private actors that facilitates unethical, corrupt and other criminal economic activity. A narrow focus on the structural and institutional weaknesses in the ruling African…

Getting to know Dulcie September

Gushwell and Mamello Mosiana from Open Secrets look in to the life and legacy of the anti-apartheid activist Dulcie September who remains the only high ranking activist who died in exile, following their podcast series about the murder of Dulcie’s life “They Killed Dulcie”.

Seriti judgment ‘was a remarkable global legal precedent’ – Feinstein

22 August 2019 Setting aside the findings of the commission into the arms deal offers an opportunity to cast the net wider says Andrew Feinstein, arms trade activist and author of The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade. He talks to Upfront’s Refilwe Moloto about details of the two-decades-long investigation into South Africa’s arms…

Decision to set aside Seriti Commission findings will have a profound impact

Andrew Feinstein, Hennie van Vuuren, Paul Holden | 21 August 2019 We welcome the judgment delivered on Wednesday in the High Court that sets aside the findings of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the Arms Deal. This is a profound victory for South African civil society and is the result of years of collective…

DISCUSSION: Seriti Inquiry’s key failings

SABC Digital News | 21 August 2019 A full bench of the Pretoria High Court led by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo has set aside the 2016 findings of the Arms Deal Commission with costs. In handing down judgement, the court found that the commission failed in its legal mandate to test the veracity of crucial…

België weigert witwasconstructies KBC tijdens apartheid te onderzoeken

Stef Arends | Orig jaar dienden twee Zuid-Afrikaanse ngo’s klacht in tegen KBC Groep. Die bank voerde grootschalige witwasoperaties uit ten tijde van het apartheidsregime, en zorgde daarmee dat een internationaal wapenembargo decennialang kon worden omzeild. Het OESO-contactpunt voor ethisch internationaal ondernemen weigert de klacht echter in behandeling te nemen. De apartheid zou te lang…

NGOs disappointed with decision not to probe apartheid banks

ENCA | JOHANNESBURG Two NGO’s say they are disappointed with a decision not to investigate banks for allegedly supporting the apartheid government. The Center for Applied Legal Studies and Open Secrets submitted a complaint about the role of European banks during apartheid. Tumelo Matlawa from the centre for applied legal studies says they have evidence…

Report on Mkhwebane-Gupta link needs to be investigated: Open Secrets director

SABC Digital News | 31 July 2019 Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has denied claims that she has been flagged for having received US $5000 from the Guptas 5 years ago. Mkhwebane dismissed the allegations on social media as fake and has demanded to see bank statements. The allegations come from the global non profit group,…

European Authorities Refuse to Investigate Apartheid’s Banks

MEDIA RELEASE 31 July 2019 EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO INVESTIGATE APARTHEID’S BANKS More than one year after submitting a complaint detailing the role of European banks in supporting and profiting from apartheid, CALS and Open Secrets have been informed that authorities in Belgium and Luxembourg are refusing to investigate these economic crimes. With no clear…

Don’t treat witnesses with kid gloves, civil society organisations tell Zondo

Alex Mitchley Civil society organisations have called on Deputy Judge President Raymond Zondo, who is chairing the commission of inquiry into state capture, to not treat certain witnesses with kid gloves, and to robustly apply the principle of equality before the law. According to a joint statement by organisations such as the Right2Know Campaign (R2K),…

Civil society calls on Judge Zondo- No special treatment for bullies!

Member organisations of the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture call on the Zondo Commission to more robustly uphold the principle of equality before the law.

Annual Report 2017-2018/ 2018-2019

Business Maverick: Business Against Corruption

Open Secrets’ Director Hennie van Vuuren speaks about the continuities of corruption in one of the panels at Business Maverick’s Business Against Corruption event.

Upfront with Refilwe Moloto: What is the Seriti Commission?

Open Secrets’ Researcher Michael Marchant chats with Africa Melane on the Seriti Commission and the Review.

Joint Statement: Court reckoning for Seriti Commission findings in CW & R2K application!

Right2Know (R2K) and Corruption Watch (CW) will be in court on 11th and 12th June to finally review and set aside the findings of the Arms Procurement Commission

In conversation: Michael & Mamello discuss the review application into the arms deal inquiry

On the 11th and 12th of June 2019 Corruption Watch South Africa and Right to Know Campaign (R2K) are at the High Court in Gauteng to present their review application into the Seriti Commission. Michael Marchant and Mamello Mosiana from Open Secrets, in a short informal video, discuss the process that led to this step.

Just Cases Episode 11: “He knows how to operate in the shadows”

The corruption case against former South African president Jacob Zuma has begun. Zuma’s case lifts the lid on the influence of weapons companies on governments worldwide. “It’s not a story of a corrupt guy, Jacob Zuma,” says Hennie van Vuuren, the director of Open Secrets, a South African organisation that investigates economic crimes and abuses…

The Best of Weekend Breakfast: The Arms Deal

Phemelo Motene unpacks the arms deal with Micheal Marchant

They Killed Dulcie-Episode 7: Impunity?

The final episode of They Killed Dulcie takes a critical look at what happened to the investigations of Dulcie September’s murder.

Tonight with Lester: They Killed Dulcie Podcast

Sound Africa’s Rasmus Bitsch talks to 702’s Lester Kiewit about the last episode of They Killed Dulcie: Impunity.

Thales, the company which forever sullied the memory of the wise sage of Greece

Greg Nicolson | Daily Maverick Arms company Thales, accused of bribing former president Jacob Zuma, argued on Tuesday that the charges against it are invalid and must be set aside. In Apartheid, Guns and Money: A Tale of Profit, Hennie van Vuuren describes the relationship between French arms company Thomson-CSF and the apartheid government. The state…

They Killed Dulcie-Bonus Episode: Dangerous Goods

In this episode, we unveil the murky world behind the Danish shipping industry’s pristine façade.

They Killed Dulcie Episode 6: Woman in Exile

In this episode we take a deeper look at the discrimination Dulcie September’s faced and reflect on the experiences of women in the struggle for South Africa’s freedom.

Crime and Corruption

Cape Talk’s Refilwe Moloto speaks to Open Secrets’ Researcher Michael Marchant.

They Killed Dulcie- Episode 5: The Arms Money Machine

For almost two decades starting in the 1970’s the South African embassy in Paris was the centre of a large-scale sanctions busting operation. It was connected to the arms dealers, spies and banks that formed part of the arms money machine. In episode five They Killed Dulcie, we find out if this top secret operation…

#ApartheidBanks: Still Waiting For Justice

Shaazia Ebrahim | A number of international banks funded the apartheid regime and its military through credit. It has been one year since Open Secrets, along with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), demanded accountability from the international banks in Belgium and Luxembourg that financed apartheid. The organisations submitted a complaint to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) National Contact Points (NCPs)…

Apartheid’s banks no closer to facing justice

Tabitha Paine | Lee-Ann Bruce Without the help of European banks, the apartheid government would not have been able to buy arms and continue its campaign of violence and oppression. Between 1977 and 1994, countless people lost their lives while the banks essentially profited from their deaths. What can be done to hold the banks…

Media Statement: Apartheid’s Banks No Closer to Facing Justice

One year after CALS and Open Secrets brought to light evidence that European banks profited from apartheid, no decision has been made on whether to investigate

They Killed Dulcie Episode 4: Prisons of the Past

In the fourth episode of the podcast They Killed Dulcie, the time has come to look at the evidence. What was Dulcie investigating when she was killed?

Tonight with Lester: Dulcie September Podcast

Sound Africa’s Rasmus Bitsch talks to Lester Kiewit about the fourth episode of They Killed Dulcie, Prisons of the Past.

They Killed Dulcie- Episode 3: The Double Agent

In the third episode of “They Killed Dulcie,” we delve into the world of informants and double agents and how the apartheid security forces used them to infiltrate the liberation movements in South Africa and abroad. It remains a sensitive topic in South African politics today – some comrades were also collaborators. Following the assassination…

Tonight with Lester: Dulcie September Podcast

The podcast, They Killed Dulcie has gripped my imagination over the last few weeks. It tries to uncover the mysterious circumstances around the death of the anti-apartheid activist in paris in 1988. In the third episode of “They Killed Dulcie,” the producers Rasmus Bitsch and Neo Rakgajane delve into the world of informants and double…

Doccie asks why Dulcie was killed

Mail & Guardian | Lester Kiewit A new effort is being made to uncover the truth surrounding the 1988 assassination of exiled ANC official Dulcie September in Paris, France. September was gunned down outside the ANC’s Paris office on March 28. She was shot five times in the head with a .22 silenced rifle. To…

They Killed Dulcie- Episode 2: The Spies

The second episode of the podcast series They Killed Dulcie continues where episode one left off. The journey begins in a Parisian suburb, but ends in Johannesburg, where former Apartheid era spy Craig Williamson opens the door to the murky world of espionage. Dulcie’s childhood friend, activist Betty van der Heyden recounts the story of…

They Killed Dulcie- Episode 1: The Scene of the Crime

A new podcast series by Sound Africa and Open Secrets,They Killed Dulcie, draws from research by Open Secrets for the book Apartheid Guns and Money: A tale of profit. This is the first episode of a podcast series about Dulcie September’s life and assassination. The first episode begins in Cape Town in the 1930s, and ends…

Bank at heart of Gambian tyranny

Hennie van Vuuren | Khadija Sharife | Mark Anderson Yahya Jammeh once said he would rule the Gambia for “one billion years”. His rule proved somewhat shorter — he lost the presidential elections in 2017 after 22 years in power. Since then, a massive clean-up of Gambian institutions has begun. But the cost of his…

Tonight with Lester: Dulcie September Documentary

In 1988 in Paris five bullets ended the life of Cape Town-born liberation movement activist Dulcie September. Why was she killed? Who profited from her murder? These are the questions being asked in a new pod cast documentary series, brought to us by anti-corruption lobby group Open Secrets, and produced by Sound Africa. The new…

Civil Society Working Group: Resisting the looters who stole our human rights

Media Statement| CSWG | 21 March 2019 The struggle against State Capture and corruption in South Africa is a struggle for human rights. This is why the current revelations at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture (the Zondo Commission) are important – they lay bare the various networks of looters in the public and…

Stolen Pensions

Refilwe Moloto speaks to Open Secrets’ Researcher Michael Marchant this follows on the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s directive to all pension fund administrators to urgently get cancelled pension funds reinstated by the courts if they found that they had been erroneously deregistered before 1 April 2018.

Lifting the lid on economic crimes

Wendy Trott | Luminate | 20 March 2019 | Over the last few years, South Africa has been made painfully aware of the economic and social consequences of corruption. In 2018 Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index assigned South Africa an index of 43 out of 100, ranking them 73 out of 180 countries (those with…

A first step towards justice for South African pensioners

Between 2007 and 2013, more than 6,000 pension funds in South Africa were cancelled in a process littered with errors and oversights. Today, Open Secrets has written to five of the country’s largest pension fund administrators to demand swift action to reinstate pension funds that have been incorrectly cancelled. This is the first of many…

they killed dulcie podcast trailer

Watch the trailer for our podcast series with Sound Africa: They Killed Dulcie.

Ramaphosa’s Investment Drive, For Whom?

South Africa’s history is one of rapacious profit-taking by corporate elites at the expense of South African people and its environment. Whether it was the Dutch East India Company, Anglo-American and De Beers, or Lonmin, the rules of the game have for too long been set to enable extraction and profit-taking that has entrenched gross…

State of the Nation Address 2019: Time to Get Serious About Economic Crime

8 February 2019 State of the Nation Address 2019: Time to Get Serious About Economic Crime An important focus of President Ramaphosa’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) was on the Commissions of Inquiry that have the potential to finally tackle high level corruption in the private and public sector. This includes…

Auditor General drawn into Armscor’s R8bn covert-deal battle

An international arms trader, in relentless pursuit of alleged unpaid commission going back to the 1980s, now wants the Auditor General of South Africa to release apartheid-era records to boost his civil claim against the state arms procurement agency in Portugal.

A message to Armscor: Come clean about apartheid secrets and help save R8bn

A large shipment of 50 ‘Super Puma’ helicopter ‘kits’, sent to South Africa from French arms company Aerospatiale via Portugal, was typical of apartheid-era covert sanctions-busting deals. Now that news has broken that a Portuguese arms trader wants his R8bn commission for the deal, isn’t it about time to free the apartheid archive, open the…

How apartheid poisoned the world

Peter Hain | The Spectator | 15 December 2018 Most people would claim to abhor apartheid, but London, Washington, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv were all in on the act. Around 1970 I was labelled ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ by white South Africa’s newspapers for leading militant anti-apartheid protests which stopped all-white…

Justice still needed for poverty-stricken pensioners after deregistration blunder

“I have saved enough to retire peacefully. But now I will turn in my grave because I will die in poverty.” This was said by Douglas Maila, a member of the Unpaid Benefits Campaign, at a protest outside Alexander Forbes demanding that it pay pensioners the benefits they are owed. Maila’s experience of contributing a…

Banks called out over Gupta heists

The widespread looting and corruption by the Gupta family and its associates were enabled not only by political individuals but also by banks and other financial sector institutions

Looting secrets and shady tactics of banks and auditors revealed in hard-hitting report

Steve Kretzmann | Daily Maverick |15 November 2018 The looting of the VBS Bank may be astounding to struggling South Africans, but it is merely a symptom of a banking and auditing system that skirts the law in order to fleece the poor and enrich the rich. This is revealed in a a new report…

CECR Vol.1| The Bankers

The report begins by outlining the role played by international banks in supporting the apartheid state, both through the facilitation of illegal weapons trades and the continued provision of loans and capital despite international recognition of apartheid as a crime against humanity. It also considers the impact on democratic South Africa in repaying these odious debts.

Apartheid, guns and money: book lifts the lid on Cold War secrets

Martin Plaut | The Conversation | 30 October 2018 It’s not very often that a book really reshapes our perception of an issue, but Hennie van Vuuren’s “Apartheid, Guns and Money: a tale of profit” is one. It is a massive work: over 600 pages and the result of a decade of meticulous, painstaking work. Read the…

Cape Talk – The John Maytham Show- Apartheid, Guns and Money

Radio 702 – Afternoon Drive- Apartheid, Guns and Money

SABC News-Apartheid Guns and Money

SABC News – Morning Live

South Africa needs a way of dealing with private sector crimes

The People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime has the potential to reshape the trajectory of how we conceptualise economic crime and the role of the private sector. South Africans have been staggering through multiple exposés on private and public sector corruption over the past few months alone, be it allegations of looting of public funds by…

European Banks Called To Answer For Apartheid Crimes

Fatima Moosa | The Daily Vox | 25 April 2018 From 24 to 27 April, civil society organisation Open Secrets along with the University of Witwatersrand’s Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) will take a complaint to banks in Belgium and Luxembourg regarding their apartheid economic crimes. They are demanding accountability from the international banks that have financed apartheid.…

Court order could bankrupt South African History Archive

Ra’eesa Pather | Mail & Guardian | 03 April 2018 | A high court judgement has left the South African History Archive (SAHA) reeling following a cost order which could put the organisation out of business. Protecting and preserving historical records, particularly those relating to the apartheid regime and activism against it, has been the…

People’s Tribunal To Open Floodgates On Capture, Corruption And Economic Crime

Marc Davies | Huffington Post | 02 February 2018 | Crimes of the “rich, powerful and politically well-connected” in South Africa, beginning Saturday, will come under intensified scrutiny as civil society groups rally to ‘join the dots’ in the country’s story of capture and plunder. Organisations including Open Secrets, Corruption Watch, Right2Know and the…

Hennie van Vuuren On Absa: Be Careful Of The Bounty Hunters

Amil Umraw | Huffington Post ZA | 21 June 2017 | An expert on apartheid-era looting says South Africans should be wary of bounty-hunters. Hennie van Vuuren, Director of Open Secrets and the author of “Apartheid Guns and Money: A Tale of Profit” says it must be remembered that the Public Protector’s Ciex report on the…

Opportunity – Research Position (Advocacy & Investigations)

Are you an advocate for social justice, accountability and transparency? Are you keen to work with a small team of researchers and civil society activists? Open Secrets is hiring a researcher focused on advocacy and investigations to join our small team. Open Secrets is a non-profit organisation working on issues of economic crime and the…

Update: Blow to Apartheid’s Banks

Joint press release by Open Secrets and CALS UN Independent Expert weighs in on OECD complaint, and NGOs challenge conflicts of interest in Belgian decision-making body A heavy blow has been dealt to two European banks at the centre of the apartheid-era international arms money machine. The implicated banks are KBC Group (previously Kredietbank) and…

FACTSHEET: Holding Apartheid’s Banks Accountable

If you want some more information about Open Secrets and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies’ recent OECD complaint laid against Kredietbank (now the KBC Group) and its subsidiary in Luxembourg, read our useful factsheet below.

United States Agencies Stick with Secrecy on Apartheid Crimes

Today the United States celebrates its “Freedom of Information Day”. It is supposed to provide an occasion to focus on issues of public access to information and transparency in the US government. Given the extensive capacity of United States agencies, particularly their intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the US possesses considerable information about the…

Press Release: SAHA goes to court to access apartheid-era records

Why, after more than two decades of democracy in South Africa, is the apartheid archive still kept under lock and key?

The Public Protector’s ‘Lifeboat’ Report – What’s really going on?

The Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, released a controversial report on 19 June 2017 detailing the failure of the South African Government to implement the CIEX report and recover funds from ABSA.

Apartheid Guns & Money

This meticulously researched book finally lifts the lid on some of the darkest secrets of apartheid’s economic crimes

‘Lifeboat’ scandal: An unlikely whistle-blower?

News broke last Friday that the Public Protector’s leaked report into the Bankorp/Absa “lifeboat” scandal dating back to the dying years of apartheid rule called for Absa to repay over R2-billion to the South African fiscus. The public response was cacophonic. Depending on your vantage point, media reports suggested that this was one of two…

Election funding opens door for hijacking of democracy

The municipal elections this year are likely to be the most expensive local polls yet. Political parties are seeking more and more money to finance electoral campaigns, increasing the need to attract private funders. This opens up the space for the capture of politics by narrow private interests, a hot topic when it comes to…

CW and R2K Challenge Seriti Commission

Corruption Watch and the Right2Know Campaign have launched an application to review and set aside the findings of the Arms Procurement Commission

PRESS STATEMENT BY ANDREW FEINSTEIN, PAUL HOLDEN AND HENNIE VAN VUUREN REGARDING THE RELEASE OF THE SERITI COMMISSION REPORT INTO THE ARMS DEAL

Press Statement by Andrew Feinstein, Paul Holden and Hennie Van Vuuren, regarding the release of the Seriti Commission Report into the Arms Deal | 21 April 2016 On the 21st of April 2016, President Jacob Zuma announced the release of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity…

R2K statement on release of Seriti Commission report on the Arms Deal: The whitewash we saw coming!

R2K is angered by the content of the report of the Seriti Commission, presented today by President Zuma, which claims that it found no evidence of corruption and bribery in the 1999 Arms Deal.

Free up information on our past, painful though it may be

A final, calculated act of vandalism by the apartheid state was the destruction of more than six-million pages of documents that had been generated by the state security agencies. Although an important part of our history went up in smoke above the steel furnaces outside Pretoria, a far greater volume of records remains largely untouched…

Corporate looters need our ire as much as state pilferers

Like many South Africans, I hear a lot about the growing “lawlessness” in SA. The strongest proponents are often people who have emigrated. It is mentioned in many contexts, but it is increasingly used at home and abroad to criticise corruption in government. Isn’t it sad, the story generally goes, that resources are lost and…

No fear in following the money – a Tunisian lesson for South Africa

The people of Tunisia, the northernmost African country and epicentre of the recent Jasmine Revolution, conducted a peaceful election a few weeks ago, which has gone unnoticed by many South Africans. Situated on opposite ends of the continent, South Africa and Tunisia face similar social problems, such as high levels of youth unemployment and similar…

Inquiry puts whistle-blowers on trial

The arms companies have successfully avoided scrutiny at the Seriti Commission, essentially putting the whistle-blowers and critics on trial.

Ariel Sharon, apartheid South Africa and mutual military interests

The death of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has renewed debate about his legacy, but there’s been little on its South African component. Even among Israelis, Sharon has long been a controversial figure. A career soldier, considered a brilliant strategist, but one with a history of insubordination, he brought to both his military and…

Response to Tony Leon: When politicians dabble in half-truths

In a recent Business Day article, former DA leader Tony Leon argues that, despite the brutality of its system, the apartheid political elite had better accountability than we see today. Time, it appears, may both heal wounds and erase memory. In his recent Business Day column, Mr Leon makes an argument that falls into an all-too-common…

The Good Old Days? 8 ‘Crony Capitalist’ Case Studies

In another post, we’ve responded to recent claims that public accountability has eroded in the post-apartheid period. Whatever the current problems facing South Africa, we argue that there are no ‘better days’ to hark back to. Here are eight corruption scandals under the apartheid system that remain ‘open secrets’, for which no meaningful action has…

Marc Rich, apartheid’s most important sanctions-buster

There has been a stream of obituaries for Marc Rich, infamous billionaire, sanctions-buster, and one-time “King of Oil”. But these obituaries cannot tell the full story: we are still piecing together his true legacy [UPDATE: This article was republished by The Daily Maverick] Probably the most successful oil trader of all time, Marc Rich’s true…

Wikileaks: The curious case of the Rhodesian sanctions buster

The huge batch of cables released last month by Wikileaks, dating from the 1970s, is a goldmine for researchers of power and profit in South Africa. But some of the stories we found in the cables are as frustrating as they are fascinating.

What you need to know about investigations of apartheid corruption

Despite evidence that political corruption may have been rampant during apartheid, there has been a surprising lack of political will to investigate “If there was corruption during Apartheid, why didn’t anyone hear about it?” A common and obvious question, with more answers than you might think. One answer is that people who lived through apartheid often did…

Why we must tackle power and profit in South Africa – from Apartheid to Zuma

In order to fight corruption in South Africa, we must first understand it – and acknowledge its secret history at the centre of South African politics and business. It is no secret that South Africa has a problem with corruption. At every level of our society, in the public sector and in the private sector,…