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| Formation | 30 April 2012; 13 years ago (2012-04-30)[1] |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Johannesburg |
| Type | Non-profit company |
| Purpose | Anti-corruption advocacy Government accountability[1] |
| Headquarters | Unit 4, Boskruin Village Office Park, Cnr President Fouche & Hawken Road,Johannesburg,South Africa |
Region | South Africa |
Key people | Wayne Duvenage (CEO) |
| Revenue | R40.3 million[2] (FY 2020/21) |
| Expenses | R40 million[2] (2020/21) |
| Staff | 44[2] (2020/21) |
| Website | OUTA.co.za |
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Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is a registerednon-profitCivil Action Organisation, located inJohannesburg,South Africa. Theanti-corruptionadvocacyorganisation focuses on tacklinggovernment corruption andmisappropriation ofpublic funds. It iscrowd funded by the public and businesses within the Republic ofSouth Africa.[3][4][5][6]
OUTA's vision is a prosperous South Africa with an organised, engaged and empoweredcivil society that ensures responsible use oftax revenues throughout all levels ofGovernment.
OUTA's mission is to be a trusted vehicle for positive change, promoting and advancing theSouth African Constitution and otherdemocratic processes by:
Remainingapolitical, OUTA relies on funding from the public, business and other donor institutions, to perform their work through investigation,research,communication,empowerment andlitigation.[7][8][9][10]
OUTA has chosen to focus its efforts on theSouth African government's management ofparastatal entities:Eskom,South African Airways, theSouth African Broadcasting Corporation and theSouth African National Roads Agency. This focus is due to theAuditor-General revealing a fivefold increase in irregular spending from 2007 to 2015, with much of the unaccounted-for expenditure taking place at thesubnational level.[11][12][13]
OUTA is currently involved in a number of investigations, many of which centre around those involved instate capture andcorruption related to politically connected officials and business individuals.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
OUTA was initially established in early 2012 as the Opposition Against Urban Tolling Alliance, an association of business organisations that grouped together to challenge the South African Government's plan to introduce an urban electronic toll collection,e-toll (South Africa), in the province ofGauteng.[1]
In 2015 OUTA launched itsRule of Law campaign which undertook to challenge the scheme by launching acrowd funded "eToll Defence Umbrella" to defend road users who defied the scheme, in the event that theSouth African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) issued summonses against defaulters. OUTA's campaign challenged Government's claims, exposed public complaints and system weaknesses, which in turn generated a successfulcivil disobedience campaign that reduced eToll payment compliance from 40% in June 2014 to around 25% by 2020.[20][21][22][23]
In February 2016, OUTA changed its name to Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, to accommodate the expansion of its mandate to challengecorruption andmaladministration in theSouth African Government and itsstate-owned entities.[24]
In June 2017, OUTA provided insights and proof ofstate capture andcorruption to Parliament by releasing its ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report, which largely implicated the disgraced former PresidentJacob Zuma.
Leading up to the vote of no confidence in President Zuma in August 2017, OUTA published its ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report, which was a narrative complication of theGupta leaks which linked him tostate capture.[25]
Evidence in the ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report lead OUTA to laytreason charges against Public Enterprises director general Mogokare Richard Seleke andCommunications MinisterFaith Muthambi,fraud andtheft charges againstMineral Resources MinisterMosebenzi Zwane, andcorruption andfraud charges againstMalusi Gigaba as the formerMinister of Home Affairs. Several commissions of inquiry insured into the officials influence by theGupta family.[26][27][28][29]
In 2018The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture began itspublic hearings.
OUTA made its first submission to theZondo Commission on Monday 17 September 2018.[30][31][32]
In March 2017, OUTA and the South African Airways Pilots' Association (SAAPA) brought an application in the Pretoria High Court for an order to declareDudu Myeni aDelinquent Director, based on her conduct and actions during her five-year term as chairperson of theSouth African Airways (SAA) board.
On 27 May 2020 Pretoria High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay declared Myeni a delinquent director and banned her from holding any directorship position for life.[33]
Myeni was ordered to pay all legal costs of the action.[34][35]
The judgement and evidence has been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority so a criminal case can be pursued.[36][37]
