SA is torn between secrecy and transparency

SA is capable of sustaining two narratives. One, which provoked a Financial Times editorial suggesting the Protection of Information Bill represents the path to Zimbabwe, is cloaked in secrecy. The competing narrative — the one of transparency — was enhanced with the unveiling of the 2010 Open Budget Index, an international survey that measures countries’ [...]

ANSA-Africa hosts series of public dialogues on Extractive Industries and Natural Resource Management

ANSA-Africa hosts series of public dialogues on Extractive Industries and Natural Resource Management as the starting point for targeted in-country action as well as building the foundation for networking across borders towards an Africa-wide movement. The talks are intended to create a platform for sharing of experiences on extractive industries and natural resource management, as [...]

Corruption fight comes under global spotlight

Corruption in Zambia was under the spotlight as the head of Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme, Richard Calland, recently spoke about corruption in the construction sector. Read full article here.

Zuma should play by the rules

“We should not have to be dragooned into setting high standards in public life. We should willingly seek maximum openness about what our public representatives do, and receive.” These words are as true today as they were in 1996, when senior African National Congress member Kader Asmal said them. Intrinsically connected with the advent of [...]

Haiti, debt and IFIs

- By Nancy Dubosse – This week the scarlet letter is worn by the international financial institutions (IFIs). Two weeks ago, the IMF scored some kudos in the realm of public opinion, even among staunch IMF critics, for rescinding an emergency loan of $100 million to Haiti and re-offering it as a grant.  But how [...]

How did Haiti get here?

- By Nancy Dubosse – I appreciate Pat Robertson’s historical analysis on the causes of the earthquake in Haiti.   By all accounts, the Haitian Revolution has everything a great story should have.  It starts off with the search for and struggle over gold, then sugar, then coffee.  There are fascinating military manoeuvres, which occurred in [...]

Eskom – we need a public conversation

By Richard Calland and Gary Pienaar Picking holes in the governance of electricity supply, and energy policy more generally, is like shooting fish in a barrel. Whether it is the development and sequencing of key policy documents, the absence of proper stakeholder consultation, leadership failure, or the lack of clarity about intragovernmental roles and responsibilities, [...]

Making Aid Work

Idasa recently hosted the ‘Southern African Civil Society Consultation Workshop & Multi-Stakeholders Consultation on Aid Effectiveness: Catalysing Broad Implementation Of The Accra Agenda For Action (AAA)’. This was one of a series of workshops on the African continent and around the world. Others have been held in the Philippines and Columbia. These workshops are aimed [...]

Reforming the IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a special agency of the United Nations with 186 member countries, to which it provides policy and technical assistance and funding. The IMF is a core International Financial Institution (IFI) and an influential funding body which has influence over developing countries’ economic and other policies. IFIs are the largest [...]

Why stake the credibility of Transnet on someone with disciplinary charges?

By Judith February There is an ugly spat brewing at Transnet. It’s one which is not unlike some of the others taking place in various institutions across the country where the interests of party and state continue to collide in a messy and undermining way. Transnet has a potentially pivotal role to play in the [...]