amaBhungane

12/08/2025

We have raised alarms about the Public Procurement Act since 2020, noting its failure to ensure transparency and accountability at every turn. Parliament ignored red flags, rushed the Bill through before the 2024 elections, and the President signed it anyway.

We believe it’s unconstitutional, and we’re challenging it.

Read more here:

It’s unlikely that you’ll open any newspaper or scroll through a news website these days without seeing an article about corruption in a government tender process. Just this week, we read about how the CEO of a state-owned entity (SOE) tried to quash a story by promising a journalist that they c

11/08/2025

PAIA – the law that gives effect to our right to access to information – is a vital cog in our constitutional framework. But it is failing.

Read the article about one company seeking information from the JSE and what it says about our broken accountability systems here:

Five years ago, a small company, Inhlanhla Ventures, was placed in a difficult financial position. It had been investing in shares on the stock market through a broker. As part of their agreement, the broker would provide credit to Inhlanhla to invest – and then hold shares as security for tho

10/08/2025

We refuse to accept that corruption is the cost of doing business with the state.
AmaBhungane is joining legal challenges by the Western Cape Premier and the City of Cape Town against the new Public Procurement Act — a framework that risks entrenching corruption.

https://amabhungane.org/amabhungane-and-bids-to-challenge-the-public-procurement-act/

We believe the manner in which the Public Procurement Act was passed is unconstitutional because Parliament simply did not facilitate meaningful public participation. Our founding affidavit outlines our experience in the legislative process.

Read it here:https://amabhungane.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CCT103-25-RE-CCT-144-25-AmaB-FA.pdf

09/08/2025

In 2020, Inhlanhla Ventures lost money when stock they invested in fell and then rose suspiciously. Suspecting market manipulation, Inhlanhla asked the JSE for information on the trades, hoping that if it showed illegality they could recoup their losses.

The JSE refused the request, citing privacy, confidentiality and the risk of commercial harm. In Information Regulator has preliminarily found that there was no justification to refuse the request. But Inhlanhla continues to wait for a final decision.

This case is just one example of a culture of secrecy in our public bodies which leads to a failure of accountability.

Read our latest advocacy article to find out more:

Five years ago, a small company, Inhlanhla Ventures, was placed in a difficult financial position. It had been investing in shares on the stock market through a broker. As part of their agreement, the broker would provide credit to Inhlanhla to invest – and then hold shares as security for tho

09/08/2025

When a court bars a journalist from asking questions, it’s not just the press that’s silenced — it’s the public’s right to know. This is the story of ARTsolar, a gag order, and why amaBhungane stepped in to defend press freedom.

AmaBhungane is a nonprofit accountability organisation. We lobby, campaign, use the law, and litigate to protect the information rights and media freedoms that are the lifeblood of investigative journalism. See our new series page for past cases and advocacy stories.

08/08/2025

We were on The Money Show with Stephen Grootes last night talking about our article on the lack of transparency at the JSE and why it’s so important for institutions to promote transparency to ensure accountability.

Stephen Grootes speaks to Caroline James, advocacy coordinator at amaBhungane, about concerns that the JSE appears to have an unhealthy fixation on secrecy. ...

08/08/2025

Procurement is ground zero for corruption and state capture — and the new Act treats it as “business as usual”. It hands officials too much discretion, resists transparency, and leans too heavily on Treasury oversight. That’s why we’re heading to the Constitutional Court.

https://amabhungane.org/amabhungane-and-bids-to-challenge-the-public-procurement-act/

07/08/2025

The right to access information held by public bodies is a right enshrined in our Constitution. But many of our public bodies fail to properly engage with and apply the law to requests. Read our advocacy article about a company seeking information from the JSE

https://amabhungane.org/opinion-the-jse-displays-an-unhealthy-obsession-with-secrecy/

04/08/2025

How did a ‘ghost’ company secure a R428-million contract to provide oxygen to hospitals? It was a deal so brazen that government couldn’t ignore it.

Azarrah Karim, the journalist who helped expose the deal, will be on Dan Corder’s show TONIGHT on eNCA at 10pm to unpack it all.

31/07/2025

The conviction and cooperation of a key player and witness in the multibillion cum-ex tax fraud scheme in Germany tightens the noose around Investec Bank, which acknowledges what it calls the “historical involvement” of its employees but denies wrongdoing.

https://amabhungane.org/milestone-conviction-in-cum-ex-fraud-tightens-noose-around-investec/

AmaBhungane previously reported in a three-part series that Investec was involved in facilitating deals where US pension funds were used in similar cm ex scams. This raises urgent questions about the bank’s oversight and accountability in these trades.

Despite repeated requests, Investec has refused to explain publicly its involvement and actions related to the cum-ex trades. Steck’s conviction brings renewed scrutiny and again raises questions about the bank’s role.

20/07/2025

ICYMI: While Johannesburg residents queued with buckets for water, the director of a company awarded a R263-million water tanker tender was spotted in Paris just steps away from Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

https://youtu.be/k7Kj-5X9ZBA

This investigation earned Buyeleni Sibanyoni the Juby Mayet Rising Star of the Year award at the Sikuvile Journalism Awards.

Catch up on both investigations here: https://amabhungane.org/joburg-awards-r263-million-water-tanker-tender-to-two-20-somethings/

https://amabhungane.org/who-got-to-go-to-paris-with-paul-water-tanker-tenderpreneur-joined-deputy-president-mashatiles-france-sa-business-entourage/

18/07/2025

Weeks before Rand Water shutdown in Joburg's water supply and forced residents to queue with buckets, one of the winners of the R263-million water tanker tender was in Paris, just steps behind Deputy President Paul Mashatile.