Open letter to the President: Make sure emergency spending is not wasted or stolen

A coalition of civil society organisations warns that the Covid-19 emergency increases the risk of corruption and supply chain failure in South Africa. They call for the government to involve civil society in monitoring, publish detailed expenditure reports for the R500-billion stimulus and Solidarity Fund, and utilize the Auditor General and the Special Investigating Unit to prevent the 'looting and capture' of emergency funds.

• The authors express grave concern that the R500-billion relief package is vulnerable to corruption as funds are distributed across various government tiers and municipalities, noting that "tracking expenditure becomes more complex" and risking the "diversion, looting and capture of funding".
• The letter cites several immediate examples of suspected waste and corruption during the pandemic response, including a "R37-million" fence at the Beit Bridge border post, "controversial purchasing of blankets at R22-million in KwaZulu-Natal", and a "R160-million e-learning contract" in the Eastern Cape.
• The signatories argue that current emergency procurement processes lack transparency, which "enhances these risks" of corruption and supply chain failure, potentially further eroding citizen trust in the state.
• The document proposes a comprehensive set of oversight measures, including the use of the eTender Publication online portal for real-time monitoring, accepting the Auditor General's offer to monitor spending, and supporting a national proclamation for the Special Investigating Unit to pursue Covid-19 related corruption cases.

APA

Public Affairs Research Institute (2020). Open letter to the President: Make sure emergency spending is not wasted or stolen. https://pari.org.za/open-letter-to-the-president-make-sure-emergency-spending-is-not-wasted-or-stolen/

Chicago

Public Affairs Research Institute. Open letter to the President: Make sure emergency spending is not wasted or stolen. 2020. https://pari.org.za/open-letter-to-the-president-make-sure-emergency-spending-is-not-wasted-or-stolen/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Public Affairs Research Institute |title=Open letter to the President: Make sure emergency spending is not wasted or stolen |date=24 May 2020 |url=https://pari.org.za/open-letter-to-the-president-make-sure-emergency-spending-is-not-wasted-or-stolen/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{publicaffairsresearchinstitute2020open, author = {{Public Affairs Research Institute}}, title = {{Open letter to the President: Make sure emergency spending is not wasted or stolen}}, publisher = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://pari.org.za/open-letter-to-the-president-make-sure-emergency-spending-is-not-wasted-or-stolen/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }