Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is a registered non-profit Civil Action Organisation, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The anti-corruption advocacy organisation focuses on tackling government corruption and misappropriation of public funds. It is crowd funded by the public and businesses within the Republic of South Africa.[3][4][5][6]

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse
Formation30 April 2012 (2012-04-30)[1]
Founded atJohannesburg
TypeNon-profit company
PurposeAnti-corruption advocacy
Government accountability[1]
HeadquartersUnit 4, Boskruin Village Office Park, Cnr President Fouche & Hawken Road, Johannesburg, South Africa
Region
South Africa
Key people
Wayne Duvenage (CEO)
Revenue (FY 2020/21)
R40.3 million [2]
Expenses (2020/21)R40 million[2]
Staff (2020/21)
44[2]
WebsiteOUTA.co.za

Vision and mission

OUTA's vision is a prosperous South Africa with an organised, engaged and empowered civil society that ensures responsible use of tax revenues throughout all levels of Government.

OUTA's mission is to be a trusted vehicle for positive change, promoting and advancing the South African Constitution and other democratic processes by:

  • Challenging and taking action against maladministration and corruption and where possible, holding those personally responsible to account for their conduct and actions.
  • Challenging policy and the regulatory environment as and when deemed as irrational, unfit or ineffective for their intended purpose.
  • Working with communities and authorities in improving administration and service delivery, within all spheres of Government.

Remaining apolitical, OUTA relies on funding from the public, business and other donor institutions, to perform their work through investigation, research, communication, empowerment and litigation.[7][8] [9][10]

Activities

OUTA has chosen to focus its efforts on the South African government's management of parastatal entities: Eskom, South African Airways, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the South African National Roads Agency. This focus is due to the Auditor-General revealing a fivefold increase in irregular spending from 2007 to 2015, with much of the unaccounted-for expenditure taking place at the subnational level.[11][12][13]

OUTA is currently involved in a number of investigations, many of which centre around those involved in state capture and corruption related to politically connected officials and business individuals.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

History

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 of Gauteng.[1]

Rule of Law Campaign

In 2015 OUTA launched its Rule of Law campaign which undertook to challenge the scheme by launching a crowd funded "eToll Defence Umbrella" to defend road users who defied the scheme, in the event that the South 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 successful civil disobedience campaign that reduced eToll payment compliance from 40% in June 2014 to around 25% by 2020.[20][21][22][23]

Mandate expansion and name change

In February 2016, OUTA changed its name to Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, to accommodate the expansion of its mandate to challenge corruption and maladministration in the South African Government and its state-owned entities.[24]

No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act

In June 2017, OUTA provided insights and proof of state capture and corruption to Parliament by releasing its ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report, which largely implicated the disgraced former President Jacob 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 the Gupta leaks which linked him to state capture.[25]

Treason, fraud, theft and corruption charges

Evidence in the ‘No Room To Hide: A President Caught in the Act’ report lead OUTA to lay treason charges against Public Enterprises director general Mogokare Richard Seleke and Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, fraud and theft charges against Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, and corruption and fraud charges against Malusi Gigaba as the former Minister of Home Affairs. Several commissions of inquiry insured into the officials influence by the Gupta family.[26][27][28][29]

Judicial commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture

In 2018 The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture began its public hearings.

OUTA made its first submission to the Zondo Commission on Monday 17 September 2018.[30][31][32]

Delinquent director

In March 2017, OUTA and the South African Airways Pilots' Association (SAAPA) brought an application in the Pretoria High Court for an order to declare Dudu Myeni a Delinquent Director, based on her conduct and actions during her five-year term as chairperson of the South 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]

See also

References
  1. "OUTA Chairmans Report - Annual General Meeting". OUTA. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  2. "OUTA Annual Report 2020/21". OUTA.
  3. OUTA.co.za, retrieved 5 March 2020
  4. "On behalf of SA". News24. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. "Outa's crowdfunding scheme offers legal defence for e-toll dodgers". 702. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. "Court grants interdict to freeze R1.7-billion Gupta mine rehab funds". Mail & Guardian. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. "Anti e-toll crusader to tackle tax abuse in South Africa". Business Tech. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  8. "OUTA's Wayne Duvenage Shares His Hopes for SA With Wealth Managers". Inn8. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  9. OUTA.co.za Vision & Mission, retrieved 5 March 2020
  10. OUTA.co.za Methodology, retrieved 5 March 2020
  11. "Auditor General says dodgy government spending continues to rise". Times Live. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. "Auditor-General lifts lid on irregular expenditure: It's ballooned to R61.35bn". Daily Maverick. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  13. "AG says new accounting measure caught R2.81bn in irregular expenditure". IOL. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  14. "Outa extends scope – Undoing Tax Abuse. Beyond tolls including nuclear, SAA…". BizNews. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  15. "OUTA lays treason charges against Duduzane Zuma and Gupta trio". News24. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  16. "When seeking transparency touches a nerve, it's time to dig deeper". Daily Maverick. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  17. "Anti e-toll crusader to tackle tax abuse in South Africa". BusinessTech. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  18. "OUTA hands Denel information to State Capture Inquiry". Politics Web. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  19. "Open data and the fight against corruption in South Africa" (PDF). Transparency International Page 12. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  20. "Campaign Not Civil Disobedience: OUTA". NGO Pulse. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  21. "Sanral continues to bully e-toll defaulters – Outa". IOL. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  22. "Test case to decide the fate of e-tolls heads to court". Business Tech. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  23. "Sanral vs Outa: More than 15000 say SA should continue 'to fight e-tolls'". Wheels24. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  24. "Anti e-toll crusader to tackle tax abuse in South Africa". Business Tech. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  25. "No Room To Hide – A President Caught in the Act" (PDF). OUTA. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  26. "IN FULL: No room to hide – Outa reveals dossier to 'seal Zuma's fate'". Times Live. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  27. "Outa takes aim at MPs after giving Zuma 'no room to hide'". Times Live. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  28. "State capture: Zuma, the Guptas, and the sale of South Africa". BBC News. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  29. "Those who should appear before the Zondo commission in the new year". Business Live Financial Mail. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  30. "Outa makes 7 more submissions to the #ZondoCommission". IOL. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  31. "Outa says submits evidence against Transnet to Zondo commission". Engineering News. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  32. "Outa confident Zondo inquiry submissions on Transnet will lead to prosecutions". MSN News. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  33. Dlulane, Bonga. "FORMER SAA BOARD CHAIR DUDU MYENI DECLARED A DELINQUENT DIRECTOR". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  34. "High court declares Dudu Myeni delinquent". mg.co.za. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  35. "DELINQUENT DIRECTOR JUDGMENT Dudu Myeni was prepared to cause 'untold harm to SAA and the SA economy'". dailymaverick.co.za. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  36. "Former SAA chair Dudu Myeni declared delinquent director". fin24.com. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  37. "Dudu Myeni 'failed abysmally', declared delinquent director for life". timeslive.co.za. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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