South Africa Mid-Term Report 2016-2018 – For Public Comment

We invite you to comment on the Independent Reporting Mechanism’s Year 1 Progress Report for South Africa’s third action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen.... The two-week public comment period closed on 27 February 2018.

In early 2018, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... published the Year 1 progress report for South Africa’s second action plan. The report covers the first year of action plan implementation: July 2016 through June 2017.

In South Africa, the findings from the IRM researcher,  Tracy-Lynn Humby are summarized below:

“South Africa’s third national action plan addressed a range of issues including public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are..., budget transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and access to government data. While most commitments were substantially completed, civil society expressed concerns about the overall lack of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... and the recent transition of OGP leadership. Moving forward, the government needs to clarify the mandate and structure of the national OGP coordinator, engage civil society in a more inclusive way and enhance openness in high risk areas, such as budget spending and public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t....”