Breakfast with Outa to discuss current projects
BRYANSTON – Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage discussed how the organisation will be focusing on local government.
Ward 104 councillor, Mike Wood, along with his ward committee, hosted a business breakfast at the Bryanston Country Club.
Wayne Duvenage, the CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), was also present at the breakfast to talk about why the organisation was started and the projects they are currently working on.
Wood said residents who have become involved with community initiatives, including the A Re Sebetseng clean-up’s, have made a significant impact. He added that rather than looking at the many problems the city faced, residents should focus on their wards and the changes that could be made as this would have a greater impact.
Duvenage said civil society played an important role in holding the government to account, and their future plans for the organisation would involve local government. Their aim is to tackle the issues at local government level which has a direct impact on the businesses and communities in that area.
He said while they have been successful in fighting bigger issues, particularly involving the South African National Roads Agency regarding e-tolls, they wanted to direct their attention to local government.
He added that within just a few years they had grown from a three-person organisation to one that employs 43 people including lawyers and researchers.
“If we get more, we will do more. We are a non-profit and we are not politically aligned, so I can assure that if you look back on the last three years and see what we’ve done and where we can be in three years’ time you can imagine the impact.”
Makhosi Khoza, a former member of parliament, will be joining Outa from next month to head up local government investigations.
“If you don’t become an active citizen and get behind organisations like Outa, or any other civil society organisation, there are a lot of good organisations out there, we run the risk of society failing and allowing the government to run roughshod over what is good,” concluded Duvenage.
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Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/150675/councillor-dedicated-to-his-ward/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/147283/ignore-sanral-threats-outa/
