Problems and Purpose

In 2016, South Africa experienced systemic state capture under Former President Jacob Zuma’s administration. In 2018, the Zondo commission was appointed to investigate state capture by President Zuma and the Gupta Family, a wealthy family who immigrated to South Africa in 1993 (Momoniat, 2023, n.p). State capture refers to the process of obtaining, or capturing, state regulatory authority without authorization (Bracking, 2018, p.170). It involves either private individuals, a combination of politicians and private actors who manipulate state institutions and regulatory processes to advance their own interests. The Guptas, secured major contracts in State-Owned enterprises like Eskom, Transnet, and South African Airways redirecting billions of rands in public funds. By 2018, when Zuma resigned, public trust in government financial management had collapsed. According to (Martins and Solomon, 2016, p.21), “the country was falling apart internally and externally. Exports and commodity prices had decreased, while the economy had shrunk by 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2016. The unemployment rate was 26.7 per cent, while political power was perceived as a means to extract financial benefits from the state.”

Despite this crisis, or perhaps in response to growing public scrutiny, South Africa made significant progress in enhancing formal transparency in the budget process. The Open Budget Index (OBI) survey, conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) assesses the availability of eight key budget documents in each of the 115 countries evaluated. It also examines the effectiveness of oversight provided by legislatures, independent fiscal institutions, and supreme audit institutions, as well as opportunities for public participation in national budget processes. ( South African Government, 2018, n.p). In 2017, South Africa ranked first out of 115 countries, a position shared with New Zealand (Vulekmali about, n.p). Then Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba applauded this achievement, noting that “ South Africans should be proud of this recognition, which entrenches the country’s reputation as a global leader in fiscal transparency. This evidenced by the extensive budget information that is published for public analysis and scrutiny” (South African Government, 2018, n.p).

However, this high ranking reflected the technical availability and quality of budget documents rather than the integrity of budget execution. State capture occurred not through a lack of published information, but through the manipulation of procurement processes, irregular appointments and ignorance of oversight rules issues that budget document availability could not prevent. As MacLaren (2025,p. 56) notes, “the devil is in the detail, and since the OBI, is an international survey, it only looks for high level budget information that could (or should) be available in every country.” Furthermore, at the provincial and local government level, access to budget information is much patchier, with no guarantee that citizens can find annual reports or budgets of provincial departments. The OBI also identified areas for improvement in public participation.

Recognising these limitations and in response to both the allegations of state capture and the OBI’s recommendations for improvement, particularly regarding public participation, the government took concrete steps toward greater accountability. Minister Gigaba acknowledged this urgency, stating, “As Julius Nyerere once said, ‘we must run while others walk.’ The government has demonstrated its resolve to confront allegations of state capture and corruption through the judicial commission of the Hawks, Asset Forfeiture Unit and other agencies. ( National Treasury, 2018 ). In this concert, Minister Gigaba further noted that, “line departments can introduce mechanisms for members of the public and officials to exchange views on budget matters in terms of implementation (SA News, 2018). It was in this context that Vulekamali was introduced as a digital platform aimed at moving beyond documents publications towards meaningful public engagement with budget information and enhancing trust in public financial management.

The emphasis on meaningful participation is not new in South Africa. For participation to be effective, citizens must be able to engage with and shape public decision-making. Under Section 195 (1)(e) of the Constitution states that “people’s needs must be responded to, and the public must be encouraged to participate in policymaking" (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). In 2006, the Constitutional Court made it clear that public involvement in parliamentary processes is an essential requirement in South Africa’s democracy. (Doctors for Life International v Speaker of the National Assembly, 2006). Since 2014, National Treasury’s budget reform agenda has focused on eliciting greater public input regarding the national budget. As part of this effort, the Vulekamali South Africa online budget portal was introduced as a method to ensure that everyone living in South Africa has access to national and provincial governments.

Background History and Context

Vulekamali emerged from South Africa’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international initiative founded in 2011, where government leaders and civil society advocates came together to create unique partnerships that combine these powerful forces to promote transparent, participatory, inclusive, and accountable governance (OGP, n.p). As members of the OGP, each government is required to submit action plans outlining specific commitments. South Africa’s second OGP commitment focused on Open Budgeting, which required the involvement of civil society throughout the budget process, from planning to implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. In view of this commitment to improving budget transparency, participation and oversight, the national treasury committed to pursuing, "expansion of participation and empowerment of civil society in the budget process, in partnership with other civil society organisation, including more data on the financial information of government” ( National Treasury, 2018, n.p).

The National Treasury, working together with civil society organisations, took on this responsibility and partnered with Imali Yethu, a civil society organisation. The launch of Vulekamali was on 20 February 2018 in parliament Cape Town. The name is in Isixhosa and was chosen through a naming competition. Unlike other transparency approaches that usually emerge from citizens demands or right-based movements, Vulekamali represents what (Aiyar, 2010) describes as an “invited space”, institutionalized spaces where citizens are invited by the state, often “backed by legal and constitutional guarantees, to participate in governance processes (Aiyar, 2010, p.204). Rather than citizens demanding access, the government proactively created this platform to make budget information visible and accessible. The intention is to ensure citizens not only see how funds are allocated but also to understand the budgeting process and are able to participate more effectively. Vulekamali provides information in a comprehensive, accurate, up to date manner. It also allows users to interact with the information and provide their own interpretation. The portal also has the added benefit of providing the public with a trustworthy source of information about opportunities for participating in budget discussions including relevant parliamentary hearings (National Treasury, 2022, p.3).

The project followed a four stage development process which later they succeed in every stage ensuring there is collaboration between government, civil society and technical experts to ensure citizens are aware of budgets.

Stage 1: All existing budget information from the National Treasury and data from civil society organisations were gathered and put into one shared system people could work together with (Vulekamali about, n.d)

Stage 2: Additional economic information was included such as local and international data like GDP figures and data from the IMF ,which were linked to national debates for easier access (Vulekamali about, n.d)

Stage 3: Information about how government departments perform including procurement and project data from bodies like the Departments of planning, monitoring an evaluation ( DPME) and data the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), was added (Vulekamali about, n,d)

Stage 4: Tools were developed to show budget information on maps, allowing users to see where funds are going across national, provincial and municipal levels and by different sectors. (Vulekamali about, n.d)

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

Lead organizer: National Treasury

The National Treasury is the main primary organizer of Vulekamali. It is responsible for initiating and overseeing the project’s development and implementation. As the government institution mandating budget transparency, the national treasury’s role extends beyond mere funding to include strategic direction, policy alignment, and ensuring the platform meets legislative requirements for financial management.

Civil Society Partner: Imali Yethu

Imali Yethu is a coalition of civil society organizations working with the South African National Treasury to make budget information more accessible, user-friendly and empowering (Imali Yethu, n.d). As the civil society partner, Imali Yethu plays a crucial role in organizing and coordinating the civic engagement activities that connect communities to the platform. Their mandate is to “ contribute to the iterative development and sustainability of the online budget portal (Vulekamali) by facilitating and coordinating inputs from civil society during development of the portal and prioritizing inputs from marginalised groups” (Imali Yethu, n.d).

Technical Development Partner: Open Up

Open Up is a civic technology organization with a goal to inform, empower and activate citizens. Their mission is to use data and technology to promote informed decision-making in order to drive positive social change (OpenUp, n.d). According to (Vulekamali, n.d), “an open tender process was undertaken to secure a service provider to support the implementation of the project. In keeping with the partnership approach. The tender was awarded to OpenUp. The official project commencement date was 4th August 2017.”

Supporting Structure

To coordinate the development and implementation of the platform effectively, a Project Steering Committee and an Operational Working Group were established. The Steering Committee provided strategic direction, while the Working Group offered operational support to ensure smooth execution. The Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) played a key role in offering project and management support throughout the process. (Vulekamali, about, n.p). This structure reflects the extensive planning and coordination required to build and maintain Vulekamali, involving collaboration between government institutions, civil society organizations, and civic technology experts.

Participant Recruitment and Selection

Vulekamali is a fully open access approach with no barriers to entry. The platform requires no registration, it is freely accessible to anyone with internet connections. This kind of a design intentionally lowered barriers to participation reflecting the platform’s commitment to democratic access to budget information. However, while technically open, actual participation was shaped by digital access, literacy and awareness factors.

Methods and Tools Used

Vulekamali has adopted an agile approach / methodology, one of iterative development in rapid cycles that allows data to be made in a phased manner. According to (Vulekamali,n.p), “the agile development principles encourage active ‘user’ involvement throughout the product’s development and serve to ensure the data provision is responsive to user needs.” This approach was chosen because making accessible complex budget data into accessible, actionable information requires more than technical expertise. It demands ongoing collaboration with end- users who understand community needs and constraints. Vulekamali addresses this challenge by employing co-creative engagement methods that combine digital and physical spaces

Hackathons serve as collective problem-solving events where participants from diverse professional backgrounds work in small teams to interrogate datasets, build visualizations, and develop innovative advocacy tools. According to (Imali Yethu, 2017, n.p), “The budget Hackathons assembled participants with a wide array of skills ( Technical and otherwise) and the problem solving abilities, with the ultimate goals of exploring solutions to budget analysis and advocacy problems. Participants are encouraged to work in teams to determine and identify solutions to problems emanating from the Dataquests. These events invite developers, data analysts, journalists and civic activists through open calls, being together mixed teams of people with different skills. The goal is to combine technical expertise with specialists who understand budgets issues and community needs. This teamwork helped to create a strong collaboration between technical skills and real-world knowledge.

Dataquest are structured as feedback and co-design sessions that bring together platform users, communities, civil society organizations, communities, universities working towards transparency. These sessions create spaces for developers and end-users to identify challenges, discuss data priorities, and collaboratively shape feature development based on the actual user needs rather than technical assumptions.

Civic information drives organized in partnership with local civil society networks, take engagement beyond the digital space by targeting specific provinces and municipalities to build awareness and capacity. These drives recruit community members, local government officials, students, and civil society activists through multiple channels including social media platforms ( Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), partner organizations websites, community networks and word of mouth, and educational institutions. For example, the Free State drive in Bloemfontein (July 2019) demonstrated this multi-channel recruitment approach (Imali Yethu, 2019). These drives aim to make budget processes easier to understand and help citizens use the platform to speak up for their communities.

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

Stage one (Version, 1-3, launched February 2018): Foundation and initial Engagement)

The foundation stage established the portal’s core functionality, making Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) and Estimates of Provincial Revenue and Expenditure (EPRE) documents and datasets publicly available through the website. During this stage, two Hackathons were held in Cape Town and Johannesburg where participants worked with data available through the Vulekamali API. Three DataQuests were conducted in Tshwane, Cape Town, and Mbombela to understand user needs and direct portal development. A series of civic information events in Mpumalanga introduced communities and local governments to the project and conducted workshops on budget analysis and advocacy (Vulekamali, n.d)

Stage two ( Version 4): Expansion and provincial outreach

Building on user feedback from stage one, version four added local and international economic data, updated ENE and EPRE datasets, and introduced explanatory guides on budget documents in direct response to user requests. Homepage and departmental budget pages were improved based on feedback. Three civic information drives were held in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, with each province hosting both a Dataquests and a hackathon to ensure comprehensive engagement and feedback collection (Vulekamali, n.d)

Stage three ( Version 5): Transparency Enhancement and Education

A key feature of this stage was the introduction of a Procurement Guide designed to answer citizens' questions about the government procurement spending. Three educational videos were released, bringing the total to seven videos covering various aspects of budget literacy. Based on the steering committee assessment of user feedback, the platform added in-year monitoring information, improved FAQs and learning resources, and enhanced infrastructure project information. Three civic information drives were conducted in Free state, Limpopo, and North West Province, continuing the pattern of provincial capacity building and feedback collection (Vulekamali about, n.d)

Stage Four (Version 6): Geospatial Innovation and Crisis Responsiveness

A major advancement in this stage was the geospatial representation of budget information by province and municipality, allowing users to visualize budget allocations geographically. A guide to understanding government planning and performance management was developed. When South Africa experienced a national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform demonstrated its adaptability by adding a dedicated section on the R500 billion coronavirus response package announced by the President. A supplementary budget summary page was added to help citizens find and understand this emergency budget information demonstrating the platform’s capacity for rapid responses to urgent information needs during national crises ( Vulekamali about, n.d)

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

One of Vulekamali’s key achievements is providing open and unrestricted access to budget information covering nearly 70 national and 17,000 provincial infrastructure projects (Vulekamali, n.d). For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Vulekamali launched a dedicated section on the R500 billion coronavirus response package, demonstrating how open budget data can increase government accountability during crisis situations. By making this emergency funding visible and traceable, citizens and civil society organisations could monitor how resources were allocated to access different sectors and provinces.

One of Vulekamali’s biggest successes has been its ability to reach thousands of citizens through the portal itself, but also through in-person events. Hackatons, Dataquest and Civic information events have been held in all nine provinces over the past two years, and the team has engaged directly with more than 2000 South Africans (Open Up, n.d)

However, while the platform successfully provides data, on ground participation has been more limited. Civic information drives have often reached fewer communities than intended, Voices from inside the Vulekamali projects that help reveal how the platform’s civic engagement strategies are experienced on the ground. In discussion with Innocent Mngomezulu, an intern at the National Treasury and Mbekezeli Benjamin of Equal Education Law Centre, about whether the civic information drives achieve their purpose of introducing communities to Vulekamali:

Innocent: “Definitely! Especially on the Vulekamali portal part. I think providing more information on how to utilize the information on the portal would be very helpful to the public.” ( Open Up, n.d)

Mbekezeli: “I think it was achieved but there is plenty of room to improve. I think the volume is shared, and the short space of time in which it was shared, did not not allow people to get a firm introduction to Vulekamali and its purpose ” (Open Up, n.d)

Analysis and Lessons Learned

The collaboration with the National Treasury and Imali Yethu can be understood through participatory governance theory, which focuses on shared power and collective decision-making between the state and civil society. Ansell and Gash (2008, p. 544) define participatory governance as “a governing arrangement where one or more public agencies directly engage non-stakeholders in a collective decision-making process that is formal, consensus oriented, and deliberative and that aims to make or implement public policy, or manage public programs or assets.” However, Vulekamali also represents an “invited space” as mentioned previously. Unlike claimed spaces where citizens can demand and create their own accountability mechanisms, invited spaces are government-created and government-controlled. The government determines what information is shared, how citizens can engage, and whether their input influences actual decisions.

Vulekamali's effectiveness must be understood within its dual context: as both a genuine transparency initiative and a legitimacy-restoration exercise following state capture. The platform successfully addressed the information gap identified by the OBI, but questions remain about whether it addresses the accountability gap that allowed state capture to occur despite high transparency rankings. Analyzing through Arnstein’s ladder (1969), Vulekamali operates primarily within the middle rungs of Arnstein’s which consists of informing, consultation and placation. The platform effectively informs citizens by providing accessible budget data and consults them through hackathons, Dataquests, and civic information drives. Citizens can voice concerns and provide input, but they do not have actual control over budget allocations or spending decisions. As (Arnstein, 1969, p.216) argues, "participation without redistribution of power is an empty and frustrating process for the powerless. It allows the power holders to claim that all sides are considered, but makes it possible for only some of those sides to benefit.”

The question of who can actually participate in Vulekamali exposes structural exclusion that can limit its democratic and public participation potential. According to (Tsarchopolous et al, 2014, p. 104), “digital tools and platforms are essential enablers, they allow local authorities to establish new communication channels with citizens, organizations and companies so that they are engaged in governance in various ways.” The lack of registration in the portal means there is no systemic way to track how many people are using the platform or whether their contributions shape government decisions. Information alone does not guarantee meaningful engagement. Introducing a voluntary registration system could help collect data on user activity and identify features most used, which can offer strong evidence of the platform’s impact since its 2018 launch. This would strengthen both transparency and accountability while moving participation towards higher rungs of Arnstein’s ladder. Digital divide can also limit the portal’s aim, rural communities often lack access to internet connectivity and the necessary infrastructure. The main question is whether a transparency tool made by the same government can truly change how things work or if it is meant to make the government look more trustworthy after the state capture. Vulekamali has not yet reached the higher rungs of Arnstein's ladder where citizens exercise shared decision-making power over budget allocations. While it successfully informs and consults, the critical question remains: Can a transparency tool created by the same government implicated in state capture truly transform accountability, or does it primarily serve to restore legitimacy? The platform's evolution from consultation toward genuine participatory governance will determine its long-term impact on South African democracy and public financial management.

See Also

References

Ansell, C. & Gash, A., 2008. Collaborative governance in theory and practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18(4), pp.543–571.

Aiyar, Y., 2010. Invited Spaces, Invited Participation: Effects of Greater Participation on Accountability in Service Delivery. India Review, 9(2), pp.204–229.

Arnstein, S.R., 1969. A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), pp.216–224.

Bracking, S., 2018. Corruption & State Capture: What Can Citizens Do? Daedalus.

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Chapter 10: Public Administration. https://www.justice.gov.za/constitution/chp10.html

Doctors for Life International v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others, 2006. CCT12/05, 2006 ZACC 11. Constitutional Court of South Africa. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2006/11.html

Imali Yethu, 2025. News and Events. Available at: https://imaliyethu.org.za/news-and-events/

International Budget Partnership (IBP), 2017. Open Budget Survey 2017.

Available at: https://internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey

Martins, M.E. & Solomon, H., 2016. Understanding the phenomenon of ‘State capture’ in South Africa. Southern African Peace and Security Studies, 5(2), McLaren, D., 2021. Basic Education Rights Handbook, 2nd ed., Chapter 2: Funding Basic Education.

Momoniat, I., 2023. How and Why Did State Capture and Massive Corruption Occur in South Africa? IMF PFM Blog, 10 April.

Nam, T. & Pardo, T.A., 2011. Conceptualizing smart city with dimensions of technology, people, and institutions. In: Proceedings of the 12th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research. ACM Press.

National Treasury, 2018. Statement by the Minister of Finance on South Africa’s ranking in the 2017 Open Budget Index. https://imaliyethu.org.za/news-and-events

National Treasury, 2022. NT002-2022: Appointment of a Service Provider(s) to Develop Phase 2 of the Online Budget Data Portal (Inclusive of ICT Technical Development and Integrated Communication) through Extensive Engagement with Civil Society Using an Agile Methodology for a Period of Eighteen Months. Pretoria: National Treasury. NT002-2022 Bid Document

OpenUp, n.d Vulekamali Project.

Open Government Partnership (no date). About Open Government Partnership.

Available at: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/about/

South African Government, 2017. Media statement on the 2017 Open Budget Index Survey.https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/treasury-2017-open-budget-index-survey-31-jan-2018

South African Government News Agency, n.d. Vulekamali portal makes budget more accessible.https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/vulekamali-portal-makes-budget-more-accessible

Tsarchopoulos, P., Tsampoulatidis, I. & Roman, M., 2014. Digital tools for participatory governance. JeDEM: eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government,

Vulekamali, 2018. About the Vulekamali Open Budget Portal.

Available at: https://vulekamali.gov.za

External Links

Open Budget Survey ( International Budget Partnership) Main URL: https://internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey

2017 Survey: https://internationalbudget.org/publications/open-budget-survey-2017/

Participatory Budgeting Porto Alegre (Brazil): Participedia Entry: https://participedia.net/case/5524

Constitution of South Africa - Chapter 10 URL: https://www.justice.gov.za/constitution/chp10.html

Notes