Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

This session discussed the possibility of other countries, such as South Africa and Uganda, joining the EITI. By sharing experiences of discussions held with the governments of these countries, the delegates tried to identify what must be done to speed up their acceptance, and implementation, of the EITI.

With regard to South Africa, several meetings on the EITI have been held with key South African ministries (Planning and Finance) but the perception that the EITI is only intended for corrupt third world countries is preventing South Africa from signing up. The conference delegates agreed that it was important to try and secure South Africa’s participation because there were a lot of complaints about the behaviour of South African mining companies in other Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states.

In South Africa, rigorous regulations are in force. Indeed, another reason why South Africa has not wanted to adhere to the EITI until now is because it feels that it already has the best management systems, audit mechanisms and controls in place. But it is still worth continuing to promote the EITI in South Africa – and the International Secretariat should continue to support these efforts.