--- title: "From potholes to Parliament: How our stories keep the government accountable" description: "Every article Daily Maverick publishes is measured not only by the truth it tells, but by what the truth changes on the ground for our readers – and everyone else. Here’s our June impact report: tracked, verified and continuing." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY" author: "Daily Maverick Reporters" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/daily-maverick-reporters/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-11-from-potholes-to-parliament-how-our-stories-keep-the-government-accountable/" published: "2026-07-11T19:43:55" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 474 --- # From potholes to Parliament: How our stories keep the government accountable > Every article Daily Maverick publishes is measured not only by the truth it tells, but by what the truth changes on the ground for our readers – and everyone else. Here’s our June impact report: tracked, verified and continuing. By Daily Maverick Reporters · Published 11 July 2026, 21:43 SAST ## Key points - Government Accountability: Daily Maverick’s investigative reporting spurs multiple government actions, including probes and funding freezes, establishing a new standard for transparency. - Emergency Response: Critical articles lead to swift interventions by Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to enhance safety measures on Gqeberha’s deteriorating beachfront. - Pension Fund Exposé: A deep dive reveals R88-billion in public pension fund losses, prompting the DA to demand accountability from the finance minister in Parliament. - Pothole Safety Improved: Following media coverage on hazardous conditions, municipal crews quickly address dangerous potholes, illustrating direct impact on community safety. ## Content **One ministerial probe and funding freeze after Daily Maverick exposes Swimming SA** Daily Maverick’s reporting exposed millions in public funds spent on the Franschhoek High-Performance Centre that sits incomplete and derelict. Three institutions responded: the Special Investigating Unit opened an investigation, the National Lotteries Commission cut Swimming SA’s funding, and Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie launched his own probe. At a May media briefing he said: “I must congratulate Daily Maverick for exposing all of what’s happening there.” **24 hours for a municipality to act on beachfront safety failures** After a series of articles and a scathing column exposing infrastructure decay and security threats along Gqeberha’s beachfront, the Nelson Mandela Bay ­Municipality moved within 24 hours to issue an emergency memo promising streetlight repairs and reinforced security measures. ![P27 impact report](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/BJNOb9rFGP042c_IhZbUtVI20ec=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/2994/27Photo18_178466_908866.jpg) *The roof of a bathroom at Kings Beach has been vandalised. (Photo: Kyran Blaauw)* **Two Johannesburg city accountability wins as civic pressure builds** The ANC Integrity Commission ruled that a Johannesburg member of the mayoral committee has a case to answer on extortion and assault allegations – referring him to a disciplinary committee after Ferial Haffajee filed a report, which was part of a wider ecosystem of media and civil society scrutiny. Haffajee was also among a crowd at a protest outside the abandoned Metro Centre in Braamfontein. Architects, planners and residents demanded accountability for the building’s multibillion-rand drain on the city. **R88-billion in public pension fund losses exposed, launching a formal challenge in Parliament from the DA** Neesa Moodley’s exposé about the Public Investment Corporation revealed that R88-billion in public servants’ pension money was severely compromised in non-performing unlisted investments within its Isibaya Portfolio. Just two weeks after the deep-dive report laid bare how multibillion-rand chunks of deferred wages for teachers, nurses and police officers had been written down to zero, the DA moved to launch a formal statutory probe in Parliament, forcing the minister of finance to face direct scrutiny over weak due diligence and political interference. ![P27 impact report](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/tmkIvlYFQS83Ylt29yNdgO5wKJE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/2994/27GettyImages-1233020754_725688.jpg) *Signage for the Public Investment Corporation on the exterior of its headquarters in Pretoria, as seen on 21 May 2021. (Photo: Guillem Sartorio / Bloomberg via Getty Images)* **One constitutional intervention issued to protect the public service from political overreach** National reporting by Victoria O’Regan and Peter Fabricius uncovered how secretive ANC parliamentary study groups were obtaining direct policy briefings from public servants. After our coverage and cross-party complaints, the Public Service Commission intervened, officially advising state officials that participating in such groups undermines the constitutional values governing public administration. **One pothole made safer** Just two days after Daily Maverick’s Estelle Ellis published an article on hazardous sinkholes and road decay in Gqeberha brought on by flood waters, a municipal crew installed a high-visibility reflective warning chevron at a dangerous pothole on Kabega Road. **DM** *This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.* ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/zuw1prq-7vVMogzW4xjyTBzJMXY=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/2994/DM-100726_244977.jpg)