CoST commissioned a scoping study into the level of transparency, accountability and stakeholder participation in the delivery of public infrastructure in South Africa, with a view to ascertaining the added value of CoST. The scoping study, which was delivered by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC), was carried out through desk-based research and interviews with figures from the government, private sector and civil society. It aimed to identify a number of factors, including:

• How transparency and accountability around public improvement needs to be improved
• Attitudes towards transparency and accountability amongst the government, private sector and civil society
• How the CoST approach to transparency and accountability and its core features of disclosure, assurance, multi-stakeholder working, and social accountability can add value to current systems for procuring and delivering infrastructure.