Address by Public Protector Adv Thuli
Madonsela during the launch of the inaugural Public
Protector Good Governance Week in Mamelodi East, Pretoria on
Monday, 11 October 2010.
11 October 2010
Programme Director, Mr Themba Mthethwa;
Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Hon Lindiwe
Maseko;
MMC for Community Safety at the City of Tshwane, Cllr
Dikeledi Lehobye;
Deputy Public Protector, Adv Mamiki Shai
Public Protector staff;
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me first express my gratitude to the Speaker Maseko and
the Premier of Gauteng in absentia for the messages of
support. It is this very support by organs of state that is
needed to help the Public Protector execute its duties
optimally. I would also like to thank Cllr Lehobye for the
warm welcome.
It is an honour to address this historic event. The campaign
we are launching here today marks the first Public Protector
Good Governance Week, a focus week on the Public Protector
that we plan to host annually.
Through this campaign, we aim to enhance public awareness
of the Public Protector’s mandate, role and services. This
is in pursuit of the constitutional mandate to be accessible
to all persons and communities. The messages will also
promote the idea of good governance as the opposite of the
maladministration and improper conduct in state affairs that
the Public Protector is mandated by the Constitution and the
law to correct.
Some in our midst may be wondering who and what this Public
Protector is and why should it be their business to know the
Public Protector?
The Public Protector is an independent officer and
institution established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution to
support and strengthen constitutional democracy by holding
government accountable for service and conduct. This is done
by investigating any conduct in state affairs or in the
public administration in any sphere of government that is
alleged or suspected to be improper or result in any
impropriety or prejudice, reporting on that conduct and
taking appropriate remedial action.
In simple terms my role is to right administrative wrongs of
the state by resolving complaints regarding service failure
and other forms of improper conduct by the state.
Several laws enable and give the Public Protector specific
powers and responsibilities regarding correcting service
failure, maladministration and abuse of state power and
resources. These include the Public Protector Act of 1994 (PPA),
the Executive Members Ethics Act of 1998, the Protection and
Promotion of Access to Information Act of 2000 (PAIA), the
Protected Disclosures Act of 2000 (PDA) and the Prevention
and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004 (PCCA).
Anyone can complain to the Public Protector about government
services or conduct. The Public Protector will resolve the
complaint through various means, which include
investigating, mediation, conciliation, negotiation and
remedial action where appropriate. The services come free of
charge.
I would also like to assure you that in dealing with
complaints, as the Public Protector I am independent,
impartial and my actions are subject only to the
Constitution and the law. I exercise my powers and functions
without fear, favour or prejudice. All this is spelt out in
the Constitution.
Programme Director;
As an institution, we’ve spent the past year analyzing the
Public Protector’s constitutional mandate and improving the
alignment of our vision and operations with the
Constitution.
The outcome is a vision that sees the Public Protector’s
main role as righting administrative wrongs of the state by
resolving each complaint and where appropriate ensuring
remedial action while facilitating long term systemic change
in the state with a view to promoting good governance.
The new vision, accordingly, is:
“to be a trusted, effective and accessible Public
Protector that rights administrative wrongs and consistently
acts with integrity to ensure fair, accountable and
responsive decision-making, service and good governance in
all state affairs and public administration in all spheres
of government”.
Flowing from this vision, we have made the following three
specific promises to the people of South Africa:
-
To be accessible to and trusted by all persons and
communities;
-
To deliver prompt remedial action
-
To promote good governance.
My office has every intention of living up to these promises
and the public is encouraged to monitor progress and provide
feed-back. Already we have made changes in the
organizational structure and organization of work with a
view to delivering service efficiently, effectively and
responsively while using our limited resources in a smarter
way.
Ladies and gentlemen;
When I assumed office a year ago I promised to give priority
to bread and butter matters that impact on poverty and
people’s enjoyment of the constitutionally guaranteed
socio-economic rights. Part of the reorganization of our
work and structures was to ensure that these matters are
dealt with through an early resolution mechanism. This takes
from a couple of hours to three months.
I am pleased to report that my office has speedily unlocked
a lot of social grants such as pension, child and disability
grants; government employee pension pay-outs; UIF pays outs;
Workers Compensation pay-outs; IDs; municipal service
failures; and unpaid contract fees for small businesses
contracting with the state. The joy of complainants each
time remedial action takes place is priceless for the teams
in my office.
Just the other day we were celebrating the recovery of a
child grant for a complainant in Mthatha that had been lost
through corruption and fraud involving health, Home Affairs
and SASSA officials. We also recently had a community in
Cape Town that was so grateful for a collaborative
intervention with the Department of Home Affairs that saw
many residents documented for the first time in their lives.
It still causes me a lot of pain to observe that most of our
people do not know about the services of the Public
Protector. Many only approach my office after years have
lapsed, even after 5-10 years. This presents problems
regarding information and remedial action. One of the
objectives under the new vision is to ensure that people
know about all about the help they can get from the Public
Protector and seek its services immediately when they reach
a dead end with organs of state.
We also want people to trust my office with confidential
information about corrupt activities as envisaged in the
Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and the
Protected Disclosures Act. The Public Protector’s role
regarding good governance is not only to correct
maladministration and service failure but also to promote
integrity in all state affairs. This mandate comes from a
combination of the Public Protector Act and the Prevention
and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
Unfortunately, due to our limited human resources, we are
still struggling to balance the speed and thoroughness of
investigations. It is our aim and commitment that no
administrative wrong or improper conduct in any organ of
state should take place with impunity just because my office
was not able to dig deep enough. To address this we’ve asked
for more resources from government while reorganizing
ourselves and work to achieve specialization and enhance our
investigation skills.
We are also appealing to organs of state to respond
expeditiously when my office asks questions. Without
cooperation by organs of state the Public Protector cannot
fulfill its constitutional mandate and commitments. We are
currently busy finalizing Public Protector Rules similar to
but more informal than rules of court, to strengthen
cooperation by organs of state and witnesses while enhancing
the transparency of our processes.
Another commitment we have made is to be accessible to and
trusted by all persons and communities. This is ordered by
the Constitution. The Public Protector Good Governance Week
forms part of our efforts to give effect to this commitment
and constitutional injunction. During this week we hope to
reach all those among the 48 million people in this country
that need to know about the Public Protector and its
services.
The Public Protector Focus Week commences today 11 October
with launches in all provinces and runs until Friday 15
October 2010. The activities include various community
visits and related outreach exercises in all the provinces.
We also have a Good Governance Conference taking place at
the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria. Organised in collaboration
with other oversight agencies and the Commonwealth, the
conference will be held under the theme: “Understanding
the Roles of Democratic and Oversight Institutions in
Promoting Good Governance in South Africa”.
I urge members of the public to participate in all the
activities that form part of the Public Protector Good
Governance Week. This is an opportunity to know more about
the Public Protector and to give feed back about its work in
the last 15 years. We will also be taking complaints in many
of the outreach activities, including today.
I also urge community members who have complaints about
government services or conduct to make use of our services
by taking advantage of any of the avenues we have made
available for lodging a complaint or reporting on conduct.
These include our Toll Free line: 0800 11 20 40; visiting
the nearest Public Protector office; Attending one of our
clinics or outreach activities or lodging a complaint or
reporting improper conduct using our website at
www.publicprotector.org.
In the same vein, I appeal to organs of state to cooperate
during investigations and implement my findings so that we
respond promptly to distressed members of the public.
May I also take this opportunity to thank all stakeholders
for playing their part in facilitating the work we do to
correct service failure and other forms of maladministration
while promoting good governance and state accountability.
I particularly wish to single out the media for relentless
reporting on the activities of my office. The regular
reporting not only contributes to the accessibility of our
services but also promotes dialogue on the role and
operations of the Public Protector as an institution
supporting constitutional democracy. The media is also an
important source of leads on some of our investigations.
I thank all of you once more for your support of this event
and continued support of my office. Please help us to reach
as many as possible of the 48 million in the country during
the Public Protector Good Governance Week and beyond..
At the end of the programme, I encourage those with
complaints to approach our tables at the back of this hall.
Investigators are there to help with the filling of
complaint forms.
Pamphlets can also be collected at the same tables to learn
more about the Public Protector and share that information
with others.
Let us continue to work together to promote good governance
with a specific focus on achieving a state that is
accountable, operates with integrity and is responsive to
all its people..
Thank you.
Adv Thuli N Madonsela
Public Protector South Africa
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