Address by Public Protector Adv Thuli
Madonsela during the launch of Setsi sa Mosadi initiative in
Johannesburg, Gauteng on Saturday, 12 March 2011.
Programme Director
Chairperson of the Khanya College Board Mr Moss Maganyi
Board members of Khanya College
Coordinator of Setsi sa Mosadi Maria van Driel
Women groups present
Representative of various civic organisations present
Ladies and gentlemen
I am honoured to address the launch of such a
ground-breaking initiative.
It is indeed heartening to see the civil society
increasingly taking the initiative to get involved in
programmes that seek to address the plight of women in
pursuit of gender equality.
This occasion could not have come at a better time. Not
only have we recently joined the rest of the world to
commemorate the International Women’s Day on Tuesday, 08
March, we have also entered our National Human Rights Month.
While the International Women’s Day seeks to celebrate
women and their achievements, the Human Rights Month is
aimed at raising awareness about people’s human rights as
enshrined in the Constitution. This is within the context of
appreciating that women’s rights are human rights and that
human rights are indivisible and mutually reinforcing.
Of course, as we all know, Human Rights Month stems from
our National Human Rights Day on 21 March in commemoration
of the 69 people who lost their lives after security forces
of the erstwhile apartheid government opened fire an a crowd
that was protesting against pass laws 51 years ago. We have
come to know that brutal attack as the Sharpville Massacre.
A report released last week by CIVICUS: World Alliance
for Citizen Participation to coincide with the International
Women’s Day noted that women in the African civil society
continued to face major challenges.
According to the report women in civil society in Africa
were particularly prone to intimidation and harassment. It
calls on African governments, regional bodies, the
international community and civil society to do more to
protect women human rights defenders on the continent.
Some of the major challenges faced by women as outlined
in the report included deeply entrenched patriarchal norms
and an increased risk of sexual harassment and violence due
to the nature of their work.
The authors of this document reportedly argued that:
"Even in countries with ratified laws and protocols on
the protection of women's rights, there are clear instances
where government officials and security forces have shown
lack of understanding of these laws, and in some situations,
blatant disregard for them."
As an ombudsman or the Public Protector I have a keen
interest on issues relating to human rights. Globally, not
only do institutions such as my office exist to promote good
governance in the public administration and respect for the
rule of law, they also advocate strongly for the upholding
of human rights.
This raises the questions: How and when does the Public
Protector get involved in issues like these, what powers
does the Public Protector have and who does the Public
Protector help and how are the Public Protector’s services
accessed?
I’ll start with the constitutional mandate of my office.
The Public Protector is established under Chapter 9 of the
Constitution to support and strengthen constitutional
democracy. Section 182 specifically places a responsibility
on the Public Protector to investigate any conduct in state
affairs or the public administration that is alleged to be
improper or prejudicial, to report in that conduct and to
take appropriate remedial action.
The Constitution states that I have additional powers
granted by national legislation to use mediation,
conciliation, negotiation or any other means to resolve or
rectify disputes or grievances against the state.
Two key pieces of legislation are central to the Public
Protector mandate. These are the Public Protector Act 23 of
1994 (PPA) and the Executive Members’ Ethics Act of 1998 (EMEA).
The PPA gives me what is perhaps the broadest and
over-arching powers to investigate the conduct of the state.
This includes all the three layers of government,
parastatals and entities in which the state holds a majority
share.
Anyone can lodge a complaint with me against any of these
state organs and I will investigate provided that the matter
is not older than two years. However, the Act gives me a
discretion to investigate cases older than two years if I
feel that there are compelling reasons to do so.
The EMEA on the other hand gives me powers to investigate
the conduct of the Executive. This includes the President,
Ministers, Premiers and MECs. Unlike the PPA, this Act makes
provision for complaints to be lodged by Members of
Parliament and Legislatures only and that the investigation
should not last longer than 30 days, with the report thereof
submitted to the President.
There are other pieces of legislation that give me powers
to execute my mandate. These include the Protected
Disclosures Act, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt
Activities Act and the Promotion of Access to Information
Act among others.
It is important to mention that I cannot investigate
private persons and entities as well as court decisions.
Also worth noting is the fact that my services are free and
I am constitutionally obliged to investigate matters without
fear, favour or prejudice and that I am independent and
subject only to the Constitution and the law.
Programme Director;
In the Bill of Rights, the Constitution enshrines the
rights to equality, human dignity, life, freedom and
security of a person, privacy, freedom of expression,
citizenship and health care, food, water and social
security, among others.
My office gets involved when organs of state disregard
people’s human rights. I step-in in the event competent
organs of state fail to give the public the assistance they
ought to provide or when they carry out their functions in a
manner that prejudices people or constitutes abuse of power.
In cases of violence on women, we advice victims to report
their cases to organs of state such the police and the
Independent Complaints Directorate, among others. Only if
you do not get joy from such institutions should you
approach the Public Protector for help. Our office has dealt
with a number of cases where victims were failed by
competent organs of state.
For instance, I recently released a report in which I called
for the compensation of a 25-year-old victim of rape, who
had been failed by the justice system after her court case
was postponed 48 times, dragging for eight years.
My office had learned of this woman’s ordeal on 10
December 2008 in a news article published in a national
daily newspaper. The newspaper reported that the woman, who
was 14 years of age at the time of the assault, had reported
the matter to the police in 2000 and eight years on she had
yet to see justice.
Reportedly speaking to the journalist who wrote the said
story in 2000, the victim was quoted as having said:
“Had I known that the justice system would let me down
so badly, I would not have reported the two men who raped
me.”
Due to the seriousness of the allegations, my office
launched an own-initiative investigation into the matter and
found that the acts and omissions of the police and the
prosecuting authority fell far short of the acceptable
standards of good administration in terms of Constitution of
the Republic and this constituted maladministration.
The investigation further revealed that the police,
prosecuting authority and the Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development (DOJCD) did not adhere to the
standards set and prescriptions of the Minimum Standards on
Services for Victims of Crime (Victims Charter), which was
approved by Cabinet on 01 December 2004.
In addition, the probe found that the victim had suffered
prejudice when her constitutional rights to dignity,
equality before the law and the right to, as a child, be
afforded action in her best interest were not respected and
when she was not afforded the protection provided for in the
Victims Charter.
In view of these, I called for the victim to be compensated
and that the compensation be calculated taking into account
the number of postponements and travel and subsistence costs
the victim and her mother, who accompanied her to court
sessions, incurred.
I also called on the competent authorities to issue a letter
of apology to the victim for the delay in the finalisation
of the trial and to implement measures to prevent a
recurrence. The perpertrators have since been jailed and my
office is monitoring the implementation of the remedial
action in my report.
This is one of many examples of how my office resolves
and helps restore the dignity of persons and communities,
who are in a state of hopelessness.
Programme Director
Section 182 (4) of the Constitution calls upon me to be
accessible to all persons and communities. With the little
resources we have at our disposal, we have established
twenty walk-in offices across the country including out Head
Office in Pretoria. We also have a toll-free line, which is
0800 11 20 40.
Our office here in Johannesburg can be found at Women’s
Jail in Constitutional Hill. Contact details for this and
the rest of the other offices can be found in the brochures
distributed at the entrance of this venue by my staff.
We call on communities to make use of the Public
Protector’s services. We promise to be accessible all
persons and communities; provide prompt remedial action on
all the cases we deal with; and promote good governance in
all state affairs.
Our ultimate goal is to see a state that is accountable,
operates with the highest level integrity and is responsive
to the needs of all our people regardless of race, gender,
disability, age, nationality or any other status.
I again congratulate and applaud the opening of Setsi sa
Mosadi Centre. It will go a long way towards helping us to
achieve the vision of an inclusive society where all are
treated with dignity and equal consideration regardless of
gender, race, sexual orientation or any other form of
difference.
Thank you
Adv T.N Madonsela
Public Protector of the Republic of South Africa
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