Address by Adv Thulisile Madonsela
delivered on the occasion of an outreach clinic in
Alexandra, Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Prgramme Director;
Deputy Public Protector Adv Mamiki Shai;
CEO Themba Mthethwa;
Councillors;
Members of the media
Traditional leaders;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Let me start by extending my sincere greetings to all
the people of Alexandra and neighbouring areas. I would also
like to express my appreciation to you for having left
whatever you had planned to do today to be with us.
I deeply cherish the opportunity to interact face-to-face
interaction with one of our biggest stakeholders, the
public.
Before I get into the issues that have brought us here let
me, for the benefit of those who may not know, shed some
light into what a Public Protector is and why such an
institution is important in a constitutional democracy such
as ours.
A Public Protector is established by the constitution to
receive and resolve complaints about conduct and services by
public authorities. By public authorities I mean any entity
that is funded by state funds. This includes municipalities
and State Owned Enterprises.
While in the past the Public Protector focused on its
investigative powers we have decided to shift our focus to
resolving public complaints and promoting good governance in
the public sector by harnessing all powers given by the
Constitution and legislation to the Public Protector.
These powers include investigating, mediating, and
conciliating and taking corrective action to ensure that our
people get redress and not only reports.
The Public Protector is independent of government and
political parties. At the same time, the Public Protector is
not an attorney for the public, but rather more like a
referee who thoroughly looks at both sides of the problem
before making findings and taking remedial action that is
fair and just.
Many of you cannot afford the services of private attorneys
to take government to task in instances where it walks over
your constitutional rights. The Public Protector therefore
offers free services to ensure that government is held
accountable when it violates your rights. The Public
Protector is also there to deal with your complaints
regarding corruption or graft and failure on the part of
state actors to obey the law and any applicable prescripts.
As the Public Protector we have, on many occasions,
stepped-in in instances where government discontinued senior
citizen’s old age grants without providing valid and lawful
reasons and as we stand here today, those who were at the
receiving end of such conduct by the state are now
beneficiaries of such grants again.
We have done the same for those whose applications for
social grants, pensions, houses, identity documents and
passports, among other things, have been unduly delayed
thanks to poor government systems. We have also dealt with
grants or pensions that have been stopped arbitrarily in
violation of administrative justice.
All that the above applicants had to do was visit our
offices, attend events such as this one, call our toll free
line 0800 11 20 40 or write to us. Within the shortest time
possible the smiles were back on most of their faces again.
Even today, you have an opportunity to bring your complaint
against government or report any wrong doing at one of our
stalls at the back of this hall. Our investigators are ready
and waiting to take your complaints.
We are aware that this area of Gauteng has in the recent
past been plagued by violent protests, which in the main,
related to the delivery of housing. We would prefer that
affected communities approach the Public Protector with
their service delivery complaints rather than embarking on
violent protests that result in the destruction of the very
infrastructure we need for the development of our
communities.
While it is understandable that communities get unhappy when
government takes long to deliver on its promises, violent
protests are not necessarily the answer.
Please entrust us with any complaint you have about services
or wrongdoing by public authorities. I will work tirelessly
to ensure that your complaints are addressed without undue
delay.
We also call on you to report any kind of suspected
maladministration and corruption in state affairs. As the
Public Protector we are committed to ensuring that public
authorities are accountable, operate with integrity and are
responsive to the needs of all.
We cannot do so alone. If you see something, do something
and say something. In this regard I am particularly grateful
for the positive role the media plays in exposing issues
that need attention to promote good governance.
This brings me back to the reason we are gathered here
today. We are here to invite you to work with us, to assure
you that we value stakeholder participation in the discharge
of our constitutional mandate.
One of the matters I’d appreciate your feedback on is the
Public Protector Vision 2020, our proposed vision for the
next 10 years. Already we have received valuable feedback on
the draft we have circulated to organised stakeholders since
December 2009. Our proposed vision statement is as follows:
Vision
A trusted, effective and accessible Public Protector
that rights 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 any sphere of government.
Mission
We serve the public in accordance with our
constitutional mandate by rectifying and redressing any
improper or prejudicial conduct in state affairs and
resolving related disputes through mediation, conciliation,
negotiation and other measures to ensure fair, responsive
and accountable public sector decision-making and service
delivery.
Values
- Independence and impartiality;
- Human Dignity;
- Equality;
- Ubuntu and Empathy;
- Redress;
- Accountability;
- Integrity;
- Responsiveness;
- Transparency; and
- Justice and Fairness.
Our core principles are: Accountability, Integrity and
Responsiveness. We have also proposed strategic objectives
for the next three years as the mechanism for ensuring,
among others, that there is prompt remedial action for all
wrongs committed by public authorities and that good
governance generally is achieved in the conduct of all state
affairs.
Accessibility of the Public Protector’s services, which is
specifically stipulated by the Constitution remains our
priority and is part of both our vision and strategy.
I will sincerely appreciate your views on how we can
approach our work in order to help you optimally.
As indicated earlier, we have already shifted our emphasis
to focus on prompt resolution of complaints against public
authorities. Of course investigation remains a key mechanism
but we will give equal attention to conciliation, mediation,
negotiation and any other mechanisms that will ensure that
we right the wrongs of public authorities while promoting
good governance.
I trust that we will have healthy yet robust discussions as
we prepare to turn the tide against improper and prejudicial
conduct by state institutions and expand the reach of good
governance and responsive service delivery.
Thank you.
Public Protector SA, Adv Thuli Madonsela.
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