Address by Public Protector Adv Thuli
Madonsela delivered on the occasion of an outreach clinic in
Dimbaza, Eastern Cape
11 March 2010
Programme Director;
Councillors,
Community leaders,
Members of the media,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen;
I thank you all for being here and extend my warmest
greetings to you.
Yesterday I met with various stakeholders in this province.
By stakeholders I mean all constituencies that have an
interest in the Public Protector’s discharge of its
constitutional mandate. Stakeholders include Parliament, the
executive including its administrative apparatus parastatals,
the judiciary, other Chapter 9 institutions, statutory
bodies, state-owned enterprises, provincial administration,
local government, political parties, the media, professional
bodies, trade unions and other civil society entities.
The purpose of meeting stakeholders is to introduce myself
as the Public Protector. I am also using this opportunity to
find out from stakeholders what do they expect from the
Public Protector. Specifically, I am interested in
establishing whether or not our internal interpretation of
the constitutional mandate of the Public Protector is the
same as that of stakeholders. We have also been asking
stakeholders to comment on a draft vision of what we seek to
achieve as the Public Protector over the next ten years.
Today’s meeting has a different purpose. Our focus today is
on the services of the Public Protector. I know that most of
you know a lot about the Public Protector and have
interfaced with this institution for many years. However,
for the benefit of others let me briefly outline what is the
Public Protector, what does it do, who can approach it and
how and what can you expect from the Public Protector?
What is the Public Protector? The Public Protector was
established by the Constitution. It is one of several
institutions established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution to
support and strengthen constitutional democracy. We
ordinarily refer to these institutions as Chapter 9
Institutions. However, each of these institutions plays a
distinct and unique role in supporting and strengthening
constitutional democracy.
Like all Chapter 9 institutions, the Public Protector is
independent and subject only to the Constitution and the
law. The Public Protector must be impartial and exercise its
powers and perform its functions without fear, favour or
prejudice.
The Public Protector is both an institution and a person.
The person, who holds the same rank as a judge of the
Supreme Court, is appointed on the basis of a parliamentary
selection process, which culminates in a National Assembly
vote followed by a Presidential appointment of whoever is
recommended by Parliament.
The Public Protector is accountable to the National Assembly
and must report on activities and performance of functions
to the Assembly at least once a year. No person or organ of
state may interfere with the functioning of the Public
Protector.
What does the Public Protector do? More importantly how and
when can it help who? The Public Protector is mandated by
the Constitution and national legislation to investigate any
conduct in state affairs or in the public administration in
any sphere of government that is alleged or suspected to be
improper or to result in any impropriety or prejudice, to
report on that conduct and to take appropriate remedial
action.
There are two key pieces of legislation that regulate the
operations of the Public Protector. These are the Public
Protector Act of 1994, and the Executive Members Ethics Act.
The powers under the Public Protector Act cover the conduct
of all public authorities except court decisions. The
Executive Members Ethics Act empowers the Public Protector
to investigate all allegations of violations of the Act and
Code by the members of the executive, that is Ministers,
Premiers, MECs etc. Other legislation which include anti
corruption legislation and the Protected Disclosures Act
also recognise the role of the Public Protector with regard
to investigating state action.
What does this mean for you? It means you can approach the
Public Protector anytime you have a complaint regarding
improper or prejudicial conduct of an organ of state or
public official or public office bearer. Even if it is not a
complaint but information or an allegation of impropriety,
you may still approach the Public Protector.
What can you expect from your dealings with the Public
Protector? Firstly it is important to remember that anything
outside of the public sector and decisions of courts are off
limits. Secondly, the services are free. Your complaint or
allegation will be investigated with a view to establishing
if the conduct in question was indeed improper or
prejudicial. My office may decide to mediate, conciliate or
negotiate to resolve the complaint. At all given times, it
is important to us that justice is served.
In the past we focused a lot on the investigative powers.
While continuing to use and even improving the depth of our
investigations, we have consciously decided to harness the
full powers of the Public Protector. Starting from the
fiscal year 2010/11, we will be exhausting all the powers
given to us by law to resolve your complaints in a manner
that ensures justice.
Another area where we have committed ourselves to improve is
that of turnaround times. Never again shall you wait for a
year to be told what is delaying your pension pay out,
social grant or any other service. We will use our power to
subpoena if need be. We have also introduced an early
resolution mechanism to ensure that uncomplicated urgent
matters are resolved within hours, days and weeks.
We are also planning to deepen the rigour of our
investigations to ensure that improper conduct does not go
unsanctioned simply because we could not dig deeper. To
achieve this we are strengthening our specialisation
arrangements. This includes separating simple and urgent
matters from complex matters. We are also revisiting our
investigation and dispute resolution methods, incorporating
more ADR and strengthening our forensic capabilities. Our
efforts towards improving good governance continue. In
addition to systemic investigations we will be engaging in
systemic interventions to ensure that government serves all
people with accountability, integrity and responsiveness.
Systemic interventions seek to respond to systemic
malfunctions that breed poor service delivery and improper
or prejudicial conduct.
I must also mention that the services of the Public
Protector are free. The Public Protector is also
specifically instructed by the Constitution to be accessible
to all persons and communities. We have always tried to be
accessible, through outreach, expansion of offices to
provinces and regions within provinces and through using
accessible language. We plan to do even more to enhance our
accessibility. Our initiatives include expanded awareness
and outreach activities, which will include a Public
Protector Access to Good Governance and the use of
stakeholder avenues to reach our people. The offers of
assistance we have received include the Law Society of this
province, the police in various provinces, traditional
authorities, municipalities and provincial executives. We
plan to take advantage of all these generous offers.
In conclusion, tell us your needs so that we can be of
better assistance to you. With regard to any complaints or
allegations you may have, our mobile service is right here
at the back of this venue. Please approach the desks. On a
day-today basis you may approach the Public Protector
through our toll free line, email, postal mail or visit one
of our offices. Contact details are available on the
information leaflets distributed at the desks I have just
referred to.
Thank you.
Adv TN Madonsela
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