Address by Adv Thuli Madonsela on the
occasion of a stakeholder consultative meeting in
Bloemfontein, Free State
17 February 2010
Programme Director;
Deputy Public Protector Adv Mamiki Shai;
Mayors present;
Councillors;
Government officials present;
Representatives of Professional Bodies present;
Members of the media;
Traditional leaders;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Allow me to start by extending my warmest greetings to all
of you who have seen it befitting to take time off your
tight schedules and be here with us today. We are grateful
for that.
We are aware of the fact that this meeting coincides with
the tabling of the National Budget Speech in Parliament this
afternoon and perhaps that may be the reason some could not
make it here. However, I would like to convey my sincere
appreciation to you for coming.
For us as the Public Protector, a meeting of this magnitude
is of paramount importance. We believe that, in order to
fully deliver on our constitutional mandate, we ought to
involve you, our valued stakeholders, from the onset.
Having been recently appointed Public Protector, it made
sense for me to embark on a national stakeholder
consultation process early in my term of office so that we
bring you on board as we plan for the period that lies
ahead.
This meeting therefore presents me with an opportunity to
introduce myself as the new Public Protector and engage you
on the Public Protector Vision 2020 with a view to solicit
your comments and inputs.
This is also a platform for me to establish the expectations
of this collective from me as the Public Protector and
discuss co-operation between us to improve the
responsiveness of the Public Protector.
Programme Director;
I believe most of the people gathered here know who we are
and what we are about. However, before going deep into the
issues that have brought us here, allow me to briefly shed
some light on our role and mandate for the benefit of those
who may be hearing about us for the first time.
The Public Protector is an institution established in terms
of Chapter Nine of the Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa, 1996. This institution receives and resolves public
complaints on conduct and services by state organs.
With powers to investigate, mediate, negotiate, conciliate
and take corrective action, the Public Protector exists to
ensure that there is an accountable and responsive public
administration.
This institution is independent of government and political
parties and therefore our mandate is executed impartially
without fear, favour or prejudice.
While we take complaints from the public, it should be made
clear that the Public Protector is not an attorney for the
public. Instead, the Public Protector just walks the middle
ground to ensure that there is a just and fair governance by
the state.
This means that, should our investigations reveal no wrong
doing on the part of the state, we will say so the same way
we do when the state is at fault.
Information at our disposal shows that this part of South
Africa is not immune to the service delivery challenges
experienced elsewhere in the country.
Complaints we frequently deal with here relate to, among
others, delays or no response regarding appeals since the
Supreme Court of Appeal is situated in this province. The
delivery of basic health care, particularly shortages of
medicine, makes up most of the complaints we receive from
the public.
There appears to be a problem within the local government
sphere. We are informed that two local municipalities have
already been placed under administration. Other complaints
relate to the delivery of low cost housing, roads, water and
sanitation.
As the Public Protector, resolving some of the pressing
service delivery complaints is a challenge considering the
unsatisfactory co-operation from some of the government
departments here.
We hope that during the discussion session in this
afternoon’s programme, we will be able to come up with
solutions to these problems so that we can live up to our
aims of ensuring an accountable and responsive delivery of
services by the public sector.
Importantly, I would really appreciate your feedback on the
Public Protector Vision 2020, which is our proposed vision
for the next 10 years. We have already received valuable
feedback on the draft we have circulated to some of you
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, prompt remedial action for all wrongs
committed by public authorities and that good governance
generally is achieved in the conduct of all state affairs. I
believe you all have copies of these in the packages
supplied.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that we will
have fruitful deliberations this afternoon and that all our
effort will bear fruit by way of putting smiles on the faces
of the South Africans we serve.
I thank you.
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