Programme Address by Public Protector Adv
Thulisile Madonsela delivered on the occasion of an outreach
clinic in Galeshewe, Northern Cape
23 February 2010
Programme Director,
Deputy Public Protector Adv Mamiki Shai,
CEO Themba Mthethwa,
Councillors,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen;
I would like to extend my warmest greetings to all the
people of Galeshewe and neighbouring areas. I sincerely
appreciate the fact that you have responded to our invite in
the matter that you have.
I want all of you to know that your presence here means a
lot to me and that, as one of the Public Protector’s most
valuable stakeholders, I’m truly grateful for the
opportunity to interact face-to-face with you.
I am here firstly to introduce myself to you as the
newly-appointed Public Protector and to ask for your
comments and inputs in our vision for the next ten years,
which we call the Public Protector Vision 2020.
Other important objectives of this exercise are to build
public trust and good relations as well as establish what
your expectations are regarding services rendered by the
Public Protector.
But as we go along, one may pose questions to say: Who is
this Public Protector, who does she protect the public from,
how does she do all that and why?
The Public Protector is one of the institutions established
in terms of Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of
South Africa. This institution receives and resolves
complaints from the public that have to do with the conduct
and services by public entities.
The Public Protector has the power to investigate, mediate,
negotiate, conciliate and take remedial action to ensure
that all state components are accountable and responsive to
the needs of all.
I also deal with complaints regarding alleged or suspected
corruption or graft and failure on the part of state actors
to obey the law and any applicable prescripts.
In short, the Public Protector habours the aspirations of
all persons who look up to the state for the provision of
basic services and expect a good administration of public
funds and assets.
As the Public Protector, I’m independent of government and
political parties and therefore carry out my
responsibilities impartially without fear, favour or
prejudice.
While I receive complaints from the public, I am not really
an attorney for you. I am merely more like a referee, who
scrutinises both sides of the problem to ensure accountable
and fair governance by the state. All this we, together with
other Chapter 9 institutions, do to support our
constitutional democracy.
As it is, many of you cannot afford the services of private
attorneys to take government to task if it disregards your
rights. I am therefore here to make you aware of the Public
Protector’s free services that have, to date, brought back
smiles to many people’s faces.
We have helped many people, who experienced undue delays in
the processing of the applications for housing, identity
documents and social grants among others.
If you or somebody you know is battling with similar
problems, all that you need to do is visit our offices,
attend events such as this one, call our toll free line 0800
11 20 40 or write to us. We will strive to resolve the
problem within the shortest time possible.
Even today, you have an opportunity to lodge your complain
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 accessibility to the Public Protector
here, like in other provinces, is a challenge. However, we
continue to put more effort to try and reach out to all
persons in this province. For example, my office here holds
six events like this one in different areas of the province
every month to try and reach as many communities as
possible.
Programme Director;
Geographically, the Northern Cape is the biggest province in
the country with ironically the smallest population.
However, communities in this province are scattered, making
it quite difficult to reach them.
For example, for our Kimberley office to reach communities
in Calvinia and Springbok, we have to cover a distance of
about 800 kilometers for just a single trip. Even though, we
do conduct clinics in such areas, this distance puts these
communities at a disadvantage. This challenge is receiving
our undivided attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would really be grateful to get your
feedback on the Public Protector Vision 2020 I referred to
earlier. It reads 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.
In addition, we are guided by three main pillars namely
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.
In conclusion, let me express my gratitude again for your
response. I trust that through our discussions, a lot of
positives will be yielded so that we realise the ideal of an
accountable and responsive public administration.
Thank you.
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