Public Protector addresses Nkomazi
communities
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Public Protector Adv Thuli Madonsela on Wednesday
expressed a concern over the limited number of service
delivery complaints brought to her office by communities in
Mpumalanga.
Speaking at Kamhlushwa township outside Malelane, the
Public Protector told locals that only 994 complaints had
been received in the province during the 2010/11 financial
year. She said this was not reflective of a province that
was home to 3.6 million people.
She said her office was making efforts to comply with the
constitutional injunction to be accessible to all persons
and communities.
The Public Protector also dispelled perceptions that her
office only focused on conduct failure and maladministration
cases involving high profile government leaders, indicating
that such matters amounted to a fraction of her caseload.
“Contrary to popular belief, matters concerning ordinary
people make up a lion’s share of the more than 16 000 cases
I deal with on an annual basis,” she said, adding that such
matters included delayed and denied services relating to
identity documents, housing, social grants, unemployment
insurance fund and pensions.
The Public Protector called on communities to lodge
complaints as early as possible to avoid suffering
unnecessarily. Often, she said, people waited for years
before approaching her office with complaints.
“When they finally bring their grievances to our
attention, we resolve them in a short space of time but at
that point the person has already endured a lot of misery,”
she explained.
Among the issues raised by communities was accessibility
of the Public Protector’s services and need for satellite
offices. Locals complained that the institution’s only two
offices in the province, which are located in Nelspruit and
Siyabuswa, were far and this made it difficult to lodge
complaints. The Public Protector assured communities that
plans were afoot to alleviate the problem.
Other key issues raised by the community included
complaints over identity documents and welfare concerns of
undocumented people who’ve been in the country for years,
confiscation of property by police, at the borders,
management of land reform, social grants.
The event formed part of a two-month nationwide
stakeholder consultative process launched on 12 July under
the theme “The Public Protector Dialogues with the
Nation.”
The process aims to solicit feedback on the Public
Protector’s work and foster a common understanding of the
institution’s mandate and role, focusing on the importance
of implementing remedial action.
This is for purposes of ensuring administrative justice
by organs of state in respect of service failure and
exacting accountability in the exercise of state power and
control over public resources.
For more information, contact:
Oupa Segalwe
Manager: Outreach, Education and Communications
Tel: (012) 366 7035
Cell: 072 264 3273
Email:
oupas@pprotect.org
www.publicprotector.org
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