Public Protector commemorates Women’s Month

Public Protector Adv Thuli Madonsela has called on women exercising public power to use their positions to advance the course of justice, freedom and constitutionalism in honour of struggle heroines such as the late Albertina Sisulu.

Addressing an event to commemorate women’s month in Polokwane, Limpopo on Thursday, the Public Protector said it was the job of such women to ensure that freedom, justice and human dignity promised in the constitution were not sabotaged by waste of public resources through incompetence, selfishness, greed or corruption.

She said there was a growing tendency to use public power to advance certain people’s selfish interests or of those close to them. “It is our time to act and not ‘our turn to eat’ [but] this is not meant to discourage women’s economic empowerment,” the Public Protector explained.

She said the footprints of Sisulu and many others provided a plan for a life that was not about advancing their course but rather about leadership that advanced the course of all humanity with special focus on the poor and marginalised.
Women’s demands, the Public Protector said, had always transcended own selfish interests and focused on justice for all. This could be traced back to the 1954 charter of women’s rights.

She said in her role to exact accountability in the exercise of public power, her office gave priority to “bread and butter” complaints concerning ordinary people such as women and the elderly. Such cases included delayed or denied access to foster care, disability, old age and child grants.

The event culminated the Public Protector’s three day stay in the province, where she engaged with various stakeholders including government leaders, traditional authorities, civil society groups and the general public. This was as part of her nationwide roadshow dubbed “The Public Protector Dialogues with the Nation.”

For more information, contact:

Kgalalelo Masibi
Senior Manager: Outreach, Education and Communications
Tel: (012) 366 7006
Cell: 079 507 0399
Email: kgalalelom@pprotect.org
www.publicprotector.org