PPSA takes EC community cries to provincial leadership's desk for action

The establishment of an ethics committee that advised the Premier on ethics and governance in the Eastern Cape could be helpful in assisting the province deal with some of the systemic challenges the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) has highlighted in its report focusing on the state of service delivery in the province, Adv. Kholeka Gcaleka has said.

 

She was speaking during a meeting between the PPSA, Eastern Cape Premier Mr. Oscar Mabuyane and members of his executive council in Bisho on Wednesday, 6 March 2024.

 

The Public Protector told the provincial leadership that some of the challenges the institution noted in its investigations were systemic and of an ethical nature. She advised the province to take steps to conduct aggressive training in the areas of governance and focus on ensuring that they achieve clean governance rather than clean audits.

 

The Public Protector noted that clean audits were a step in the right direction but they meant nothing if the conditions of people on the ground were not changing. The PP told the meeting that clean governance was essential towards ensuring that service delivery on the ground was effectively and efficiently availed to the communities across the province.

 

Speaking to the thorny issues that threatened clean governance and its benefits, Adv Gcaleka highlighted the problematic trend of recycling officials across the various levels of public service. The PP indicated that a failure to attend to this led to a situation where those who would have committed maladministration at a particular municipality are given the same role at a different municipality. This trend, the PP opined, creates difficulty in the efforts geared towards achieving clean governance.

 

Speaking to other issues that were brought to her attention by various communities and stakeholders during her visit in the province, Adv. Gcaleka laid bare the struggles of public healthcare workers at the Dora Nginza hospital in Zwide, Gqeberha. The issues of policing, water, clinics and others in the area of Walmer as presented to the PPSA on Tuesday, were also brought to the attention of the Premier and his cabinet.

 

Centralisation of posts which appeared to lead to a delay in the filling of critical posts such as those of cleaners at the hospital, was also highlighted by the PP as an issue that needed urgent attention. The Public Protector welcomed an improved cooperation in terms of PPSA and various portfolios in the province regarding the implementation of the remedial action. This, the PP observed, was a step in the right direction towards collectively resolving some of the challenges the province faced.

 

 

She indicated that the PPSA had a specific focus in the province and aimed to ensure that systems had been properly fixed before it focused on the next province. The meeting was part of  series of dialogues the PPSA has had with stakeholders in the province since Monday. Premier Mabuyane welcomed the engagement with the PPSA and the frankness of the discussions saying it was important for making democracy work for the people of South Africa .

 

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