Public Protector probes 325 cases in province

PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is currently investigating 325 cases in the Western Cape, with maladministration the most reported complaint.

In a report, Mkhwebane said of the 325 cases being investigated as of May 7, maladministration accounted for 147 complaints and service delivery for 135 complaints. Her office was investigating 13 corruption cases.

According to the report, 111 cases involved local municipalities, with the City recording the most number of complaints with 62 cases being investigated.

Fifty-seven investigations involved provincial departments, with the Human Settlements department recording the most complaints

Mkhwebane confirmed meeting the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) Masizole Mnqasela on Wednesday saying it was part of their annual roadshow.

“The provincial legislature has powers to ensure all provincial executive organs of state accounts to it and the oversight. We brought to his attention 14 reports, two of these have been fully implemented, three not implemented yet and three partially implemented and four taken to the judiciary. The speaker was also informed about the current workload of 325 cases. We then indicated that we want to cooperate with the speaker in terms of following up and make sure the executive is held to account to implement the reports.”

She said they were intending to educate the public about being their own liberators which is the pillar to the public protector vision 2023.

“Most complaints that are lodged with the public protector relate to failure and undue delays to render services to communities and unresponsive public service. Internal audit must look beyond compliance.”

Mnqasela said: “There is nothing that we can do for the people without the people themselves.

“We discussed how the WCPP can improve the relationship with the Office of the Public Protector as a chapter nine institution, to enable them to do their work and investigate issues that are brought before them, to leverage on this relationship.

“We also discussed putting systems in place to help reduce the time it takes them to investigate these matters.”