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Mr/Madam Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, I feel very honoured to be part of this gathering at the request of GMS and to give an overview of the Office of the Public Protector, its successes and difficulties experienced.

Brief of the Office of the Public Protector

1. The Office of the Public Protector is an office provided for in terms of Section 181 and 182 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 108 of 1996, and the Public Protector Act 23 of 1994. It is headed by an independent high level public official who is responsible to the legislature or Parliament. My Office would in international terms be described as an Ombudsman. Different countries have attached different names to this Office of the Ombudsman. For example, Avocado del Populo (Romania); the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (United Kingdom), the Public Complaints Commissioner (Nigeria), Defensor del Pueblo (Spain and Argentina) and the Investigator-General (Zambia).

2. The core function of the Office of the Public Protector is to investigate any conduct in state affairs, or in the public administration in any sphere of government, that is alleged or suspected to be improper or to result in any impropriety or prejudice; to report on that conduct; and to take appropriate remedial action. Also under my jurisdiction is any institution in which the State has the majority or controlling shareholding. To elaborate on my functions, I investigate matters where it is alleged or reasonably suspected that there is:

* Dishonesty or improper dealings with respect to public money.
* Improper enrichment. - Receipt of improper advantage.
* Maladministration which may be categorised under the following subjects:
- undue delay; violation of a human right; abuse of power;
- failure to investigate properly;
- failure to provide adequate information, explanation or advice;
- failure to comply with legal requirements;
- failure to investigate properly;
- failure to take appropriate action;
- failure to compile and keep adequate records;
- taking irrelevant factors into consideration.

3. Complaints may relate:
* to pensions e.g. civil pension not paid out timeously.
* prisons e.g. conditions in prison not adequate.
* tenders e.g. irregularities.
* contracts e.g. state not paying what is due in terms of contracts.

4. The main objectives are:
* to facilitate access to my office by the community;
* to seek equitable remedies for those affected by defective administration;
* to identify systemic issues of defective administration and seek solutions; and
* to provide advice to government on matters.

5. The Public Protector cannot investigate judgements by judges and magistrates; private acts by individuals; private companies; doctors or lawyers who are not working for the State.

6. Our values are impartiality, efficiency, accessibility, professionalism, accountability and confidentiality.

Conducting an Investigation

7. In conducting an investigation the Office operates in a formal and an informal manner. The formal manner includes holding of public hearings e.g. the Central Energy Fund matter I am currently investigating. This is, however, not very often used. Most complaints are dealt with in a rather informal manner of a letter, a telephone call or a visit to the relevant official or department.

Successful completion of investigation

8. I receive excellent co-operation from most institutions under my jurisdiction.

9. I also get excellent responses to the remedial recommendations I make to institutions. The strength of the office lies in the motivation behind the recommendations emanating from it, and I am proud to say that our public administration is mostly sophisticated enough to assimilate sound reasoning and to implement recommendations based on it.

International Relations

10. The Office is a member of the International Ombudsman Institute which has as its aim to promote ombudsmanship world-wide.

11. In August 1996 we, at the request of the International Ombudsman Institute, hosted a workshop for the African region with the aim of training ombudsman office investigators. The theme was "Strengthening Ombudsman in Africa". Resource persons included Ombudsman of New Zealand, Ontario (Canada), the Netherlands and Zambia.

12. The Office has also been honoured by neighbouring countries approaching us to send delegates to learn from us. In March this year two investigators from Lesotho paid the office a working visit. In May this year the Ombudsman from Botswana whose office was established in December 1997 also paid us a working visit. In June this year again, an investigator from Malawi paid us a working visit.

* I am currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the African Ombudsman Centre situated at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
* There is a real possibility that we may host the 7th World Congress of the International Ombudsman Institute in the year 2000.

Utilisation of the Office by the Public and Statistical Overview

13. The Office has proven to be much in demand. This is reflected by the unrelenting growth in the workload ever since I took office in October 1995.

14. In 1995 a total of 1039 complaints were received. In 1996 the number shot up to 2327 complaints received. In 1997 a total number 3320 complaints were received. By the end of June 1998 we had already received 1700 complaints. This explosion of complaints has brought problems in the shape of excessive backlogs and an increase in case throughput times, despite the efforts of the Office's hardworking staff. Whereas I received an average of 105 complaints when I came into office, the number has now increased to an average of 284 incoming complaints per month for 1998. In addition to this my office has to deal with approximately 2000 incoming telephone calls per month. At the end of 1997 more than 3000 cases were carried over to 1998. The fact that we carried over such a huge number of cases still to be completed, obviously does not limit the number of incoming complaints for 1998. Whatever the workload it is not acceptable to cut corners when investigating them. Thoroughness and care are the only way of ensuring that complaints are treated fairly. All this means that the public or complainants have to wait for a considerable period before their complaints receive the attention that they deserve. Currently on average it takes my Office 8,4 months per case to complete an investigation. This period is much too long and has been the subject of ongoing debate between myself and government about the fact that my office is presently seriously under resourced.

Establishment of the Office

15. The present establishment of my office looks as follows:
* Assistant to the Public Protector
* 12 x Senior Legal Administration Officers (investigators)
* 1 x Chief Administration Officer (soon to assume office)
* 1 x Public Relations Officer (soon to assume office)
* 1 x Registration
* 2 x Typists
* 2 x Administrative Clerks
* 3 x Secretaries
* 1 x Messenger

16. Remuneration packages for those posts are equivalent to those paid by Civil Service for similar posts. All posts were created after consultation with the Minister of Finance and the Public Service Commission.

17. The Public Protector Act makes provision for the appointment of one or more persons as Deputy Public Protector. At this stage no appointment(s) has yet been made.

18. We are presently conducting a scientific research for the restructuring of the Office to enable us to get rid of the backlog and not frustrate the objectives of the Public Protector Office. This is being done with the help of the Department of Public Service and Administration. Following hereunder is a brief illustration of the position in my office.

19. i. On 2 July 1998 number of files (representing investigations) in the office were:
* 3151 on desks;
* 661 pending cabinet, and
* 338 with PP and senior staff plus typists 4200 total number of files
* Inflow of work: 1 January 1998 until 1 July 1998 = 1690 cases.
* Backlog therefore is 4200 - 1690 = 2510 cases.

In the scientific study referred to above it has become clear that the number of investigators currently needed is 42~ but there are presently only 12 investigators on the establishment.

19. Last year I requested the Treasury Committee for additional funding to the amount of approximately R 22 000 000 to expand the national office and to establish regional offices. However, amount of funding that will be needed for the expansion of the office in terms of the scientific study referred to above, is approximately R31 000 000.

The budget for the present financial year (1998/99) amounts to R7 438 000.

Problems encountered by the Office

20. The state of public administration in the Eastern Cape Province is of some concern to me. It is the one area in which I have had some difficulty in obtaining co-operation. It seems not so much to be a reluctance to co-operate, but rather an inability to get the administrative act together. About three months ago I visited the Premier and senior officials in that Province in the effort to assist in getting the administration of the Province on track. I am currently negotiating with the Director-General of the Province about setting up a mechanism which is going to facilitate a more effective involvement of my office in that region.

21. Due to the popularity of the Office and the concomitant influx of complaints, it was inevitable that a backlog would result with the finalisation of complaints. When I took up office in 1995, the establishment was geared to deal with 40 incoming complaints per month, with only two investigators on the staff. Further posts were created, but with the perpetual increase in complaints received, the posts created always proved to be insufficient by the time appointments are made. The process of creating further posts on the establishment will be an ongoing one until such time as the incoming complaints reach saturation level and level out. The difficulty in the interim is that it is a lengthy process to establish a proven necessity for further posts, to consult in terms of the relevant legislation, and to advertise posts and screen applications. The result is that a backlog unfortunately builds up in the office. This places tremendous pressure on the office, since one would like to deal with all matters promptly, but due to sheer volume of work, the rate of productivity is slowed down. This problem was aggravated by the fact that the provincial public protectors the interim Constitution made provision for, did not come to fruition in the final Constitution. Unfortunately this led to some negative press reports about the office on two or three occasions, but overall there seems to have been an understanding of the predicament my office found itself in. I am proud to say that due to superhuman effort and dedication on the part of my staff, the backlog is to some extent being taken care of, and most matters except the very newest, have received attention.

22. A disconcerting phenomenon to me is that a few Parliamentarians and Members of Provincial Legislatures do not seem to understand the neutrality of the Office, and that the unwarranted creation of perceptions of bias towards the one or other political party can do the Office of Public Protector immeasurable harm. The successes of this Office have, however, created a positive impression. With just over a year of existence many people have become aware of the existence of the office and the nature of the service it delivers. A further disconcerting factor is that I have not yet been given the funding in paragraph 20 above. My office is grossly understaffed and under-funded. To illustrate the point, I wish to refer to the position of my counterparts in three African Countries:

(a) UGANDA (Inspector General)
Population: 20 million
Staff: 110.

(b) GHANA (Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice)
Population: +/- 18 million
Staff: 420

(c) SENEGAL (Ombudsman)
Population: 7,5 million
Staff: 40

(d) SOUTH AFRICA (Public Protector)
Population: +/-: 40 million
Staff: 24

This situation needs to be rectified as a matter of utmost urgency because this office cannot be a mechanism for a speedy resolution of problems unless it is properly staffed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to thank the staff of the Public Protector's office for their ongoing commitment to provide sensitive, timely and professional service.

Further, I wish to commend those public servants who have worked and who work each day to provide a high quality of service and who co-operate with my staff in solving problems. These are the people who realise that in the resolution of public complaints the quality of government administration is not only scrutinised but enhanced.

Finally, I express gratitude and appreciation to the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa for the privilege of serving as its Officer. However, I cannot over-emphasise the need for Parliament to rectify the situation outlined above by ensuring that the Office of the Public Protector is adequately resourced. It is only the achievement of this goal that would enable it to effectively fulfil its mandate as a cheap, accessible and speedy mechanism for resolution of disputes between public administration and the South African citizenry.

ADV SAM BAQWA, SC
PUBLIC PROTECTOR

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