Maladministration and its role in causing poverty and poor health service provision will take a centre stage when Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela visits the Western Cape next week. The Public Protector will be in the province as of Monday, 22 July 2013.
The visit is part of her office’s on-going stakeholder consultative dialogue which aims to help strengthen government’s ability to deliver on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations. Improving health and reducing hunger and poverty are among the eight MDGs our country committed to achieve by 2015.
The critical areas under the microscope are infant mortality, management of healthcare facilities (such as hospitals and clinics), quality of care, resources, procurement, working conditions of staff and other general health issues. During her two-day stay in the province, the Public Protector will engage with various stakeholders, including members of provincial legislatures, government, traditional authorities, civil society, political parties, organised women groupings and the general public. She will also conduct an unannounced site-visit to some of the identified healthcare facilities to interact first-hand with healthcare professionals and patients.
The Public Protector’s first stop in the province will be in Cape Town on Monday where she will interface with students of the University of Cape Town (UCT) on “The Role of Students in creating a society of active citizens. She will be part of a panel which will include among others Editor in Chief of City Press newspaper Ms Ferial Haffajee and Deputy Vice Chancellor of UCT, Prof Crain Soudien.
The Public Protector will then proceed to Paarl on Tuesday where she will have a public hearing with communities on health problems they are experiencing in their area. The visit will be concluded in a formal stakeholder meeting with chief executives from public hospitals, academics, provincial executives and representatives of the health sector NGOs in Cape Town on Wednesday. At the meeting, the Public Protector will report to the provincial executives on the people’s complaints she would have received in Paarl on Tuesday.
The focus of this year’s dialogue is informed by the complaints the Public Protector has been receiving and newspaper reports on the current state of affairs in health facilities such as hospitals and clinics. There have also been sporadic complaints from health caregivers such as doctors. While recognising the excellent work done by the Department of Health, the public hearings seek to reinforce that work by focusing on trends in maladministration, which have resulted in three systemic investigations the Public Protector is currently conducting on infant mortality, procurement and other health-related complaints raised during 2012 Stakeholder Consultative Dialogue.
While the dialogue main focus is on health, members of the public will also have an opportunity to discuss other issues relating to any service or conduct failure by organs of state.
The meeting with students will take place as follows:
Date: Monday, 22 July 2013
Venue: UCT Middle campus, Wilfred &Jules Kramer Law Building Lecture Theatre One
Time: 17h00
The outreach event will take place as follows:
Date: Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Venue: Paarl East Thusong Service Centre, Paarl, Western Cape
Time: 10h00
The formal stakeholder event will be held as follows:
Date: Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Venue: City of Cape Town Chambers, Podium Block, Cape Town
Time: 10h00
Both events are open to the media and members of the media can confirm attendance with Mr Oupa Segalwe on 072 264 3273 or by mail to oupas@pprotect.org or Mr Salvation Mokgatlhe on 079 031 5589 or by mail to salvationm@pprotect.org
Official #hashtag for the event #publicprotectorstakeholder2013
For more information, contact:
Kgalalelo Masibi (Ms)
Spokesperson: Public Protector South Africa
Tel: 012 366 7153
Cell: 079 507 0399
E-mail: kgalalelom@pprotect.org
