Public Protector is an insurance of our democracy: Deputy Public Protector
Public Protector and other institutions supporting constitutional democracy were South Africa’s insurance of its hard earned democracy, Deputy Public Protector Adv. Kevin Malunga said on Tuesday.
He was addressing the annual South African Insurance Conference held at Sun City, near Rustenburg on his office’s contribution to ethical South Africa. The conference was attended by over 1200 delegates from at least 24 countries.
The Deputy Public Protector said such insurance was provided through managing the risk to the country’s constitutional landscape through oversight over state affairs for maladministration and corruption.
He said his office acted as a conscience of the state comparing it to a Makhadzi in the Venda culture.
Adv. Malunga warned that if public resources and constitutional value system of the constitution were not respected, governance in the country would decline and other key sectors such as the economy would also decline.
He told the delegates that according to investigations done by his office the country was losing too much money to fraud and corruption arguing that this money could have been used to build much needed infrastructure such as schools and better public health facilities.
“To fight this problem,” Adv. Malunga said, “we need to come together as government and the private sector as no one can win this fight alone.”
The Deputy Public Protector said there was an urgent need to develop a transversal code of conduct to help curb ethical shortfalls in how those in the public sector conducted themselves.
Taking cognisance of the international nature of the conference, Adv. Malunga observed that if the country was allowed to decline the rest of the continent would also decline.
He implored the private sector to support and strengthen measures that promoted ethical governance because maladies that defined bad governance including corruption were a bilateral affair between the state and the private sector.
Adv. Malunga called on delegates to institutionalise at organisational level and internalise at individual level the values and principles of accountability, integrity and responsiveness.
For more information, contact:
Kgalalelo Masibi
Spokesperson: Public Protector South Africa
Cell: 079 507 0399
E-mail: kgalalelom@pprotect.org
