Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela has welcomed the support her office received from the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature. This follows her meeting with provincial parliamentarians in Nelspruit on Tuesday.
Aimed at consulting and reporting to the provincial leadership on community service delivery grievances she received during an earlier interface with stakeholders, the meeting was part of her office stakeholder consultative dialogue.
During the meeting, the Public Protector and the Legislature agreed to explore the possibility of future collaboration, with particular reference to areas of outreach and information-sharing. The parties also agreed to share their already stretched resources to avoid duplication of work, which at times cost people time and their right to prompt decisions.
“We welcome the support we received from the leadership of this province. It is encouraging that they listened to us and promised to work with us on the issues raised by the people,” she said.
The Legislature conveyed its support through Speaker, Honourable S. Lubisi, who said the provincial leadership was elated at the Public Protector's visit and promised to join hands with her office in addressing concerns raised by communities.
Parliamentarians also threw their support behind the systemic investigation the Public Protector is currently conducting on Reconstruction and Development Community (RDP) houses and the alleged illegal conversion of panel vans into taxis.
They appealed to organs of state to cooperate with the office as failure to do so results in investigations taking longer than expected, impacting on service delivery.
The Public Protector shared with the Legislature allegations she was asked to investigate during her earlier meeting with stakeholders. These included claims that some contractors requested communities to pay a deposit of over R2 000 each to qualify for RDP houses.
She called on municipalities in the country to make RDP housing waiting lists transparent so as to enable communities to know the status of their applications. Other complaints received on the day related to people waiting far too long to get their houses.
The Public Protector reiterated her call that the Department of Human Settlements needed to review the RDP application lists to reprioritise. Her appeal came in the wake of a flood of allegations suggesting that houses were being given to youth than older people, who were in desperate need for shelter.
The Public Protector told the legislature she would look into allegations of tender irregularities in the awarding of a multi-million RDP contract by the provincial Department of Human Settlements.
She informed the provincial executive about allegations of houses being sold and later converted into business premises. These, the Public Protector said, were dangerous as it had been alleged that such houses were being turned into shebeens, some of which were in close proximity to schools.
On issues of service delivery, the Public Protector alerted the Legislature to allegations that an estimated 60 people shared one water tap in the Thaba Chweu municipality. It was alleged that a serious lack of access to water, electricity, sanitation and other key service delivery issues were a reality in the municipality.
MECs assured the Public Protector that their departments would work with her office to improve on the lives of communities in the province.
The Public Protector will on wrap up her visit by commemorating Women's Month in Carolina on Thursday.
Contact:
Kgalalelo Masibi
Spokesperson for the Public Protector
Cell: 079 507 0399
Tel: 012 366 7006
E-mail: kgalalelom@pprotect.org
