Promoting good governance leads to improved service delivery: Gcaleka

Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka says promoting good governance in public institutions will lead to improved service delivery. She was speaking during a two-day conference in Kempton Park on Monday aimed at promoting good governance in public institutions.

The event was hosted by the Department of Public Service and Administration, Public Protector South Africa, and the European Union.

South Africa’s public sector has been faced with challenges of poor governance, allegations of corruption and a lack of accountability.

Gcaleka says the country has one of the best accountability and transparency mechanisms in the world.

“Government holds this government for the people not for themselves but it is ensuring that they are the elected ones who are able to manage the state affairs on behalf of the citizens. So, civil society then plays a very important role representing that citizens in ensuring that their needs are met, human rights, rule of law is upheld and promoted but at the center of all of this is good governance and also in the prevention and combating of corruption so the center of that is good governance,”

She says the Public Protector’s office is doing more to engage with community members.

“We are doing more now, we are busy engaging amakhosi so we can release these reports to them, and they can assist with engaging their communities to be able to discuss these reports with communities.”

Speaker of the National Assembly says the Auditor General plays a vital role in accountability.

“Well, it’s actually accountability, that’s the role that they play. Remember that the resources used are from the public purse so part of that oversight in terms of finances is played by the Auditor General to ensure that funds that have been given to departments are used for purposes in which they have been requested for,” says National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s Shamila Batohi says while criminal investigations and prosecutions are important, they remain insufficient.

She says prosecuting high-level corruption remains notoriously slow and uncertain.