Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane says the North West province has a caseload of 111 unresolved cases, including those of fraud, corruption, nepotism, and maladministration.
Speaking during her roadshow in the province, Advocate Mkhwebane raised concerns around the province’s shortcomings in responding to complaints; providing documentation requested for purposes of investigation as well as increases in complaints relating to the irregular appointment of staff and nepotism, particularly at municipalities.
The Public Protector’s Roadshow to the province not only highlighted administrative shortcomings but also focused squarely on increasing service delivery complaints, including water shortages and poor roads.
The community of Nyetse Village in Lehurutshe took the opportunity to voice their concerns.
“We need water. We have had no water since September. We went five months without water,” says one of the residents.
Another resident says, “People die here because they can’t get medication on time at the clinic. We have requested it for a long time ago but it seems we are not taken seriously.”
Advocate Mkhwebane says while her office continues to probe cases of maladministration in the province the provincial executive must be held accountable.
“As an Office of the Public Protector in the North West led by Mr. Kebine, we have 111 complaints and most of them relate to maladministration which is due to the delayed response and also issues relating to abuse of state resources, abuse of power, and service delivery related complaints. I must indicate that a lot of the reports we’ve issued are against the municipalities and they have not implemented remedial actions.”
On Monday, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released several reports covering issues including corruption and maladministration in municipalities across the country:
Service delivery complaints involving local municipalities are some of the major concerns raised with the Office of the Public Protector.
According to the Premier of the North West Province Bushy Maape, the government has already put in place measures to deal with these service delivery challenges.
“We have established a team constituted by three core MECs, MEC for Cogta, MEC for Treasury, and MEC for Safety and Security, to go into these municipalities and try and deal with the problems that those municipalities are facing.”
The Public Protectors Roadshow is expected to head to the Western Cape next.
