Programme Director;

Address by Public Protector, Adv. BusisiweMkhwebaneduring the CIGFARO Women in Public Sector Seminar in Durban on Thursday, March 09, 2017

Programme Director;

The leadership of CIGFARO;

Members of CIGFARO;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies;

Good afternoon!

I bring you warm greetings from the Public Protector Team across the country, particularly the women in the Team. They wish you all of the best in this seminar.

From my side, I would like to thank you CIGFARO for having invited me to come share my perspectives on the status of women in our country; in particular, those in the public sector.

I must say that, for various reasons, I am delighted to be taking part in this seminar today. First, I am delighted because I get to reach out to you as a stakeholder at the time when my team and I are on a nationwide stakeholder engagements.

During this roadshow, I introduce myself to South Africans as the country’s fourth Public Protector, a position I will hold for the next seven years. I also sell my vision to stakeholders.

I have already engaged stakeholders in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. I informed them that I plan to take this institution to the grassroots so that it can be a refuge to and bring justice to those that live in the margins of society, who may be yet to taste the fruits for freedom.

I also told them that, when my term of office comes to an end in 2023, I want to leave behind an empowered public that is made up of Public Protectors in their own right, who are able to take up their issues with those that they have elected into office.

I have also encouraged organs of state to establish complaints units or internal Ombud bodies such as the Health Ombudsman to serve as the first line of complaints resolution, so that we continue with our role of being the complaints institution of last resort.

From next week, we continue with the journey to the rest of the six provinces. We will wrap up the programme at the beginning of May.

Secondly, in you I am interacting with key players when it comes to governance in state affairs. Allow me, therefore, to steal a bit of your time to speak briefly about the institution that I head.

As the Public Protector, we get our mandate from Section 182 of the Constitution, which provides that:

“182 (1) The Public Protector has the power, as regulated by national legislation –

(a) To investigate any conduct in state affairs, or in the public administration in any sphere of government, that is alleged or suspected to be improper or to result in any impropriety or prejudice;

(b) To report on that conduct; and

(c) To take appropriate remedial action

(2) The Public Protector has the additional powers and functions prescribed by national legislation.

(3) The Public Protector may not investigate court decisions.

(4) The Public Protector must be accessible to all persons and communities.

(5) Any report issued by the Public Protector must be open to the public unless exceptional circumstances, to be determined in terms of national legislation, require that a report be kept confidential.”

In line with Section 182(2), the Public Protector has the following additional powers prescribed by national legislation:

1. Under the Public Protector Act, we have the power to investigate, conciliate, mediate, negotiate, advise or do anything necessary to resolve disputes and rectify maladministration in state affairs and related matters, including abuse of power, abuse of state resources, unethical conduct and corruption on own initiative or complaints.

2. We have the sole power to investigate and report on violations of the Executive Ethics Code under the Executive Members' Ethics Act.

3. We have the power to investigate allegations of corrupt activities as envisaged under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

4. We also have the power to receive protected disclosures and serve as a safe haven for whistleblowers under the Protected Disclosures Act.

5. We further have the power to review the decisions of the National Home Builders Registration Council under the National Protection of Housing Measures Act.

We play a critical role in entrenching principles of good governance. The following are among our key impact areas:

1. Reinforcing a strong tradition of civil society- constant dialogue between the people and those they have entrusted with public power, people need to be empowered to understand how government works, make informed inputs into policy processes, and bolster their role in exacting accountability in state affairs.

2. Monitoring compliance with and respect for the Rule of law.

PP has an important role supplementing legislative and judicial methods in ensuring that individuals receive appropriate consideration and protection against adverse government action that does not comply with the framework and principles of the law

3. Entrenching values such as transparency and accountability - Accountability is the process and means by which public services and government are held to account for their actions Assurance that public resources are being used in accordance with publicly stated intentions and polices, and that public service values in Sect 195 of the Constitution , Batho Pele, etc are being adhered to.

4. Reconciling the citizen with the State - PP often acts as mediator between aggrieved individual and public institutions. Primary function to ensure fairness and legality in public administration.

As people in accounting, auditing and risk management, in the public sector, you are strategically positioned to ensure that decision makers in the state do the right thing when it comes to tenders, contracts, appointments and so forth.

Every other day in the country this or that organ of state is alleged to have not followed laws, policies, regulations and prescripts in procuring goods and services. I call on you to do your jobs with courage to ensure that decision makers do the right thing.

I know that there are challenges. For example, a senior finance official in the Treasury in one of the provinces approached my office in 2013, alleging that the HOD in that department and the MEC suspended and dismissed her on pretext charges after she blew the whistle on suspected corruption, conflict of interest and maladministration, using the Protected Disclosures Act.

We investigated and arrived at a conclusion that the allegations she made were substantiated. The report was issued last year in October. The remedial action was, among other things, that she be reinstated and paid all the monies that would have been due had she not been dismissed. The Provincial Government in question has since implemented the remedial action.

That said, I am not here to talk much about the Public Protector's work. I'm here to speak about the issues concerning women in the public sector.

This event comes on the back of the commemoration of International Women's Day, a day that the world has been observing since 1977 after the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed it a day for women's rights and world peace. I trust that you had a wonderful day at work yesterday.

Programme Director;

In 2003, famous adventurer, former game ranger, speaker and author, Sibusiso Vilane, who comes from my home province of Mpumalanga, became the first African man to summit Mount Everest.

At 8848 meters above sea level, the Everest peak is the world's highest point. As those, like Vilane, who have summited this Nepal and Chinese peak like to put it, being there is like being on top of the world.

But getting to the top of Everest is one of the most testing, difficult and dangerous challenges human beings have dared to take up. It gets very windy up there, with blizzards blowing at speeds that sometimes reach up to 300 kilometers per hour.

Weather temperatures drop to lows of up to -30 Degrees Celsius. Climbers fall ill because of the altitude. Bodies of those that tried and failed to trek up the peak bears testimony to the dangers of trying to summit it. The corpses lie along the tracks, buried under heavy layers of ice.

With all these difficulties, Vilane persevered and soldiered on. At about 8.30am on May 26, 2003, he proudly hoisted a South African flag at the summit of the peak, wearing a broad smile across his face.

Vilane, who went on to summit the peak again in 2005, said the following about his experience, scaling up the mountain: “There will be challenges but it’s about just being persistent and not giving up."

In many ways, there are similarities between women's road to equality and that of hikers up Everest. The difference is that, as women, we have not reached the peak yet. This is despite the fact that the world has been on quest to realise equality between women and men for years.

As far back as the year 2000, South Africa, along with 188 other countries, set itself a target of achieving gender parity by the end of December 2015 as part of the United Nations’ eight Millennium Development Goals.

The goal was to empower women, including the employing men and women in a 50/50 ratio, with both genders having equal levels of employment. This target was missed.

We have now signed up for another target, the Sustainable Development Goals, which must be realized by 2030. Goal number five thereof is the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in 13 years time.

Although it has been a rocky, thorny and an uphill journey, during which, it has appeared as though we might never reach the summit, there has been progress, considering where we come from.

Official data shows that, in 2015, women accounted for 41% of Members of Parliament in the National Assembly. There was a 43% representation of women in Cabinet.

Women also constituted 33% of the judges and 41% of the magistrates. At the level of officials, 40% of the bureaucracy was made up of women, with about 32% swelling the ranks of the Senior Management Service.

While these figures confirm that, 20 years into democracy, women continue to be under represented in leadership positions in the public sector, we must acknowledge that a lot of progress has been recorded.

On the eve of democracy, for example, the situation was hopeless. Back then, women representation in the National Assembly came up to an embarrassing 2.7%. So, we have made progress.

But are we ever going to reach the summit? On paper, there doesn't seem to be anything that will stand on our way as women in the work place to achieve the 50/50 equality.

Why am I saying that? As South Africa, we have a sound legal framework and institutions that make it possible for gender equality to be realised.

Our Constitution and the law already provide this legal framework. They also establish and empowers institutions such as the Commission of Gender Equality to drive us to a point where there is gender parity.

Section 9 of the Constitution, under the Bill of Rights, provides that:

(1) “Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection of the law.

(2) Equality includes the fill and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination may be taken.

(3) The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.

(4) No person my unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on any r more grounds in terms of subsection (3). National legislation must be enacted to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination.

(5)Discrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in subsection (3) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair.”

Under Chapter 9 of the Constitution, we have among others, the Commission on Gender Equality, which is essentially a watchdog on gender discrimination matters.

Regarding the law, we have the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, which was passed in 2000, primarily to give effect to Section 9 of the Constitution.

The jury is still out as to whether this important instrument has been used effectively and optimally to spearhead a transformative gender equality agenda by the successive democratic administrations since 2000.

In addition, we have the Employment Equity Act of 1998, which seeks to to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through elimination of unfair discrimination.

It also ensures the implementation of affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, including women, in order to ensure equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.

All these achievements, coupled with our recurring commitments to global agendas such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Developments Goals, which are cascaded down into local strategies such as the National Development Plan, show that there is political will to ensure that the tide turns.

This does not mean we must relax. Women must stand up and set the agenda. Of course it is not going to be an easy path. It is going to be a difficult journey just like it was for Vilane when he battled strong winds, freezing temperatures and seeing corpses along the route, on his way to the top of Everest.

But, like him, we should adopt an attitude that says "there will be challenges but it’s about just being persistent and not giving up."

I'm glad that, as CIGFARO, you are already doing that. You empower your members to be the best they can be, from students to experts. I trust that a large number of those you empower are women.

As women, a lot is expected of us. We have to prove ourselves twice as much as men because we start on a deficit. When a woman is appointed to a powerful position, there are doubts as to whether she can perform. However, when it is a man, the assumption is that he will excel.

Therefore, as women, once we get these position we must strive for excellence and be the best that we can be. We must not give those that have male chauvinistic views the ammunition to perpetuate their prejudice towards women.

We must remember at all times that when we are in those positions, we represent other women. Let us make this battle for equality a challenge that needs determination to overcome just as Vilane did.

As the late former President Nelson Mandela put it: "Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression."

Thank you.