Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has briefed the Western Cape legislature on service-delivery woes in the province.
|||Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has briefed the Western Cape legislature on problems regarding service delivery in the province, her office said on Friday.
“Among issues brought to the attention of authorities, including Premier Helen Zille, were staff attitudes towards patients, including allegations of racist conduct, long waiting times and language barriers between staff and patients at Phola Park Clinic,” Madonsela's spokeswoman Kgalalelo Masibi said in a statement.
“Members of the legislature also heard about the problems of understaffing, shortages of medical supplies, such as chronic medication, shortage of equipment at the clinic, and problems with the ambulance service.”
Madonsela, accompanied by her deputy Kevin Malunga, briefed the legislature on Thursday following meetings she had with residents in Paarl and “formal stakeholders” in Cape Town in July.
The protector also reported on complaints relating to RDP houses, sanitation, social security, unemployment, rising electricity costs, land claims, and pensions for former public servants, Masibi said.
Madonsela told the legislature that her office was not able to obtain an integrated anti-poverty strategy, with clear annual targets in the build up to 2015, from the province. In 2015 the country would report on its performance regarding the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.
Madonsela had also met opposition parties in the Western Cape. However, it was decided that in future she would no longer meet separately with opposition parties and the ruling party as part of her annual stakeholder dialogue, said Masibi.
“Future gatherings of that nature would be more effective if all parties represented in Parliament met with the public protector under one roof, the meeting resolved.
“However, the public protector remains open to meeting with any stakeholder on a one-to-one basis. This includes political parties.”
Sapa