Madonsela, law bodies join hands
2010-03-03 20:02
Cape Town - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's office is to work together with legal professional bodies to broaden access to justice.
Madonsela on Wednesday welcomed an offer by the Law Society of Northern Provinces (LSNP) to join her office in broadening access to justice to all communities, with emphasis on those in rural areas.
While the Public Protector was constitutionally required to be accessible to all persons, limited resources made it difficult for her office to reach out to all, she said.
She cited the fact that her office in North West, including its regional offices in Vryburg, Rustenburg and Kuruman, received about 1 700 complaints a year, suggesting that not many people knew about, or had access to, the Public Protector's services.
"Nationally, we receive about 20 000 complaints per annum. It cannot be that in a nation of 48 million people, we only receive this number of complaints.
"More needs to be done to make the Public Protector accessible and visible to communities," Madonsela said.
- SAPA
