All Projects

The Public Protector Campaign

Corruption Watch

“South Africa has many bodies to check and balance the powers of government - yet corruption within government seems to increasing” — Corruption Watch

69

South Africa's ranking out of 176 countries in the 2012 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index

Start date
March 2016
End date
March 2017
Period: 13 months

Issue

The Public Protector is an independent body in South Africa, set up to investigate complaints against government agencies or officials, and to support constitutional democracy in the country. He or she is appointed by the President, for a period of seven years.

The Public Protector (PP)'s office has the power to recommend a response from government and to issue reports. Its services are free and available to everyone.

The current PP has received overwhelming public support for her efforts, although her office has come under increasing attack for addressing widespread corruption, including among influential government bodies and officials.

In October this year, a new PP will be appointed and people fear that this process will be negatively influenced by politicians who want to protect their own interests. To stop this from happening, the process needs to be open and transparent, so that the Public Protector retains the confidence and support of the public.

Project

Corruption Watch has started a ‘Public Protector Campaign’ to open up the appointment process of the new PP.  With this campaign, they want to increase public awareness around the role of the PP and the appointment process by sharing public education materials through radio, pamphlets and mobile ads. In addition, they´ll ask the public on social media what they see as an ideal candidate.

By bringing public voices and opinions to the fore, and making sure that there is open debate about the appointment of the new Public Protector, the team hope the appointment will be open, transparent and have a wide base of support - and that the new candidate has a public mandate to fight corruption and affect real change.

Partner

Corruption Watch is a non-profit organisation that relies on the public to report corruption to them. They use the reports as an important source of information to fight corruption and hold leaders accountable for their actions.

Go here to read more about the campaign.