Accountability requires accountancy. In accountancy all the economic transactions are recorded ... good, bad and indifferent. There is periodic summarization and reporting. Nobody gets to choose what gets reported!
Peter Burgess @truevaluemetric www.truevaluemetrics.org

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Friday called for a national dialogue on accountability to clarify apparent misapprehensions within public sector circles.

Speaking during a meeting with women's organisations in Pretoria, she said it was not enough for those exercising public power over state resources to simply explain and justify their actions as a way of accounting.

Accountability included redress or taking corrective action to address the specific wrong-doing, she said.

This entailed restorative justice for victims of administrative injustices by the state, 'clawing back' public resources acquired through unlawful means, and fixing the system to avoid recurrence of improper conduct or maladministration.

'These are critical elements of accountability that are often missed,' Madonsela said.

Delegates vowed to avail their organisations to serve as bridges between the Public Protector and the people in a bid to help the institution be accessible to far-flung communities.

They also affirmed the Public Protector as a unique alternative to the courts that provided quicker access to justice.

The delegates also decried the phenomenon of ignoring the Public Protector's remedial action as an impediment to administrative justice and accountability.

In her response to the pledge, Madonsela said while her office was exploring various avenues to reach more people and engaging Parliament to request more resources, she welcomed the women's offer.

She emphasised that citizens were important shareholders in 'South Africa Incorporated' and this made women, who were in the majority of the country's population, critical stakeholders in the work of her office.

The meeting was part of a nationwide stakeholder consultative forum now underway and launched on July 12 under the theme 'The Public Protector Dialogues with the Nation'.

It is intended to solicit feedback regarding the work of the Public Protector and foster a common understanding of the institution's mandate and role.

The programme focuses on the importance of implementing the Public Protector's remedial action.

This is to ensure administrative justice by organs of state in respect of service failure and to ensure accountability in the exercise of state power and control over public resources.

Edited by: Sapa