In an effort to educate and empower people about their rights, officials of the Office of the Public Protector held a public session with residents of Makhaza, Khayelitsha, on Thursday 29 January.
A group of people converged on the Desmond Tutu Hall to engage and interact with the officials. Mzwabantu Manisi, an outreach officer of the office, described the event as being part of its provincial outreach programme. He explained the objective was to give members of the public a platform on which to raise their concerns and be educated and empowered about their rights.
“Many people, particularly from so-called disadvantaged communities, don’t know their rights. Even when they have problems, they don’t know where to go. Sometimes they report in the wrong places or departments,” he said.
Manisi stressed that for anything to do with services the first person to go to was the local ward councillor, instead of jumping to the next level.
He said the challenges the office encountered differed from community to community.
Patrick Zati, chair of the South African National Civic Organisation’s Matthew Goniwe branch in Makhaza, described the session as informative. He said participants learnt a lot within a short period, and there were so many things they had not known.
“As community leaders it is imperative to attend such an event, so when community members ask for help we can put them in the right direction. We would like the Office of the Public Protector to organise another session soon.”
Zati confessed the event had been poorly organised owing to the limited number of community members present for this session in the community hall, and vowed that much would be done to ensure it is packed to the rafters the next time.
He mentioned area challenges such as drain bursts, lack of title deeds and other housing-related issues.
Manisi said another gathering next month was in the offing, but an exact date had not yet been finalised.
