Conference to reflect on 30 years of the PPSA

Conference to reflect on 30 years of the PPSA The 30 Year Anniversary International Conference of the Public Protector is set to reflect and celebrate the role played by the independent institution’s existence in South Africa’s development.

Acting spokesperson of the Public Protector of South Africa (PPSA), Ndili Msoki said the historic event will bring together experts and leaders from across South Africa and the globe, including civil society, academia and faith leaders to reflect on the three decades of the institution.

“The program is packed with reflections of our transformative journey and discussions on combating maladministration, corruption, enhancing ethical governance and shaping a resilient future for democracy and service delivery in public administration,” Msoki said in an interview with the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) on Friday.

To be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (ICC) from 13-15 October 2025, the conference will be held under the theme: “30 years of strengthening constitutional democracy- a transformative journey.”

Attendees of the conference will among others deliberate on the enhancement of public participation and citizen-centred governance and the transformative journey of the PPSA in strengthening good governance and accountability. It will also place the spotlight on the building of consensus on the meaning of democracy and its viability.

Msoki added that established in terms of section 181 of the Constitution, with a mandate to support and strengthen constitutional democracy, the PPSA is an institution that the people of South Africa can rely on.

“We are on a drive to digitise the institution,” he said adding that the move streamlines and makes processes efficient. The digitisation also give complainants access to the progress of reports the institution is working on.

“It also allows them to track the movement of their complaints online and free of charge. This makes it possible for people anywhere in the country, anyone who has access to the internet, to be able to access our services by means of lodging complaints and following up on them. “We’re also in the process of amending the Public Protector Act, which is the piece of legislation that gives rise to the Public Protector, to, amongst other things, strengthen our independence, and also to criminalise the non-implementation of the Public Protector s remedial action,” he explained.

The PPSA has also embarked on a drive to improve the skills of its investigators.

“We ve been lucky to have received an allocation from the Criminal Assets Recovery Account which reaffirms that the Public Protector is an anti-corruption agency, because those funds are reserved for those sorts of institutions,” he said.

The PPSA entered into an agreement with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in September 2024 to collaborate in areas of mutual interest where both institutions committed to work together in the areas of training and combating fraud.

The first person to hold the office of the PPSA was Selby Baqwa, appointed on the inception of the office in 1995. He was succeeded in 2002 by Lawrence Mushwana, in 2009 by Thuli Madonsela and in 2016 by Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The current Public Protector is Kholeka Gcaleka who assumed office with effect from 1 November 2023.

Gcaleka is among those expected to address the event as well as former Public Protectors, representatives from oversight bodies as well as Cabinet Ministers. -SAnews.gov.za Edwin Fri, 10/10/2025 - 21:52 234 views

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