Abstract
Abstract : The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the nature of the role of the Public Protector in promoting democratic governance. The Office of the Public Protector is one of the institutions that constitutes the Chapter 9 institutions (State Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. This study is intended to strengthen academic discourse for the continued support of the Office of the Public Protector as an independent functionary to advance accountability. The enquiry is premised on the concept of democratic good governance, which aims to hold the government accountable for its actions and/or omissions. The apathy of the South African public, who has generally remained silent amidst the scathing attacks directed at the Public Protector, prompted this study to carefully pose the following dual primary research question: What is the role and challenges of the Public Protector as an independent Chapter 9 institution, and do the remedial actions of the Public Protector contribute to the implementation of good governance in the South African constitutional democracy? The methodology entailed a desktop analysis of literature and official documents to conceptualise the area of investigation. The data-collection sources for the desktop analysis also included global authoritative books, articles, court findings, and regulatory, policy, and strategy documents. The generated information was scrutinised through a process of intellectual analysis, categorisation, classification, integration, reflection, comparison, and synthesis. The approach was qualitative and included specific dimensions of unobtrusive research techniques to eliminate bias and to promote conceptual and contextual analyses. The emphasis of this thesis is the functioning, problems, challenges, pressures, and the power of the remedial recommendations and actions of the Office of the Public Protector in South Africa within its constituent structures and statutory parameters. The Public Protector functions cooperatively with all other institutions whose mandate it is to promote good governance, which includes the legislature, independent judiciary, and the other Chapter 9 institutions. Oversight institutions have a collective responsibility to ensure the promotion of good governance and to enhance democracy in South Africa. As a result of the interdependence of all levels of government, any discussion of constitutional mandates will inevitably touch on iv certain matters that will affect not only the other government levels in general but the total legislative and policy effort in particular.
D.Phil. (Public Management and Governance)