Public protector suspends walk-ins at all offices countrywide

The public protector has suspended walk-ins at all 19 offices nationwide in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The suspension, which is part and parcel of and is in line with efforts announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday to contain the spread of the coronavirus/Covid-19 epidemic, is effective immediately,” the office of the public protector said in a statement.

Members of the public wishing to lodge service or conduct failure complaints are encouraged to use alternative means. This can be done via:

• e-mail to registration2@pprotect.org;
• post to Private Bag X677, Pretoria 0001;
• fax to 012 362 3473; or
• phone (toll free) at 0800 11 20 40.

Those with customer complaints can e-mail customerservice@pprotect.org, while those who wish to track the progress of their complaints can liaise directly with investigators via phone or e-mail.

“We have a duty to be accessible to all persons and communities, in terms of section 182(4) of the constitution. One of the ways through which we give effect to this constitutional imperative is availing our services to the public without the need for appointments,” said public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

“Unfortunately the threat posed by Covid-19 is such that we must take these stringent safety measures to protect both our staff and the public we serve from potentially contracting this contagious virus.”   

Mkhwebane has also cancelled public events she was scheduled to address at the University of Mpumalanga in Mbombela and an outreach clinic in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, on Thursday.

The events were to have served as the culmination of her year-long stakeholder roadshow and doubled as commemorations of Human Rights Month, added her office.