Khasho July 2010 - National Prosecuting Authority

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10NPA EventsService FairMedupe Simasikucomes to the Free StateThe NPA, together with various stakeholders in the JCPS Cluster, took service delivery to Allanridge(Nyakallong) community in the Free State near Welkom. This took place in the form of a servicedelivery road show that took place on Saturday, 24 July 2010, at Allanridge, Nyakallong SportsGround.community very well, and played an importantrole in assisting the planning team to understandthe people’s needs and challenges as far as thecriminal justice system is concerned.Members of the community who were interviewedby Khasho said they were very grateful thatorganisations such as the NPA had finally reachedthem. They had only heard about the NPA on radioand television, but never thought they would oneday interact with officials from the organisation.“At least we now know what the NPA does,because we have always thought that the NPA isfor high-profile people only,” said one communitymember.Allanridge community members queue for the NPA's services.This was the third community outreach road show led by theNPA, after two successful road shows held in KwaZulu-Natal in 2009 and in Limpopo earlier this year. The ultimateplan is to have a roadshow in all the provinces of South Africa,where NPA staff members can educate communities aboutissues such as maintenance, domestic violence, child justiceand other concerns that are pertinent to each target community.All stakeholders from the JCPS Cluster were present, therebyenabling people to understand the criminal justice system asa whole. Other partners that participated were the Departmentof Justice and Constitutional Development, the South AfricanPolice Service, Legal Aid South Africa, the South AfricanSocial Security Agency, and various departments of the FreeState Provincial Government, Matjhabeng and Nala localmunicipalities, as well as various NGOs.The purpose of this road show was to assist the communitiesof Matjhabeng and Nala (Wesselsbron and Bothaville) andsurrounding communities with various services, ranging fromcase reporting, maintenance enquiries, pending case enquiries,ID applications and enquiries, general service delivery queries,as well as legal advice. Despite the fact that the community waslaying to rest the local ward councillor, Mrs Nontombi Mankai,who had been part of the team that had planned the roadshowuntil her sudden death, attendance was impressive. Being alocal ward councillor, Mrs Mankai understood the needs of herMr Thabo Diphoko, a maintenance prosecutorfrom Odendaalsrus, gave a very useful lectureon maintenance issues, because this is one areathat is often misunderstood by the community. Healso promised the community that the NPA wouldalways be available to assist them with any maintenance-relatedproblems.Colonel Cynthia Molale, Acting SAPS Cluster Head forWelkom, urged the community to work very closely with thepolice. She said that the police in that area were under-resourcedand therefore encouraged people to provide them with relevantinformation that could help curb crime in that area. The youthwere strongly warned to stay away from crime.The event was very successful indeed. Although it was mainlyspearheaded by the NPA, it was a joint initiative with othergovernment players in the criminal justice system. Otherplayers who are not necessarily members of the JCPS clusterwere also invited to attend. An example was New Start, anNGO that specialises in HIV/AIDS voluntary counselling andtesting. This may not be part of the criminal justice system, butshows that we are all partners in making sure that people knowtheir HIV status and are able to take care of themselves.Public education is a principle that is customary in all spheresof government. Participation is important to make sure that thegovernment addresses the real needs of communities in the mostappropriate way. Participation also helps to build an informedand responsible people.Professionalism, Integrity, Service Excellence, Accountability and Credibility
NPA Staff11Meet the new Acting DPP for South GautengCharlene Labuschagne andAdv Raymond MathenjwaWhat has been yourexperience so far asActing DPP?It is quite challenging to bethe Acting DPP, as it takesa lot of time to deal withthe various challenges andtasks. It is extremely exciting,because I know thatour efforts move the organisationforward; even ifit is just bit by bit. Makinga difference is what drivesme. Being part of thistransforming organisationis in itself very motivating.NPA values benchmarking exerciseMoroko MabowaGood ethics is the core of sound corporate governance.As proactive steps to encourage ethical behaviour andestablish sound ethics management practices, the NPA hasadopted its own organisational values and code of ethicssince 2008. Using the services of Ethics South Africa, theNPA has conducted a survey to determine the extent to whichthese values of integrity, professionalism, credibility, serviceexcellence and accountability are being practised in the NPA.A total of 521 computer-assisted telephonic interviews wereconducted with personnel across all business units and ranks.The main objectives of this project were as follows:• To enable the NPA to make an informed decision on itsethics priority list.• To provide a much better understanding of how big the gapis between ‘what is right’ and ‘what is happening on theground’.• To indicate the challenges faced by the NPA.• To act as a barometer of the NPA’s views on ethics trendsin the organisation.Adv Xolisile KhanyileSenior Advocate Xolisile Khanyile has been appointed to act as Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP): South Gauteng from 1 June 2010 to 31 March 2011 or when a permanent DPP is appointed,whichever occurs first. She is a highly skilled prosecutor with more than 12 years' experience.Adv Xolisile Khanyile:Acting DPP: South GautengWhat challenges do you typically face as Acting DPP?The many vacancies in the lower courts are problematic. It isnot easy to fill the vacant positions, since for some or otherreason the NPA is struggling to attract talent from outsidethe organisation. Our own prosecutors are promoted, therebycreating new vacancies. We have sent many of the high courtprosecutors to the lower courts to deal with trial matters toaddress the backlog. The effort is paying off. The many unitsin the NPA seem to be disconnected and it impacts on theoverall functioning of the organisation. It would be valuable ifthis could be addressed. It would also be good if prosecutors atall levels could support and understand the need to shift theirown paradigm. An example would be if lower court prosecutorscould gain confidence and feel competent in legal drafting soas to be able to pursue criminal forfeiture applications, forinstance.continued on p 12awareness on the code of ethics and also on the servicedelivery hotline. The NPA does not have a strong ethicsmanagement system. A lot of effort therefore needs to bedone to ensure that the ethics management system of theorganisation is solid.RecommendationIt is recommended that the NPA should conduct a leadershipretreat, attended by top management and senior managers fromall areas of the business, where critical introspection and opencommunication is required to reflect on the results of the NPA'sethics indicator of 2009.The organisation should provide for operational implementationby developing a sustainable NPA-wide cross-departmental andcross-divisional ethics management strategy. The organisationalso needs to conduct ethics training interventions at all levels,provinces and business units of the organisation to addressgaps regarding awareness of the code of ethics and the NPA'svalues.FindingsThe findings show that generally staff members areaware of the NPA's values and code of ethics, but arenot familiar with the content. Few utilise the content toguide their actions and decisions. There is a need for moreAs a way forward, the NPA intends to develop an intensiveprogramme to institutionalise the values and enable staffmembers to live and internalise them and also be inspired toalign themselves with the NPA's vision of “ensuring justice inour society, so that people can live in freedom and security”.Professionalism, Integrity, Service Excellence, Accountability and Credibility
Page 4 and 5: 4NPA NewsBeing the people’s lawye
Page 6 and 7: 6 NPA NewsThreats of violenceagains
Page 9: Staff EventsNPA at the2010 National
Page 14 and 15: 14 NPA NewsWhat a spectacularRegion

Khasho July 2010 - National Prosecuting Authority

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?