Issued by: SA Communication Service
PAN-COMMONWEALTH SEMINAR ON DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURES IN PUBLIC SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
22 April 1997
The Office of the Public Protector of South Africa will host a pan-Commonwealth Seminar on Democratic Structures in Public Service Improvement at Glenbum Lodge, Swartkops South Africa from the 23 - 25 April 1997. The seminar, being organised in collaboration with the Management and Training Services Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, will be officially opened by the Premier of Gauteng. Mr Tokyo Sexwale, with a key-note speech by Sir John Robertson, former Ombudsman of New Zealand and past President of the International Ombudsman Institute. The Seminar is sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC), and expected to attract about 35 top-level officials of leading democratic oversight bodies in the following 25 Commonwealth countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bangladesh, Dominica, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Malawi, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, Swaziland, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The theme of the seminar is set against the background of the ever-growing importance of independent oversight structures in the democratic powers; the increasing proliferation of these bodies in many jurisdiction; and the need to enable them to respond more effectively to new challenges arising from recent thinking in public sector reforms and improvement. The seminar will review the role and performance of these bodies; survey the interface with administration and discuss strategies to further inter-institutional collaboration, and minimise waste and unnecessary duplication of efforts. The seminar is also intended to provide participants with opportunity to exchange ideas with counterparts from elsewhere in the Commonwealth.
The three-day activity will focus specifically on four groups of oversight institution, namely:
In addition to background presentations on recent developments in the area and related activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat, there will be papers on the experience of different oversight structures in the Commonwealth, a video presentation on the work of the South African Public Protector, and syndicate groups on the main issues of the seminar. An official communique will be released at the end of the seminar.