Johannesburg - Building a reputable ombuds office means steering clear of party politics and ensuring independence.
“The office will not be used for party politics,” said Military Ombudsman Lieutenant-General (ret) TT Matanzima.
He said they didn’t look at whether a member was from one of the former statutory forces or a former liberation movement, but at the law.
His office received 279 complaints in the last year, finalising 156 of these plus finalising many earlier complaints.
Matanzima was speaking in Centurion at a function marking the first three years of the South African Military Ombuds office, attended by senior military officers, military attaches, military advisors, academics and officials from ombud-style institutions. Matanima is the first Military Ombud.
Discussions focussed around the independence of the office.
Unisa law lecturer Dial Ndima said the characteristics of an ombud institution were “independence, accessibility, fairness, public accountability, effectiveness and impartiality”. Independence meant that the ombudsman was a senior appointment, was and appeared to be free from interference, and reported to Parliament.
He said that the SA Military Ombud “compares well with international standards when it comes to independence”.
Matanzima explained the issue of independence bluntly: “The head of the institution must take off his uniform.” A retired lieutenant-general, he wore a suit at the event dominated by people in uniforms.
“We are not for the complainant. We are not for the SANDF. We are looking for the truth in between,” he said.
The thorny issue of how to avoid such institutions being used in fights between political parties was raised by the chair of the Commission for Gender Equality, Mfanozelwe Shozi.
“Politicians will always do that, it does not matter what you do,” said Ndima.
He recommended focussing on the complaint, not the person who brought it as anyone could bring complaints. If the complaint was within the institution’s mandate, then it should be investigated, he said.
Common complaints are around promotions, demotions and unfair transfers. Matters which have gone to court are not taken on. A prominent case revolves around the assault of military recruits during training at Oudtshoorn two years ago; about 12 instructors are now being court martialled.
The Military Ombud sends the final reports and recommendations to the Minister of Defence. It’s the minister’s job to implement the recommendations.
Former Inspector-General of Intelligence, Faith Radebe, raised the issue of how ombud-style organisations get their recommendations implemented.
Ndima said an ombud’s job was to finalise the report and send it to the relevant minister, not implement the recommendations. “It is somebody else’s failure, not yours, if the report is not implemented.”
The SA Human Rights Commission said going to court to implement the reports was possible but recommended non-adversarial action as far as possible.
The Star