Responses to hostel killings are awaited
Public protector offers assurance final report will be tabled
THE eThekwini Municipality, police and the Department of Social Development are expected to submit their written responses to a preliminary report into violence at Glebelands hostel by mid-April, the public protector says.
Busisiwe Mkhwebane was speaking after her community consultation session at the Mkhambathini Municipality.
“There has been a mistake made by many thinking that former public protector (Thuli) Madonsela’s report into hostel killings was final. It was not; it was provisional.
“We have since issued a directive to all the affected parties in the findings of the investigation, and we have promised the provincial legislature that we will table the report once it is available. All the parties had undertaken to submit their reports by mid-April,” Mkhwebane said.
The public protector’s office was petitioned by concerned lobby groups to investigate more than 50 deaths at the hostel in uMlazi in 2014 and 2015.
In her report titled “Stop the Carnage”, Madonsela had said the police and metro police failed to protect and secure the hostel dwellers and their belongings.
Mkhwebane was bombarded with requests by community members to investigate the deduction of money from social grant recipients by service providers for airtime, funeral cover or loans.
“We have an ongoing investigation into these deductions. What we get from the minister of social development is that Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) does not co-operate when the department enquires about the deductions,” she said.
Mkhwebane said the department would be sent correspondence soliciting detailed information on these deductions.
“We also want to know from CPS whether they think the way they handle people’s social security money is in line with the laws of the country,” she said.