DURBAN — The public protector should play a leading role in setting ethical standards for SA, rather than merely interceding in disputes between the public and officials, President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday. 

In a speech prepared for delivery to the seventh conference of the International Ombudsman Institute, Mbeki said the public protector should "assist in a more comprehensive manner in building democracy".

SA’s public protector, a post held by Selby Baqwa, is the country’s most senior ombudsman. His main job is to investigate complaints of corruption and abuse of power by state officials. "I believe that, in these circumstances, public protectors should not be content merely to determine rights and wrongs with regard to matters brought to their attention.

"It would seem only natural that the public protectors should examine what else they should do to offer advice to society as it battles to win the struggle for stable democracies."

There was a danger that, in emerging societies, the public protector could be abused by competing political groups seeking to discredit one another. Mbeki urged conference delegates to consider the role the public protector could play in promoting ethical standards in society. 

"It would seem to us that the public protector is better placed than, say, the judiciary or the auditor-general, to draw general conclusions bearing on the issue of ethics in society, using the information he or she accesses during the course of his or her work." — Sapa.

With acknowledgement to Sapa and Independent Online.