Military Ombud Vusumuzi Masondo said his office has resolved 82% of complaints that were received and surpassed the target set in their annual performance plan (APP) for the 2022-23 financial year.
In the annual report tabled in Parliament, Masondo said the Office of the Military Ombud had a case load of 408, which consisted of 350 new complaints received in the year under review and 58 complaints carried over from the previous financial year.
A total of 335 complaints were finalised.
“This represents an 82% resolution rate. Achieving 82% resolution is a key highlight in the performance of the office this financial year,” Masondo said.
“The annual performance target of 75% resolution rate was exceeded by 7%. This should be viewed in light of the fact that the APP target increased from 73% to 75% for financial year 2022/23.”
The Office of the Military Ombud is mandated to investigate complaints received from serving and former members of the SANDF concerning their conditions of service.
It also investigates complaints from members of the public regarding the official conduct of soldiers.
Masondo said the carry-over complaints have drastically reduced owing to improvements in the investigation turnaround times.
“In the main, the Office continues to receive mostly new complaints that have been lodged by serving members of the SANDF concerning their conditions of service.”
He said stakeholder support played an important role in the achievement of their mandate as it helped to enable the office in its pursuit of excellence as a contributor towards improving service delivery.
“I am pleased to acknowledge that we have received this support from internal and external stakeholders, and we continue our efforts to deepen this engagement,” Masondo added
He said pop-up offices have been introduced to empower people and receive complaints.
“We are also pleased with the outreach programme as it continues to build mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders. The focus of our outreach activity was the country border areas, rural communities, shopping malls and taxi rank activations and awareness,” he said.
“These engagements and partnerships have also contributed to educating stakeholders and raising awareness about the office and its services as evidenced by the increasing numbers of complainants seeking assistance with their grievances.”
Masondo said there remained a lot that was still to be achieved to ensure that stakeholders knew that they have recourse outside of the Department of Defence.
“Consequently, the office is investing in research and development, as research informs the outreach approach and other related Office activities through the outcomes of surveys, identifying systemic issues and adding to Office policy and practices.”
Cape Times