Last Updated on Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:04 Written by Administrator Friday, 04 June 2010 13:01
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| 28 July 2010 |
| Dear Gary, As you probably know, the Unashamedly Ethical (UE) campaign is built upon three foundations:
The convening ombudsman is Advocate Keith Matthee SC. I asked him to give a brief summary of the role, powers and function of the Ombudsman in this newsletter. You will find this below - my thanks to Keith for preparing this. |
| The Role, Powers and Function of the UE Ombudsman |
| by Keith Matthee SC (Convening Ombudsman of Unashamedly Ethical) I have been asked to give a brief summary of the role, powers and function of the Ombudsman in this newsletter. Hopefully this will result in questions, thoughts or suggestions which can be passed on to the editor of the newsletter and which I in turn can then address in future newsletters. This way I hope to encourage interaction with me on the subject of the Ombudsman. Appointment and qualifications The UE Executive Committee appoints the Ombudsman. It is for a three year term of office. A minimum requirement is that the person be an admitted attorney or advocate who has at least ten years of civil litigation experience in the High Court of South Africa. The main reasons for this requirement are to ensure efficiency, competency and, crucially, complete independence when the ombudsman exercises his powers. Role, powers and functions Signatories of UE enjoy certain privileges. But they are also responsible to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the Code Of Conduct of UE. They may not act in a way that is not harmful to the reputation, welfare and prestige of UE and its signatories. If a signatory does transgress this Code, any member of the public can lay a complaint with the Ombudsman. When a complaint is lodged with UE in this regard it is the function of the Ombudsman to decide on the complaint. Any such ruling of the Ombudsman is final and binding. It is important to remember, however, that the Ombudsman only has authority to decide about a complaint where the alleged offender is a signatory of UE. Another function of the Ombudsman is intervening on behalf of a signatory with the appropriate government or other agencies where a signatory seeks to disclose/admit to criminal or other conduct which is in conflict with the law. The terms of this intervention, financial and otherwise, shall be negotiated between the signatory and the Ombudsman. Conclusion What has been pleasing so far as regards some of the complaints I have dealt with, is that my intervention at times has helped facilitate an end to a dispute. Sometimes this has been achieved by gentle encouragement, and at other times by means of a stick! Another feature of the complaints received, is that a fair number of them are about people who are not signatories of UE. Unfortunately, as already stated above, I have no powers in such a case. Keith Matthee SC Convenor of the Ombudsman Panel |
| Have your say! |
| We'd like to hear your opinions about the role of our Ombudsman, and we'd like to encourage you to send us any questions you want to ask him. Simply reply to this e-mail to have your say! Formal complaints to the Ombudsman about a signatory must be done in writing to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
| Upcoming Local Leadership Training Courses (LLTC's) |
 I want to encourage you to register for our next Local Leadership Training Course! Please click HERE to learn more about this 1/2 day training course. You can register online HERE. Upcoming training dates and venues:
Click HERE to register now. |
| Lastly, for those of you in Cape Town on Wed 11th August, I really want to encourage you to join us at the President Hotel in Bantry Bay for a special UE breakfast with Dawie Spies. Our theme will be UE commitment #2: "To be faithful to my family relationships". To book for this event, click HERE. Thank you for continuing to make your stand for 'ethics, values and clean living'. If enough of us stand together, we can make positive changes in so many ways. Regards Steven Johnstone International Coordinator - Unashamedly Ethical  |