Johannesburg - Maladministration is a key factor undermining the delivery of a better life for South Africans, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said on Monday.
"We believe, if it was not for maladministration, we would have achieved a lot more in improving the quality of life for the people of South Africa," she said.
"And in so doing, reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment... Maladministration, including corruption, is a key factor undermining the delivery of a better life to the people of South Africa."
Madonsela was speaking at the Johannesburg city hall as part of a national dialogue on service delivery.
Her office is busy with two systemic investigations after receiving numerous complaints about RDP houses and the illegal conversion of panel vans to minibus taxis.
The main one focuses on maladministration in RDP housing, and the second on regulatory failures in the conversion of panel vans to taxis, she said.
Madonsela said her office welcomes other service delivery complaints during the public dialogue.
Of the over 2 290 complaints received by her office in the 2011/12 financial year, 442 were about RDP houses, Madonsela said.
Complaints from Gauteng included people waiting for houses since 1996, houses corruptly sold or allocated to non-verified people, and houses given to people who applied after others.
"Some have alleged that corruption has also robbed them of adequate housing, in that a flawed procurement process resulted in the construction of defective RDP houses," she said.
"Some of these houses now have to be demolished and some are being rectified. We have been told that the rectification of RDP houses has become a lucrative business."
She said the illegal conversion of panel vans into taxis is a problem in Gauteng, but not as big as that of RDP housing.
Her office is working on mending the dialogue between citizens and organs of state.
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