Date: 24/07/2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Jacobs: Public Service Week
Speech by Ignatius Jacobs, MEC for Public Transport, Roads and Works, at the launch of Public Service Week
Friends,
Colleagues,
The people of Gauteng,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Premier stated in his opening of the legislature address in June 2004 that “the next five years will be devoted to eliminating pockets of poor service delivery and making sure that the public service is more caring and responsive to citizens' needs and complaints. This will entail taking up the Batho Pele campaign, aimed at efficient and effective service delivery, with renewed vigour and creating the conditions for improved performance by public servants.”
At the opening of the legislature this year, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said:
“The challenge the provincial government face as it looks back at the past twelve years of freedom and democracy is to improve the quality of life of all people, and move with speed to ensure the full realisation of their rights, enshrined in the constitution, in the shortest period of time.”
“The provincial government will develop an integrated Human Resource Strategy for the provincial government this year and seek to position the Gauteng government as an employer of choice and attract, develop and retain quality human resource.”
Premier Shilowa has also directed that, during Public Service Week, all departments should release their service standards so that the public can hold the provincial government accountable.
Today, as we gather to launch the Public Service week campaign in Gauteng, three weeks from the 50th anniversary of the historic anti-pass march of the women of 1956, we need to take stock of the objectives of that historic act by those thousands of brave and determined “sheroes” who faced a brutal and oppressive system, in pursuit of a liberated society, based on universal access to equal human rights, for all in our country. Fully conscious of the centrality of building a new order, whose aim is the establishment of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united, and prosperous South Africa, all of us have an obligation to ensure the acceleration of gender equality as an integral component of our young democracy.
We also need to honour the memory and brevity of the young people who risked life and limb, thirty years ago, to turn the tide against an unjust system, collectively saying all shall be equal before law.
In our continuous interaction with Gauteng residents, in numerous public meetings and other consultative forums, it has emerged that many of Gauteng residents' grievances and complaints relate to:
* lack of information on how to access services, how to gain assistance and how to raise complaints
* inadequate delivery of services
* lack of responsiveness and courtesy.
It has also emerged that more work needs also to be done to provide information about minimum service standards, service charters and redress mechanisms. While there are levels of frustration among residents who want government to improve service delivery, residents also have relatively high expectations that they are entitled to better service from the current government and its institutions.
The outcomes of the 2006 Gauteng Provincial Government Perception survey indicate that most of Gauteng residents believe that the province is aware of their needs. There is a challenge for continued direct interaction with residents, such as has been positively evinced by public participation in izimbizo and other outreach programmes.
The survey indicates that the public is often not aware of government channels to lodge complaints or procedures to seek redress, or they are not very confident about those channels.
Media coverage of service delivery failures and weaknesses, inept public servants, poor turnaround times in addressing complaints and allegations of corruption have added to negative perceptions of the public service.
On the other hand, government's hard work in uncovering corruption and taking disciplinary action against erring civil servants is often not complimented but rather projected as the work of investigative journalism. Service excellence often goes unnoticed, living under the shadow of negative stories.
Within the public service, there are indications that some public servants may have heard of the terms Batho Pele or Public Service Standards, but are not necessarily aware of what exactly they entail or what is required of them. Other issues such as poor labour relations and a lack of skills and capacity also impacts on poor service delivery.
While individual departments do focus on internal communication, there is a lack of comprehensive communication aimed at public servants as a whole.
In response to this state of affairs, we as Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG), bring a message to all our people that:
* All citizens have the right to high quality, caring and integrated government services. This critically includes removing obstacles to effective service delivery, making sure services are sustainable and increasing the responsiveness of the public sector to complaints and problems from citizens.
* Public servants have rights and responsibilities.
* Every public servant, regardless of rank, has a role to play in building an effective and caring public service.
* Public servants have a right to know what is expected of them and a responsibility to deliver effective public services.
* We must be civil servants and continue to treat our people with dignity and integrity.
* Batho Pele principles must become a living reality, and be integrated into all government programmes, instead of being revisited in times of crisis.
* We must strive to promote service excellence in honour of constitutionally entrenched rights to administrative justice.
* Every department has an obligation develop a service delivery improvement plan.
We also urge public servants to make their suggestions on how to improve service delivery and make GPG an effective and caring government
We commit ourselves to developing a set of service standards so that the public should know what level of service they can expect; we also commit to speedily and effectively addressing requests for assistance or complaints from citizens, as well as allegations of ill-treatment by public servants of members of the public.
We commit ourselves to the development and implementation of programmes whose aim is to significantly improve the quality of public services. Such programmes must also become increasingly accessible to all the citizens of our country.
Public Service Week is a representation of the programmes that we will be implementing throughout the year and this will be institutionalised beyond a political term of office, in line with the Constitution of our country, so as to move significantly and speedily towards meeting the needs of our people. Among the programmes to be implemented will be a roll out of events and communication activities to popularise the Departmental Service Standards and Batho Pele principles, this will be simultaneously directed at public servants and Gauteng residents. As of this year, Public Service Week will become a platform that all of us will use to measure progress made in pursuit of the delivery of quality services to all the people of our province and beyond.
Public Service Week activities will include respective launches of departmental minimum service standards, service charters and information on redress mechanisms. Road shows and unannounced visits by political principals will also become part of a sustained and overarching programme in the public service. Information will also be made available through all the communication tools and mechanisms at the disposal of government.
In addition, there will be open days for the public to visit various departments to learn more about the services, be assisted to access information and services. All Staff will be required to wear their name tags at all times. There will also be continuous report-backs from senior managers at service delivery points.
MECs budget votes will also speak to the progress made in the implementation of this initiative. We also aim to incentivise service delivery excellence through participation in the Premier's Service Excellence Awards, acknowledgment at izimbizo, Community Awareness Days and other outreach programmes. The outcomes of the 2005 Public Service Summit will serve as an important guide.
Community Development Workers and Ward committees will also become important channels of communication between government and residents, offering us an opportunity to continuously improve cooperation in ensuring intergovernmental accessibility of services.
These programmes are primarily aimed at Gauteng residents in general, particularly users or potential users and beneficiaries of government services, the poor and the vulnerable, residents in under-serviced communities, informal settlements etc.
The programme will be driven by all levels of public servants across all GPG departments; front line staff in service departments including police, nurses, social services; Community Health Workers; School Governing Bodies; Community Policing Forums; Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) and Government Information Centres (GICs)
Service providers to government departments will also be expected to align their service standards with those set by this programme.
Public service unions are also a key stakeholder in this regard.
Provincial government feedback to ideas submitted by public servants during last year's Public Service Week. Ideas were requested from public servants on how to improve service delivery and implement Batho Pele.
The implementation of this programme will enable us to profile and promote best practice and best practice role models in the public service; to foster positive attitudes, selflessness and dedication to excellent service provision among GPG workers; to create a sense of pride, common purpose and unity, and hope among public servants in the Gauteng Provincial Government; to inculcate a sense of accountability to the public; and to promote ongoing service delivery improvement.
Work will be done to ensure that citizens are aware of their rights and responsibilities. This relates to the public services to which they are entitled; how to access these services; what service standards to expect; how to contact government; what redress mechanisms exist; and how to access such redress mechanisms.
This will go a long way towards improving the residents' understanding of how government works as well as promoting best practice in the public service, further enabling government to attract some of the best skills in the province, and making them available at the public’s disposal.
We need a public service that is responsive to the needs of the people and committed to the implementation of the Public Service Standards and Batho Pele principles. We also need to demonstrate a caring about the welfare of our public servants and, therefore, recognise and reward service excellence.
However, poor service delivery and corruption will not be tolerated at any public service point. Public servants have a central role to play in improving the lives of the people of Gauteng and in building a better Gauteng.
To improve public access and perceptions of service delivery we will raise awareness of their rights as well as service standards and redress mechanisms through the provision of information on Public Service Charters and Batho Pele principles.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, Gauteng Provincial Government
24 July 2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Jacobs: Public Service Week
Speech by Ignatius Jacobs, MEC for Public Transport, Roads and Works, at the launch of Public Service Week
Friends,
Colleagues,
The people of Gauteng,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Premier stated in his opening of the legislature address in June 2004 that “the next five years will be devoted to eliminating pockets of poor service delivery and making sure that the public service is more caring and responsive to citizens' needs and complaints. This will entail taking up the Batho Pele campaign, aimed at efficient and effective service delivery, with renewed vigour and creating the conditions for improved performance by public servants.”
At the opening of the legislature this year, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said:
“The challenge the provincial government face as it looks back at the past twelve years of freedom and democracy is to improve the quality of life of all people, and move with speed to ensure the full realisation of their rights, enshrined in the constitution, in the shortest period of time.”
“The provincial government will develop an integrated Human Resource Strategy for the provincial government this year and seek to position the Gauteng government as an employer of choice and attract, develop and retain quality human resource.”
Premier Shilowa has also directed that, during Public Service Week, all departments should release their service standards so that the public can hold the provincial government accountable.
Today, as we gather to launch the Public Service week campaign in Gauteng, three weeks from the 50th anniversary of the historic anti-pass march of the women of 1956, we need to take stock of the objectives of that historic act by those thousands of brave and determined “sheroes” who faced a brutal and oppressive system, in pursuit of a liberated society, based on universal access to equal human rights, for all in our country. Fully conscious of the centrality of building a new order, whose aim is the establishment of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united, and prosperous South Africa, all of us have an obligation to ensure the acceleration of gender equality as an integral component of our young democracy.
We also need to honour the memory and brevity of the young people who risked life and limb, thirty years ago, to turn the tide against an unjust system, collectively saying all shall be equal before law.
In our continuous interaction with Gauteng residents, in numerous public meetings and other consultative forums, it has emerged that many of Gauteng residents' grievances and complaints relate to:
* lack of information on how to access services, how to gain assistance and how to raise complaints
* inadequate delivery of services
* lack of responsiveness and courtesy.
It has also emerged that more work needs also to be done to provide information about minimum service standards, service charters and redress mechanisms. While there are levels of frustration among residents who want government to improve service delivery, residents also have relatively high expectations that they are entitled to better service from the current government and its institutions.
The outcomes of the 2006 Gauteng Provincial Government Perception survey indicate that most of Gauteng residents believe that the province is aware of their needs. There is a challenge for continued direct interaction with residents, such as has been positively evinced by public participation in izimbizo and other outreach programmes.
The survey indicates that the public is often not aware of government channels to lodge complaints or procedures to seek redress, or they are not very confident about those channels.
Media coverage of service delivery failures and weaknesses, inept public servants, poor turnaround times in addressing complaints and allegations of corruption have added to negative perceptions of the public service.
On the other hand, government's hard work in uncovering corruption and taking disciplinary action against erring civil servants is often not complimented but rather projected as the work of investigative journalism. Service excellence often goes unnoticed, living under the shadow of negative stories.
Within the public service, there are indications that some public servants may have heard of the terms Batho Pele or Public Service Standards, but are not necessarily aware of what exactly they entail or what is required of them. Other issues such as poor labour relations and a lack of skills and capacity also impacts on poor service delivery.
While individual departments do focus on internal communication, there is a lack of comprehensive communication aimed at public servants as a whole.
In response to this state of affairs, we as Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG), bring a message to all our people that:
* All citizens have the right to high quality, caring and integrated government services. This critically includes removing obstacles to effective service delivery, making sure services are sustainable and increasing the responsiveness of the public sector to complaints and problems from citizens.
* Public servants have rights and responsibilities.
* Every public servant, regardless of rank, has a role to play in building an effective and caring public service.
* Public servants have a right to know what is expected of them and a responsibility to deliver effective public services.
* We must be civil servants and continue to treat our people with dignity and integrity.
* Batho Pele principles must become a living reality, and be integrated into all government programmes, instead of being revisited in times of crisis.
* We must strive to promote service excellence in honour of constitutionally entrenched rights to administrative justice.
* Every department has an obligation develop a service delivery improvement plan.
We also urge public servants to make their suggestions on how to improve service delivery and make GPG an effective and caring government
We commit ourselves to developing a set of service standards so that the public should know what level of service they can expect; we also commit to speedily and effectively addressing requests for assistance or complaints from citizens, as well as allegations of ill-treatment by public servants of members of the public.
We commit ourselves to the development and implementation of programmes whose aim is to significantly improve the quality of public services. Such programmes must also become increasingly accessible to all the citizens of our country.
Public Service Week is a representation of the programmes that we will be implementing throughout the year and this will be institutionalised beyond a political term of office, in line with the Constitution of our country, so as to move significantly and speedily towards meeting the needs of our people. Among the programmes to be implemented will be a roll out of events and communication activities to popularise the Departmental Service Standards and Batho Pele principles, this will be simultaneously directed at public servants and Gauteng residents. As of this year, Public Service Week will become a platform that all of us will use to measure progress made in pursuit of the delivery of quality services to all the people of our province and beyond.
Public Service Week activities will include respective launches of departmental minimum service standards, service charters and information on redress mechanisms. Road shows and unannounced visits by political principals will also become part of a sustained and overarching programme in the public service. Information will also be made available through all the communication tools and mechanisms at the disposal of government.
In addition, there will be open days for the public to visit various departments to learn more about the services, be assisted to access information and services. All Staff will be required to wear their name tags at all times. There will also be continuous report-backs from senior managers at service delivery points.
MECs budget votes will also speak to the progress made in the implementation of this initiative. We also aim to incentivise service delivery excellence through participation in the Premier's Service Excellence Awards, acknowledgment at izimbizo, Community Awareness Days and other outreach programmes. The outcomes of the 2005 Public Service Summit will serve as an important guide.
Community Development Workers and Ward committees will also become important channels of communication between government and residents, offering us an opportunity to continuously improve cooperation in ensuring intergovernmental accessibility of services.
These programmes are primarily aimed at Gauteng residents in general, particularly users or potential users and beneficiaries of government services, the poor and the vulnerable, residents in under-serviced communities, informal settlements etc.
The programme will be driven by all levels of public servants across all GPG departments; front line staff in service departments including police, nurses, social services; Community Health Workers; School Governing Bodies; Community Policing Forums; Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) and Government Information Centres (GICs)
Service providers to government departments will also be expected to align their service standards with those set by this programme.
Public service unions are also a key stakeholder in this regard.
Provincial government feedback to ideas submitted by public servants during last year's Public Service Week. Ideas were requested from public servants on how to improve service delivery and implement Batho Pele.
The implementation of this programme will enable us to profile and promote best practice and best practice role models in the public service; to foster positive attitudes, selflessness and dedication to excellent service provision among GPG workers; to create a sense of pride, common purpose and unity, and hope among public servants in the Gauteng Provincial Government; to inculcate a sense of accountability to the public; and to promote ongoing service delivery improvement.
Work will be done to ensure that citizens are aware of their rights and responsibilities. This relates to the public services to which they are entitled; how to access these services; what service standards to expect; how to contact government; what redress mechanisms exist; and how to access such redress mechanisms.
This will go a long way towards improving the residents' understanding of how government works as well as promoting best practice in the public service, further enabling government to attract some of the best skills in the province, and making them available at the public’s disposal.
We need a public service that is responsive to the needs of the people and committed to the implementation of the Public Service Standards and Batho Pele principles. We also need to demonstrate a caring about the welfare of our public servants and, therefore, recognise and reward service excellence.
However, poor service delivery and corruption will not be tolerated at any public service point. Public servants have a central role to play in improving the lives of the people of Gauteng and in building a better Gauteng.
To improve public access and perceptions of service delivery we will raise awareness of their rights as well as service standards and redress mechanisms through the provision of information on Public Service Charters and Batho Pele principles.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, Gauteng Provincial Government
24 July 2006
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