The Gauteng Provincial Government announced yesterday that the Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSSC) has made significant progress since its initial start-up in September 2000.

Together with the GSSC CE Mike Roussos, Gauteng finance and economic affairs MEC Jabu Moleketi said that, although the concept for a shared services model is not a new one, the centre is one of the most sizeable shared- service models in the country.

The centre brings together all departments within the government, concerned with financial administration, procurement, human resources development and information technology (IT).

The centre cost around R80-million to set up, with an additional cost of R30-million for new equipment.

However, Roussos said, “We are saving tax-payers money. Already we have saved 30% on new software and R3 500 on each PC we have bought for the centre”.

Therefore, it is essentially a concept that takes on board the core activities of the government on one premises.

Roussos said that the migration of the departments and its employees is a slow process, and currently around 1 000 people have been moved to the new offices.

Moleketi said that the system will create more efficient services concerning employee salaries, paying for supplies to governmental institutions.

Around 120 000 people are employed with the Gauteng Provincial Government, and with so many people, many mistakes can be made with the administrative paperwork.

“Essentially, the employees will need to be trained, but we are hoping that eventually this model will provide efficient, quality-driven services,” he said.

Roussos added that, with the new IT software, employees would be trained to facilitate supplies and procurement contracts more frequently, making payments easier and faster to track.

Roussos also said that the centre has the ability to process more documents in a month – in July 110 000 documents were processed and followed-up.

The centre will be fully-operational in six months time.

“Already we have seen the benefits of the centre.

We have a better view and control over what’s going on in Gauteng, and the right information at hand to help us run the province better,” concluded Moleketi.