Auckland Park, 4 September 2000
IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY THROUGH INNOVATION
When the democratic government came into power we inherited a system which had for years served only a fraction of the population of this country. The mandate of the new government was to deliver a 'better life for all', and so we set about putting a plan into place to ensure that we delivered to this nation. Our plan was not unlike the business plans that you would embark upon when starting or changing direction in a business. You are guided by the need to make profit; our guiding principle is "service to the people".
We institutionalised our guiding principles in legislation like the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, and later the Batho Pele White Paper. Several important initiatives emanated from the White Paper. The first and most important was a new, more flexible regulatory framework in terms of which the management autonomy and accountability of departments and provincial administrations was enhanced.
The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, commonly referred to as Batho Pele "people first", was based upon eight basic principles of: consultation, service standards, access, courtesy, information, openness and transparency, redress and value for money. The guidelines serve the public, so they know what to expect from government and public servants, so they know how to deliver services. Like courtesy: the principle is that you, the public should be treated with courtesy and consideration. Departments are expected to set standards for the treatment of the public and should incorporate these into codes of conduct.
Although Batho Pele has made a contribution towards improving the service delivery attitudes of many public servants, managers have indicated that they need a practical and flexible toolkit to enable them to make meaningful contributions towards the improvement in service delivery. Essentially: setting policies and guidelines in place are not enough. We have to get out there and work with departments to implement what the country expects out of improved service delivery. We must also be innovative and creative in planning the best route to service excellence.
For this reason the Department of Public Service and Administration, DPSA, prioritised the development of a Service Delivery Innovation (SDI) policy framework and guidelines. Service Delivery Innovation is an optimum mix of flexible service delivery mechanisms and tools that can be strategically used to achieve Government's service delivery objectives either directly by Government or in collaboration with other sectors such as the private sector or through non-government organisations.
The SDI option is not an end in itself but a means available to deliver services affordably and efficiently in the context where the demand for basic quality services continues to outpace the available resources. An incorrect and misleading notion holds that the SDI approach is government's policy to promote the private sector at the expense of the public sector. This view is wrong. SDI is not meant to be a replacement of the traditional methods of direct service delivery but a strategy to provide departments with greater flexibility in addressing service delivery objectives. SDI may even have the added advantage of contributing to business development by outsourcing specific labour intensive, non-core activities to employee-owned empowerment SMME's. Where employees may lack the requisite business skills to run such empowerment companies, private business may be able to provide valuable contributions with regard to training or even by engaging in equity partnerships with these envisaged businesses.
The delivery of quality services through strategic partnerships requires a clear and stable policy environment in order for government and service providers to mobilise resources to meet the policy objectives of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). This is precisely what we intend to achieve with the development of a policy framework on Service Delivery Innovation. Ultimately, the policy framework will enable us to reorganise the manner in which government delivers services with a view to improving inefficiency. Such re-organising will encompass an improvement in the efficiency of existing institutions, utilisation of Public-Private partnerships, establishment of agencies within the government and co-operation with civil society to improve delivery.
Service Delivery Innovation methods such as shared services, outsourcing, commercialisation, mobile services and public/private partnerships are being investigated and piloted in Gauteng, the Northern Province and Free State. The pilots point to a few problems in the implementation of service delivery innovation guidelines. These include the absence of frameworks on which service delivery innovation is the most appropriate for a given situation, or how to deal with staff transfers, pensions of transferring staff and the relaxation of procurement processes. Of particular concern at the moment is the tendency to inappropriately opt to make use of an arms length agency instead of public service institutions to deliver services. These factors continue to impact negatively on the pace of service delivery and efficient application of SDI mechanisms. We have taken cognisance of these challenges and are already working on them to improve our SDI plan.
There will also be a concerted drive to empower public servants to apply innovative service delivery methodology and to be more 'business-like' in their approaches to service delivery. The DPSA, in collaboration with South African Management Development Initiative, SAMDI, and other national and provincially based training providers, will launch an awareness and capacity enhancement campaign to inform departments about SDI options and practices. Departments will also be assisted in setting up systems to monitor; service delivery performance to ensure that it remains aligned to the mandates and expectations of customers. We are already in the process of developing a measuring instrument, a Service Delivery Watch List, for this purpose.
Finally, in order to ensure that the Public Service in future stay on the cutting edge of service delivery innovation we are also in the process of establishing a Centre for Public Service Innovation, which will:
So you see ladies and gentlemen the business of government is not unlike that of the private sector. Your profits are reflected in the bottom line, our profits have to do with the health and well being of the population of this country. Issues of service delivery are akin to us both. Our business plans, like most, have to be watertight but flexible to change. We must be just as creative as you must, because as I'm sure you will admit, serving almost 41 million people is no easy task. It is, however, a challenge that we have fought for and a goal that this democratic government will strive to achieve.