1.1.1 The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (WPTPS), published on 24 November 1995, sets out eight transformation priorities, amongst which Transforming Service Delivery is the key. This is because a transformed South African public service will be judged by one criterion above all: its effectiveness in delivering services which meet the basic needs of all South African citizens. Public services are not a privilege in a civilised and democratic society: they are a legitimate expectation. That is why meeting the basic needs of all citizens is one of the five key programmes of the Government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). It is also the reason why the Government’s macro-economic strategy called Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) calls, among other things, for the reduction in government consumption and the release of resources for productive investment and their redirection to areas of greatest need. This means that government institutions must be reorientated to optimise access to their services by all citizens, within the context of fiscal constraints and the fulfilment of competing needs.

1.1.2 The Constitution, 1996 stipulates that public administration should adhere to a number of principles including that:

1.1.3 In line with these Constitutional principles, the WPTPS calls on all national and provincial departments to make service delivery a priority. The WPTPS also provides a framework to enable national and provincial departments to develop departmental service delivery strategies. These strategies will need to promote continuous improvements in the quantity, quality and equity of service provision. Chapter 11 of the WPTPS requires national and provincial departments to identify, among other things:

• a mission statement for service delivery, together with service guarantees;
• the services to be provided, to which groups, and at which service charges; in line with RDP priorities, the principle of affordability, and the principle of redirecting resources to areas and groups previously under-resourced;
• service standards, defined outputs and targets, and performance indicators; benchmarked against comparable international standards;
• monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and structures, designed to measure progress and introduce corrective action, where appropriate;
• plans for staffing, human resource development and organisational capacity building, tailored to service delivery needs;
• the redirection of human and other resources from administrative tasks to service provision, particularly for disadvantaged groups and areas;
• financial plans that link budgets directly to service needs and personnel plans;
• potential partnerships with the private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) which will provide more effective forms of service delivery; and
• the development, particularly through training, of a culture of customer care and of approaches to service delivery that are sensitive to issues of race, gender and disability.

1.1.4 The WPTPS specifies, further, that in order to ensure that service delivery is constantly improved, national and provincial departments will be required to outline their specific short, medium and long term goals for service provision. They will also be required to provide annual and five yearly targets for the delivery of specific services, and will be required to report to their respective national and provincial legislatures on their achievements.

1.1.5 Improving the delivery of public services means redressing the imbalances of the past and, while maintaining continuity of service to all levels of society, focusing on meeting the needs of the 40% of South Africans who are living below the poverty line and those, such as the disabled, and black women living in rural areas, who have previously been disadvantaged in terms of service delivery. Improving service delivery also calls for a shift away from inward-looking, bureaucratic systems, processes and attitudes, and a search for new ways of working which put the needs of the public first, is better, faster and more responsive to the citizens’ needs. It also means a complete change in the way that services are delivered. The objectives of service delivery therefore include welfare, equity and efficiency.

1.1.6 The introduction of a service delivery improvement programme cannot be achieved in isolation from other fundamental management changes within the public service. Improved service delivery cannot only be implemented byissuing circulars. It is not only about rule-books and ‘prescripts’, because it is not just an ‘administrative’ activity. It is also a dynamic process out of which a completely new relationship is developed between the public service and its I ndividual clients. To implement a service delivery programme successfully, public service managers require new management tools.

1.1.7 These ‘tools’ are, broadly, the tools of the ‘new public service management’. In essence these are:

• assignment to individual managers of responsibility for delivering specific results for a specified level of resources and for obtaining value for money in the use of those resources;
• individual responsibility for results matched with managerial authority for decisions about how resources should be used;
• delegation of managerial responsibility and authority to the lowest possible level; and
• transparency about the results achieved and resources consumed.

1.1.8 These ideas are not strange to South Africa - they are enshrined in the WPTPS. However, the Public Service is generally still quite a long way from implementing them. The public service is currently characterised, for example, by inequitable distribution of public services, especially in rural areas, lack of access to services, lack of transparency and openness and consultation on the required service standards, lack of accurate and simple information on services and standards at which they are rendered, lack of responsiveness and insensitiveness towards citizens’ complaints, and discourteous staff.

1.1.9 The Public Service still operates largely within immensely centralised, hierarchical and rule-bound systems and has systems which make it difficult to hold individuals to account because -

•  decision-making is diffused;
• they are focused on inputs rather than on outcomes;
• they do not encourage value for money;
• they do not reward innovation and creativity;
• they reward uniformity above effectiveness and responsiveness; and
• they encourage inward-looking, inflexible attitudes which are utterly at odds with the vision of a public service whose highest aim is ‘service to the people’.

1.1.10 As the custodian of many of these outdated systems and practices, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is largely responsible for ensuring that they are tackled and reformed; and the DPSA is putting a lot of time and effort into that task in the short-term and beyond.

1.1.11 In an ideal world, the DPSA and others would aim to complete these internal management reforms before an attempt was made to introduce a service delivery improvement programme. However, this would take five years or more and unfortunately the Public Service does not have the luxury of five years. Improved service delivery is a matter of extreme urgency for South Africa, and there is no choice but to tackle both internal management and service delivery reform simultaneously.

1.1.12 This White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, therefore, urgently seeks to introduce a fresh approach to service delivery: an approach which puts pressure on systems, procedures, attitudes and behaviour within the Public Service and reorients them in the customer’s favour, an approach which puts the people first. This does not mean introducing more rules and centralised processes or micro-managing service delivery activities. Rather, it involves creating a framework for the delivery of public services which treats citizens more like customers and enables the citizens to hold public servants to account for the service they receive. A framework which frees up the energy and commitment of public servants to introduce more customer-focused ways of working. This approach is encapsulated in the name which has been adopted by this initiative - Batho Pele (a Sotho adage meaning ‘People First’). The Batho Pele policy framework consists of eight service delivery principles mentioned in paragraph 3 below, derived from the policy goals set out in Chapter 11 of the WPTPS.

1.1.13 This White Paper is primarily about how public services are provided, and specifically about improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the way in which services are delivered. It is not about what services are to be provided - their volume, level and quality - which is a matter for Ministers, Members of the Executive Councils (MECs) and their duly appointed heads of government institutions.

1.2.1 Private companies cannot afford to ignore the needs and wishes of their customers if they want to stay in business, because dissatisfied customers can choose to take their business elsewhere. Knowing what the customer wants and providing it quicker, better and cheaper than your competitors, is essential to business success. Thus, in the private sector ‘the customer comes first’ is not an empty slogan but a fundamental business principle.

1.2.2 By contrast, citizens cannot choose to take their business elsewhere. Many public services are not paid for directly by individual ‘customers’, and national and provincial departments which fail to satisfy their ‘customers’ do not go out of business. Moreover, many public services, such as revenue collection or the imposition of law and order are not ‘services’ but are regulatory in function. They are accepted by citizens as essential safeguards of a civilised society in which the vulnerable are protected and all citizens have equal opportunity for economic and social development.

1.2.3 The concept of the citizen as a ‘customer’ may therefore seem inappropriate at first sight. ‘Customer’ is nevertheless a useful term in the context of improving service delivery because it embraces certain principles which are as fundamental to public service delivery as they are to the provision of services for commercial gain. To treat citizens as ‘customers’ implies:

• listening to their views and taking account of them in making decisions about what services should be provided;
• treating them with consideration and respect;
• making sure that the promised level and quality of service is always of the highest standard; and
• responding swiftly and sympathetically when standards of service fall below the promised standard.

1.2.4 The term ‘customer’ will therefore be useful in taking forward the Batho Pele initiative and is used interchangeably with the term citizen throughout this White Paper. But it is not only the public who are ‘customers’. National and provincial departments have many internal customers such as components within their own organisations, as well as other departments and institutions for whom they provide a service. The Batho Pele initiative applies equally to these internal customers. The terms citizen and customer used throughout this White Paper refer both to internal and external customers.

1.2.5 Measured against the ‘customer’ yardstick, the South African public sector has a long way to go. In many instances, there are no clearly defined standards by which to measure the delivery of services. Individual citizens find that complaining about services often has little effect and can in any case be a daunting and time-consuming process. Lack of information and complex regulations are also barriers to good service. All too often it is left to the citizen to work out for him- or herself what services are available, and what he or she is entitled to. Too many government forms are complicated and not designed with the user in mind. Too many letters are written in a stilted, impersonal style which is off-putting to the person who receives it. Finding the right person to speak to in a national department or provincial administration, particularly someone who can give friendly advice can be very trying, leaving the citizen feeling helpless, frustrated and uncertain.

1.2.6 Many public servants, especially those who serve the public directly, are only too conscious of all this, because they have to face the public’s frustrations every day in their work. They would often like to see improvements and often have good ideas for what could be done, but they are bound by systems and practices which they believe they are helpless to change.

Eight principles for transforming public service delivery - the Batho Pele principles - have been identified. These are expressed in broad terms in order to enable national and provincial departments to apply them in accordance with their own needs and circumstances. The Batho Pele principles are:

4.1.1 All national and provincial departments must, regularly and systematically, consult not only about the services currently provided but also about the provision of new basic services to those who lack them. Consultation will give citizens the opportunity of influencing decisions about public services, by providing objective evidence which will determine service delivery priorities. Consultation can also help to foster a more participative and co-operative relationship between the providers and users of public services.

4.1.2 There are many ways to consult users of services, including customer surveys, interviews with individual users, consultation groups, and meetings with consumer representative bodies, NGOs and CBOs. The method or methods adopted must be chosen to suit the characteristics of the users and consumers concerned. Whatever method is chosen, consultation must cover the entire range of existing and potential customers. It is essential that consultation should include the views of those who have previously been denied access to public services. Particular effort must be made to include the views of those who have been previously disadvantaged or who, due to geography, language barriers, fear of authority or any other reason, have previously found it hard to make their voices heard. The consultation process should be undertaken sensitively; for example, people should not be asked to reveal unnecessary personal information, and they should be able to give their views anonymously if they wish. Often, more than one method of consultation will be needed to ensure comprehensiveness and representativeness.

4.1.3 The results of the consultation process must be reported to Ministers or MECs, and made public. The results should also be widely publicised within the organisation so that all staff are aware of how their services are perceived. The results must then be taken into account when decisions are made about what services are to be provided, and at what level. Consultation must be conducted intelligently. It should not result in a list of demands that raise unrealistic expectations; rather, it should reveal where resources and effort should be focused in future to meet the public’s most pressing needs. The outcome should be a balance between what citizens want and what and provincial departments can realistically afford - and have the resources and capacity to deliver.

4.2.1 National and provincial departments must publish standards for the level and quality of services they will provide, including the introduction of new services to those who have previously been denied access to them. Service Standards must be relevant and meaningful to the individual user. This means that they must cover the aspects of service which matter most to users, as revealed by the consultation process, and they must be expressed in terms which are relevant and easily understood. Standards must also be precise and measurable, so that users can judge for themselves whether or not they are receiving what was promised.

4.2.2 Some standards will cover process, such as the length of time taken to authorise a housing claim, to issue a passport or identity document, or to answer letters. Other standards will be about outcomes. In the health area, for example, standards might be set for the maximum time a patient should have to wait at a primary health care clinic, or for a non-urgent operation; or for the information they are entitled to receive about their treatment, and about who is responsible for their case. Service Standards must be set at a level which is demanding but realistic. This means that they should reflect a level of service which is higher than that currently offered but which can be achieved with dedicated effort, and by adopting more efficient and customer-focused working practices. To achieve the goal of making South Africa globally competitive, standards should be benchmarked against international standards, taking into account South Africa’s current level of development.

4.2.3 The overall responsibility for decisions about what services are to be provided and at what level, rests with elected representatives - Ministers and MECs - who are accountable to the legislature for implementing Government policies and for the proper use of public money. Service Standards must therefore have the approval of Ministers or MECs before they are adopted. This need not require Ministers and MECs to be personally involved in the detail of service delivery programmes. The process will normally be conducted by presenting the Minister or MEC with the results of the consultation exercise, and proposing for his or her approval, the key standards to be set in priority areas together with a strategic plan for achieving them.

4.2.4 Once approved, Service Standards must be published and displayed at the point of delivery and communicated as widely as possible to all potential users so that they know what level of service they are entitled to expect, and can complain if they do not receive it. Publishing standards is not enough, however. A formal mechanism for determining standards must be developed, and performance against standards must be regularly measured and the results published at least once a year, and more frequently where appropriate. These steps form an essential mechanism to enable the public to hold national and provincial departments to account for their performance. They are also essential tools to track improvements in services from year to year, and to inform subsequent decisions about the levels to which standards should be raised in future. 

4.2.5 Performance against standards must be reviewed annually and, as standards are met, so they should be progressively raised, year on year. Once set and published, standards may not be reduced. If a standard is not met, the reasons must be explained publicly and a new target date set for when it will be achieved.

4.3.1 While some South Africans enjoy public services of first world quality, many others live in third world conditions. One of the prime aims of Batho Pele is to provide a framework for making decisions about delivering public services to the many South Africans who were and still are denied access to them, within the parameters of the Government’s GEAR strategy. Batho Pele also aims to rectify the inequalities of distribution in existing services. All national and provincial departments are required to specify and set targets for progressively increasing access to their services for those who have not previously received them.

4.3.2 One significant factor affecting access is geography. Many people who live in remote areas have to travel long distances to avail themselves of public services. In drawing up their service delivery programmes, national and provincial departments must develop strategies to eliminate the disadvantages of distance, for example, by setting up mobile units, and redeploying facilities and resources closer to those in greatest need. Another significant factor is the lack of infrastructure, which exacerbates the difficulties of communication with and travel to remote areas. There are other barriers to access - social, cultural, linguistic, for example - which need to be taken into account. Service delivery programmes should therefore specifically address the need to progressively redress the disadvantages of all barriers to access.

4.4.1 The concept of courtesy goes much wider than asking public servants to give a polite smile and to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, though these are certainly required. It requires service providers to put themselves in the shoes of the customer and to treat them with as much consideration and respect as they would like to receive themselves. Many public servants do this instinctively; they joined the public service precisely because they have a genuine desire to serve the public. The Principles of Batho Pele require that the behaviour of all public servants is raised to the level of the best.

4.4.2 National and provincial departments must specify the standards for the way in which customers should be treated. These are to be included in their departmental Codes of Conduct. These standards should cover, among other things:

• greeting and addressing customers;
• the identification of staff by name when dealing with customers, whether in person, on the telephone or in writing;
• the style and tone of written communications;
• simplification and ‘customer-friendliness’ of forms;
• the maximum length of time within which responses must be made to enquiries;
• the conduct of interviews;
• how complaints should be dealt with;
• dealing with people who have special needs, such as the elderly or infirm;
• gender; and
• language.

4.4.3 The performance of staff who deal with customers must be regularly monitored, and performance which falls below the specified standards should not be tolerated. Service delivery and customer care must be included in all future training programmes, and additional training should be given to all those who deal directly with the public, whether face-to-face, in writing or on the telephone. This should not require the injection of large amounts of additional resources: it is more a case of reorienting existing training courses to focus on service delivery. Of equal importance to formal training, is the example set by senior managers, and the day-to-day guidance of immediate supervisors. Junior staff quickly pick up the unspoken messages about an organisation’s values from the way their seniors behave. Senior managers have a duty to ensure that the values and behavioural norms of their organisations are in line with the Principles of Batho Pele.

4.4.4 An important aspect of encouraging customer-focused behaviour is to provide staff with opportunities to suggest ways of improving service and for senior managers to take these suggestions seriously. This applies particularly to staff who come into regular contact with the public because they usually have an accurate appreciation of their needs and concerns. Senior managers should ensure they receive first-hand feedback from front-line staff, and should personally visit front-line staff at regular intervals to see for themselves what is happening.

4.5.1 Information is one of the most powerful tools at the customer’s disposal in exercising his or her right to good service. National and provincial departments must provide full, accurate and up-to-date information about the services they provide, and who is entitled to them. This must be done actively, in order to ensure that information is received by all those who need it, especially those who have previously been excluded from the provision of public services. The consultation process should also be used to find out what customers and potential customers need to know, and then to work out how, where and when the information can best be provided.

4.5.2 Implementing Batho Pele will require a complete transformation of communication with the public. Information must be provided in a variety of media and languages to meet the differing needs of different customers. This is essential to ensure the inclusion of those who are, or have previously been disadvantaged by physical disability, language, race, gender, geographical distance or in any other way. Written information should be plain and free of jargon, and supported by graphical material where this will make it easier to understand. There should always be a name and contact number for obtaining further information and advice. All written information should be tested on the target audience for readability and comprehensiveness. However, it should not be assumed that written information alone will suffice: many people prefer to receive information verbally, so that they can ask questions and check their understanding.

4.5.3 As a minimum, information about services should be available at the point of delivery, but for users who are far from the point of delivery, other arrangements will be needed. Schools, libraries, clinics, shops, and local NGOs and CBOs are all potential distribution points; information notices on trees in rural areas, and toll-free telephone helplines, in a variety of languages, where needed, can be extremely effective. Service providers should also make regular visits to remote communities to disseminate information.

4.6.1 Openness and transparency are the hallmarks of a democratic government and are fundamental to the public service transformation process. In terms of public service delivery, their importance lies in the need to build confidence and trust between the public sector and the public they serve. A key aspect of this is that the public should know more about the way national and provincial departments are run, how well they perform, the resources they consume, and who is in charge.

4.6.2 The mechanism for achieving this will be an Annual Report to Citizens published by each national and provincial department setting out, in plain language:

• staff numbers employed, and the names and responsibilities of senior officials;
• performance against targets for: improved service delivery, financial savings, and increased efficiency;
• resources consumed, including salaries and other staff costs, and other operating expenses;
• any income, such as fees for services;
• targets for the following year; and
• a name and contact number for further information.

4.6.3 These Reports to Citizens are not a substitute for national and provincial departments’ formal annual reports. Their aim is, in one or two pages of straightforward language, to provide the public with key information which they are entitled to know. Reports to Citizens should be publicised as widely as possible and should also be submitted to national and provincial legislatures in order to assist the relevant Portfolio Committees in scrutinising and monitoring departmental activities.

4.6.4 Additionally, national and provincial departments may utilise events such as open days, preferably not during normal working hours, to invite citizens to visit the department or institution to meet with all levels of officials to discuss service delivery issues, standards, problems, etc. These events can also provide the department or institution with an opportunity to advertise their services to citizens.

4.7.1 The capacity and willingness to take action when things go wrong, is the necessary counterpart of the standard setting process. The key to the Batho Pele Redress principle lies in being able to identify quickly and accurately when services are falling below the promised standard and having procedures in place to remedy the situation. This needs to be done at the individual level in transactions with the public, as well as at the organisational level, in relation to the entire service delivery programme.

4.7.2 This means a completely new approach to handling complaints. Complaints are seen by many public servants as a time-consuming irritation. Where complaints procedures exist, they are often lengthy and bureaucratic, aimed at defending the department’s actions rather than solving the user’s problem. Many departments have no procedures for regularly reviewing complaints in order to identify systemic problems. Indeed many organisations do not collect any statistics about the number and type of complaints they receive. Often, ‘complaints’ are counted as such only when they are submitted in writing through the formal channels. Yet many members of the public do not bother using these channels because they have no confidence in their effectiveness, and because they find the process time-consuming and sometimes daunting. As a result, public sector organisations frequently underestimate the level of dissatisfaction which exists.

4.7.3 The first steps, therefore, are to acknowledge that all dissatisfaction, expressed in writing or verbally, is an indication that the citizen does not consider that the promised standard of service is being delivered; and then to establish ways of measuring all expressions of dissatisfaction. Staff should be encouraged to welcome complaints as an opportunity to improve service, and to report complaints so that weaknesses can be identified and remedied. The head of each department should regularly and personally review complaints, and how they have been dealt with.

4.7.4 National and provincial departments are required to review and improve their complaints systems, in line with the following principles:

Accessibility
Complaints systems should be well-publicised and easy to use. Excessive formality should be avoided. Systems which require complaints to be made only in writing may be convenient for the organisation but can be off-putting to many customers. Complaints made in other ways, such as face-to-face, or by telephone, should therefore also be welcomed.

Speed
The longer it takes to respond to a complaint the more dissatisfied customers will become. An immediate and genuine apology together with a full explanation will often be all that they want. Where delay is unavoidable, the complainant should be kept informed of progress and told when an outcome an be expected.

Fairness
Complaints should be fully and impartially investigated. Many people will be nervous of complaining to a senior official about a member of their staff, or about some aspect of the system for which the official is responsible. Wherever possible, therefore, an independent avenue should be offered if the complainant is dissatisfied with the response they receive the first time round.

Confidentiality
The complainant’s confidentiality should be protected, so that they are not deterred from making complaints by feeling that they will be treated less sympathetically in future.

Responsiveness
The response to a complaint, however trivial, should take full account of the individual’s concerns and feelings. Where a mistake has been made, or the service has fallen below the promised standard, the response should be immediate, starting with an apology and a full explanation; an assurance that the occurrence will not be repeated; and then whatever remedial action is necessary. Wherever possible, staff who deal with the public directly should be empowered to take action themselves to put things right.

Review
Complaints systems should incorporate mechanisms for review and for feeding back suggestions for change to those who are responsible for providing the service, so that mistakes and failures do not recur.

Training
Complaints handling procedures should be publicised throughout the organisation and training given to all staff so that they know what action to take when a complaint is received.

4.8.1 Improving service delivery, and extending access to public services to all South Africans must be achieved alongside the Government’s GEAR strategy for reducing public expenditure and creating a more cost-effective public service. The rate at which services are improved will therefore be significantly affected by the speed with which national departments achieve efficiency savings which can be ploughed back into improved services. Many improvements that the public would like to see often require no additional resources and can sometimes even reduce costs. A courteous and respectful greeting requires no financial investment. Failure to give a member of the public a simple, satisfactory explanation to an enquiry may result in an incorrectly completed application form which will cost time to put right. A few hours each month of a senior manager’s time spent talking to their customers - and the staff who serve them - may be worth hundreds of rands in consultants’ fees.

4.8.2 One of the key aims of Batho Pele will therefore be to search for ways to simplify procedures and eliminate waste and inefficiency. All national and provincial departments will be required, as part of their service delivery improvement programmes, to identify areas where efficiency savings will be sought, and the service delivery improvements which will result from achieving the savings.

5.1 It is not only the public who would like to see public services improve. Many dedicated public servants, particularly those who serve the public directly, are frustrated by systems and procedures which are often a barrier to good service rather than a support for it. It is essential to the success of Batho Pele that the commitment, energy and skills of public servants are harnessed to tackle inefficient, outdated and bureaucratic practices, to simplify complex procedures, and to identify new and better ways of delivering services. It is also important that the efforts of staff - both individuals and groups - who perform well in providing customer service, should be recognised and appropriately rewarded.

5.2. Performance appraisal must in future include an assessment of the performance of individual staff in contributing to improving service to the public. This will be essential for staff who serve the public directly, but it is also important for staff who provide services directly to their fellow public servants whether in their own or other departments. A key indicator will be how they rate in their dealings with their customers in accordance with the behaviour code of the department.

5.3 National and provincial departments must also ensure that a conducive environment for the delivery of services is created to enhance their staff’s capacity to deliver good services. This means, for example, that staff dealing with the public directly should be given the necessary support and tools to carry out their functions effectively and efficiently.

6.1 Improving public service delivery matters not only to the individual users of services, but also to the whole community. Improved delivery of service from national and provincial departments, as well as from institutions such as hospitals and tax offices, is essential for the future economic prosperity and social development of the country as set out in the Government’s GEAR strategy.

6.2 Business and industry, NGOs, CBOs, academic institutions and other bodies throughout the community can all play a part in supporting Batho Pele. For example, local businesses might assist in funding the publication of Service Standards or a telephone helpline, or they might sponsor a customer survey in a variety of official languages. They could also offer secondments and exchanges to public servants to broaden their experience. NGOs and CBOs could help to spread information about what services are available and where to obtain them. They can also help individual citizens to access public service complaints schemes, and can work with national and provincial departments to simplify procedures and regulations. Academic institutions might be willing to conduct comparative studies on international best practice in public service improvement.

6.3 These are only a few examples of possible areas of involvement. There are many more potential areas of co-operation. These possibilities need to be creatively explored by national and provincial departments. As part of their consultation exercises, national and provincial departments must involve representatives of the wider community in discussions about the future development of public services. They should also forge partnerships with business, NGOs, CBOs and other stakeholders to encourage them to participate in service improvement initiatives.

7.1 National and provincial departments are expected to start work on their service delivery campaigns immediately after approval of this White Paper. As a first step, national and provincial departments must consult with customers about their needs and priorities. National and provincial departments must then draw up a Service Delivery Improvement Programme, setting out proposed service standards and how it is proposed to implement them. The Programme should set out, among other things:

• the existing levels of service and the proposed service standards to be adopted in the short, medium and long term;
• how service standards will be monitored and reported on, and the management information systems which will support this;
• the organisational and systems arrangements which will ensure standards are met;
• the human resource training, supervision and appraisal arrangements which will ensure that staff behave in accordance with the Principles of Batho Pele;
• how the department’s communications systems will be geared up to provide information about the type and frequency of services that customers require;
• how complaints systems will be developed to identify and rectify failure to deliver the promised standard to individual ‘customers’; and
• the financial management systems which will collect data on the unit costs of key services, in order to provide information for standard and priority setting in subsequent years.

7.2 A department’s Programme must then be submitted for discussion and agreement with their Minister or MEC. Once approved, the Progamme can also be used to:

• inform staff and encourage them to focus on improved service delivery;
• provide information to facilitate monitoring by the Public Service Commission (PSC), DPSA, Portfolio Committees, the national and provincial and inter-provincial transformation co-ordinating committees, and departmental transformation units; and
• provide the basis for the eventual published document setting out the organisation’s service standards and other service delivery goals and commitments (see paragraph 8 below).

7.3 A copy of the approved Service Delivery Improvement Programme must be sent to the DPSA to inform the DPSA’s yearly progress report to Parliament.

8.1 National and provincial departments are required to publish their Service Standards in a Statement of Public Service Commitment. The main aim is to make a clear commitment to the Service Standards that citizens can expect, and to explain to citizens how the organisation will fulfil each of the Principles of Batho Pele. Each Statement will be signed by the relevant Minister or MEC who will be answerable for the delivery of the Commitment. The DPSA may be consulted in drawing up the Statements.

8.2 Statements of Public Service Commitment should be short, simple and easy to understand. They should be published in relevant local languages. Strenuous efforts should be made to ensure that all users and potential users of public services are aware of the Statements, which are an essential tool to enable citizens to demand services in accordance with the Principles of Batho Pele. In widely spread rural areas, for example, radio and local community centres should be encouraged to publicise the Statements.

Some national and provincial departments have already embarked on service improvement programmes and should be ready to launch their service standards by the end of 1997. The three pilot areas of the Public Service are the national Department of Health, the Department of Home Affairs, and Provincial Administration: North-West.

10.1 Transformation units in national and provincial departments will have a key role to play in helping to support national and provincial departments’ efforts to improve service delivery, by feeding in fresh ideas for improvements and identifying areas where existing systems are a stumbling block to better service. They will also monitor the results of their department’s service delivery improvement programme and offer suggestions for making more rapid and effective progress. At national and provincial level, the various transformation co-ordinating committees will be valuable as focal points for sharing experience and best practice, and ensuring that momentum is maintained right across the Public Service.

10.2 The DPSA, which has a policy responsibility for the transformation of the Public Service and, within that, for improving service delivery, has set up a support team to guide and assist national and provincial departments. The DPSA will also monitor the overall progress of the initiative, in addition to the normal monitoring to be done by the PSC and report the results to Parliament.

10.3 The DPSA’s support team will be available to work supportively with national and provincial departments, when requested, to assist in the development of their Statements of Public Service Commitment. As a first step, the DPSA will prepare and issue guidelines on implementing the Principles of Batho Pele, and on drawing up Service Delivery Improvement Plans. The DPSA will also arrange regular opportunities for national and provincial departments to exchange information and best practice on topics of common interest, such as standard setting, the development of improved complaints systems, and consultation techniques; and to learn from relevant experience.

The first Statements of Public Service Commitment are expected to be produced from the end of 1997. However, the timetable for implementing Batho Pele across the public service will vary from department to department according to local conditions and capacities.

12.1 Improving public service delivery is not a one-off exercise. It is an ongoing and dynamic process, because as standards are met, they must be progressively raised. This document marks only the first stage in that process. There is a great deal to do, and progress will sometimes be frustratingly slow; but the task is one of the most worthwhile and rewarding that the public service faces, and the need is urgent, so there is no time to lose. It is a process that must involve every public servant, at every level, in every department, whether they work behind the scenes or directly with the public.

12.2 Batho Pele has the potential to bring about a major change in the way that public services are delivered. This White Paper marks the start of a continuous process of improvement which will lead in time to public services that the public have a right to expect and that public servants are proud to provide. In this period of transformation and reform, when public servants are facing constant changes and sometimes confusing challenges, Batho Pele reminds them that their main goal, their prime motivation, their most important task is service to their customers. The Batho Pele message is that the customer comes first, last and all the time. Batho Pele does not promise the impossible. It asks public servants to commit themselves to the limits of what is possible; and then to push on to the next goal. If the initiative is to achieve its aims, public servants at every level, from the very top to the most junior, must understand it and support it. Batho Pele must become the watchword of the new South African public service.