Batho Pele portal launched
Thabo Mokgola
30 July 2004
Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has called on South Africans to comment on the newly-launched Batho Pele Gateway Portal.
The first phase of the portal was launched in Johannesburg on Thursday.
"We are hoping to get feedback on the first phase so that we can upgrade it to become more user-friendly where necessary," she said, adding that the portal will enable people to know where and how to access business-related and/or social services.
Fraser-Moleketi said the initiative was part of ongoing efforts aimed at improving service delivery.
"The Batho Pele Gateway Portal is poised to make government services accessible to people at their convenience," she said.
The portal, accessible through the Government Online website, provides access to comprehensive government information.
Government will utilise one-stop service centres, the Multi-Purpose
Community Centres to make the Gateway accessible for rural people.
Citizens will be assisted by specially trained personnel in nine MPCCs selected for the first phase of implementation of the Gateway and 55 points of access at postal facilities.
Forty community development workers have so far been trained in Gauteng to carry out the programme.
The e-Government Gateway has five phases, with the first one being the information phase. The second phase is the transactional stage where users will be able to make payments including electricity bills, water and other services.
Over the next year attention will be given to improve access to services through the use of technology and increase the efficiency of core government systems.
The State Information Technology Agency will manage the portal's IT systems within the public service.
Source: BuaNews
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