Improving services to citizens
Karen Pretorius
14 July 2005
South Africa's senior public servants are gathered in Cape Town for the fourth annual Service Delivery Learning Academy, to exchange ideas on ways to improve the delivery of services to the country's people.
During the three-day academy, delegates from all state sectors will deliberate on how to strengthen the machinery of government and focus on specific case studies of successes and failures. It meets under the theme of "Building the capacity of the state for improved service delivery".
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is one of the case studies. Sassa was formed to improve the administration of social grants.
Chief executive of the agency, Fezile Makiwane, said social aid was one of the government's main poverty alleviation programmes, providing income support to over 9.8-million people.
"At the heart of what government wants to achieve is improved service delivery to beneficiaries," he said.
The budget for
social assistance is over R55-billion for the current financial year.
The current social assistance system faces problems such as lack of uniformity across provinces, poor management, fraud, poor quality of service delivery and high transaction costs.
Sassa will ensure clear lines of accountability, a standardised and consistent approach and transparent performance management.
"The new institutional structure will be focused on the core business of grants, or benefit administration," he said.
Makiwane said the grant administration process will be streamlined. The application process will use technology, and have fewer people involved and fewer steps.
The new agency will also focus on lower costs for grants administration, customer service and improved management.
Acknowledging weaknesses
Speaking at the meeting, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser Moleketi said the academy could add to the
case studies, but also acknowledge weaknesses.
"By listening and learning from each other's individual experiences, we are in fact developing what is called communities of practice," she said.
The "communities of practice", she said, were ideal vehicles to face the government's challenges head-on.
Fraser-Moleketi said in the modern public service, issues such as decentralisation, agentisation and outsourcing hampered integration and coordination.
But she pointed out that modern information and communication technology could help integration and coordination.
"Sharing what has not worked in initiatives will be an important part of the academy," she said.
The academy will help the public service to develop its knowledge base around service delivery.
"We have a single purpose: to deliver the best services possible to all South Africans, regardless of the difficulties involved in doing so," she said.
The academy ends on
Friday.
Source: Bua News
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