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Green Paper
Transforming Public Service Delivery
[TITLE - to be decided]
Department of Public Service and Administration
17 December 1996
Contents
Introduction
A guiding principle of the public service in South Africa
will be that of service to the people
1. The South African public service faces many challenges
in its efforts to become a truly representative, competent and democratic instrument and
to play its proper role in the reconciliation, reconstruction and development process. To
fulfill this role effectively, the public service is being transformed to implement
government policies according to the policy framework contained in the White Paper on the
Transformation of the Public Service (WPTPS) (Government Gazette No. 16838, dated 24
November 1995).
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2. The WPTPS has defined transformation as a dynamic,
focussed and relatively short-term process designed to fundamentally reshape the public
service for its appointed role in the new dispensation in South Africa. In the WPTPS,
eight transformation priorities are outlined and they are:
- Rationalisation and restructuring the Public Service;
- Institution building and management;
- Representativeness and affirmative action;
- Transforming service delivery;
- Democratising the state;
- Human resource development and training;
- Employment conditions and labour relations; and
- The promotion of a professional service ethos.
3. This document aims to address the need for a specific
policy and criteria for the transformation priority, transforming (public) service
delivery. It also provides the policy and criteria (principles) which would enable
national departments and provincial administrations to develop departmental service
delivery strategies. Departments and provincial administrations will need to develop the
strategies to promote continuous improvement in the quantity, quality and equity of
service provision. Among other things, such strategies will need, according to Chapter 11
of the WPTPS, to identify:
- 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, NGOs or
community organisations 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.
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4. In order to ensure that service delivery is constantly
improved, national departments and provincial administrations 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 Parliament on their achievements.
5. 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.
6. Improving 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 who have previously been disadvantaged in terms of service
delivery, such as black women living in rural areas. The objectives to be pursued
therefore may include that of welfare, equity and efficiency, etc. It also means a
complete change in the way that services are delivered. A shift away from inward-looking,
bureaucratic systems, processes and attitudes, towards new ways of working which put the
needs of the public first, is better, faster and more responsive to meet those needs.
7. This Green Paper explains how [....title....] will
tackle the task of transforming the delivery of public services. It covers those parts of
the public sector, both national and provincial, which are regulated by the Public Service
Act (procl. 103/94). However the policies are relevant to all areas of the public sector,
such as local government and parastatals, as well as the South African Defence Force and
the Intelligence Services. Those parts of the public sector covered directly by this
document therefore include three types of agencies -
- administrative agencies such as the Department of Public
Service and Administration (DPSA), which provide services directly to other national
departments and provincial administrations rather than directly to the public;
- service delivery agencies, such as the (provincial)
departments of Health, Agriculture and Education and particularly the components within
them such as hospitals, tax offices, etc.,which deliver services directly to the public;
and
- statutory agencies, such as the Public Service Commission
and the Auditor-General, which are established by the Constitution or other legislation as
bodies independent from the executive with important regulatory and monitoring functions
with respect to the public service.
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The customer must come first
8. 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.
9. By contrast, public sector “customers” cannot
choose to take their business elsewhere. They cannot exert the same pressure on public
service organisations (national departments and provincial administrations) to improve.
National departments and provincial administrations which fail to satisfy their customers
do not go out of business because of a lack of competition. Complaining often has little
effect and can in any case be a daunting and time-consuming process. The individual
citizen’s/ customer’s voice penetrates the walls of bureaucracy with difficulty.
10. The lack of information and complex regulations are two
further barriers to citizens/ customers in dealing with national departments and
provincial administrations. All too often it is left to the individual citizen/ customer
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, non-personal style which is off-putting
to the person who receives it. Finding the right person to speak to in a national
department and provincial administration, particularly someone who can give friendly,
helpful advice can be very trying, leaving the individual citizen/ customer feeling
helpless, frustrated and uncertain.
11. 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.
A fresh approach - the Principles of
Public Service Delivery
12. A fresh approach is needed: an approach which puts
pressure on systems, procedures, attitudes and behaviour within the Public Service and
reorients them in the customer’s favour. 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 puts citizens/
customers first and enables them 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. The framework consists of seven simple
principles, derived from the policy goals set out in Chapter 11 of the WPTPS, which are
aligned with Democracy and Accountability.
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The Principles of Public Service Delivery
Democracy and accountability require -
- Consultation Users and consumers of public services should
be consulted about the level and quality of the services they receive and, wherever
possible, to be given a choice about the services that are offered
- Service standards Users and consumers of public services
should be told what level and quality of service they will receive so that they are aware
of what to expect
- Courtesy Users and consumers of public services should be
treated with courtesy and consideration
- Information Users and consumers of public services should
expect full, accurate information about the services they are entitled to receive
- Openness and transparency The public should expect to be
told how national departments and provincial administrations are run, how much they cost,
and who is in charge
- Responsiveness Users and consumers of public services should
expect that, when the promised standard of service is not delivered, they will be offered
an apology, a full explanation and a speedy and effective remedy, and that any complaint
will produce a sympathetic, positive response
- Value for money The public should expect that public
services will be provided as economically and efficiently as possible
Putting Principles into practice
13. Putting the Principles of Public Service Delivery into
practice is the challenge now facing the South African public service. The Principles will
apply to national departments and provincial administrations and the components within
them such as tax offices, hospitals, etc. From now on, the public can expect that all
these organisations will be aiming to live up to the obligations which the Principles
place upon them, and that tangible results will follow. The following paragraphs describe
what national departments and provincial administrations will be expected to do.
Consulting users of services
14. From now on, national departments and provincial
administrations will be required regularly and systematically to consult the users and
consumers of their services about the services they provide. Consultation serves a number
of purposes. First, it provides the public with the opportunity of influencing decisions
about public services which affect their welfare. It can also foster a more participative
and co-operative relationship between the providers and users of public services. Just as
important, consultation will provide essential information about where national
departments’ and provincial administrations’ priorities should lie in improving
services.
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15. There are many ways to consult users of services,
including customer surveys, interviews with individual users, consultation groups, and
meetings with consumer representative bodies and community groups. Each department and
provincial administration is at liberty to choose the method to be adopted but, whatever
method is chosen, the result must be a representative cross section of the views of the
entire range of users. Particular effort must be made to include the views of those who,
due to geography, language barriers, fear of authority or any other reason, have
previously found it hard to make their voices heard. Often, more than one method of
consultation will be needed to ensure comprehensiveness and representativeness. For
example, a customer survey which provides statistical evidence will need to be
supplemented by examples of individual users’ actual experience. 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.
16. The results of the consultation process must be
reported to Ministers and MECs, and made public, and 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 the level and
type of service to be provided. This does not mean that consultation should result in a
list of impossible demands that cannot be met; but, conducted intelligently, it should
reveal where resources and effort should be focused in future to meet users’ most
pressing needs. It should represent an amicable balance between what the customers want
and what departments and provincial administrations can realistically provide.
Setting Service Standards
17. From the end of 1997 onwards, national departments and
provincial administrations will be required to publish standards for the level and quality
of services they provide. 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 set 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, eg by stipulating the
length taken to authorise claims, issue identity documents, answer letters, the number of
citizens who in future will have access to the services provided, what services will in
future be provided, etc.
18. More concrete examples may include health departments
stipulating the key standards a patient can expect in a hospital which may include: how
long they can expect to wait at the outpatient clinic; the maximum waiting time for a
non-urgent operation; the name of the person responsible for their case; the information
they are entitled to receive about their treatment, etc.
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19. Service Standards will be approved by the Minister or
MEC of the relevant department, who is ultimately responsible for the services being
provided. The Service Standards should be 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. Service Standards must then 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.
20. Publishing standards is not enough, however.
Performance against standards must be regularly measured and the results must be published
at least once a year, and more frequently where appropriate. This is an important
ingredient of national departments’ and provincial administrations’
accountability to their users. It is also essential in order to track improvements in
services from year to year, and to inform decisions about the levels to which standards
should be raised in future.
21. Results should be reviewed annually and, as Service
Standards are achieved, so they should be raised incrementally. There can be no question
of reducing a standard, once set, solely on the grounds that it has not been met. If
standards are not met, the reasons must be explained publicly and a new target date set
for when they will be achieved.
Ensuring courtesy
22. Under the Principles of Public Service Delivery the
concept of courtesy goes much wider than asking public servants to give a polite smile and
saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, though these are certainly required.
It embraces an entire code of behaviour which calls for public servants to put themselves
in the shoes of the users of their services and to treat them with as much consideration
and respect as they would want to receive themselves. It means making sure that the words
‘public service’ is a day-to-day reality for every citizen/ customer they deal
with. 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 Public Service
Delivery require that the behaviour of all public servants is raised to the level of the
best.
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23. This means that public servants should be instructed
about the standards of behaviour to be adopted when dealing with individual members of the
public, and that performance which falls below these standards should not be tolerated.
For example, all public servants should identify themselves by name when dealing with the
public directly, whether in person, on the telephone or in writing. Standards should be
set for the way public servants should address members of the public, for the style and
tone of written communications and the maximum length of time within which responses must
be made to enquiries from the public, for how interviews should be conducted, for how to
deal with complaints, for how to deal considerately with members of the public who are
disabled, or who have difficulty in understanding complex rules and regulations, or
filling in application forms, and so on.
24. National departments and provincial administrations
should draw up and publish a behaviour code, giving guidance about the way public servants
should behave towards the public/ customers and setting courtesy standards against which
the performance of individual staff will be assessed including - among other things -
their salary progression. Service delivery and customer care must be included in public
service training programmes and formal training given to all those who deal directly with
the public, whether face-to-face, in writing or on the telephone. This need not mean
spending a lot of additional resources: it is more a case of refocusing existing training
courses on service delivery.
25. Equally important to formal training, is the informal
training which comes from the example set by senior managers, and the day to day guidance
that new staff receive from their more experienced colleagues. Junior staff quickly pick
up the unspoken messages about an organisation’s values from the way their seniors
behave and learn to adapt to ‘how we do things round here’. Senior managers have
a duty to ensure that these values are in line with the Principles of Public Service
Delivery.
26. 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 and usually have an accurate
appreciation of their needs and concerns. Senior managers should regularly meet with such
staff to get feedback about services.
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Providing more and better information
27. Where customers have little or no choice about the
services they receive, information is one of the most powerful tools - sometimes the only
tool - that they have to exercise their right to good service. In future, national
departments and provincial administrations must work harder to make sure that citizens/
customers can use the tool of information. Implementing the Principles of Public Service
delivery calls for a complete transformation of the way in which national departments and
provincial administrations communicate with those who use their services.
28. National departments and provincial administrations
must make sure that citizens/ customers have access to full, accurate and up-to-date
information about the services which are available to them, and what their entitlements
are. This must be done actively where the information is available and the citizen/
customer is able to work out how to obtain it. Likewise, written documents must be in a
simple official language that is easily understood. The consultation process should be
used to find out what the citizen/ customer needs to know, and then to work out how, where
and when the information can best be provided.
29. Information must be provided in forms which meet the
varying needs of different users. This is essential to ensure that those who are
disadvantaged by physical disability, language barriers, geographical distance or in any
other way are included. For example, it should not be assumed that written information
will be suitable for all users: many people prefer to receive information verbally, so
that they can ask questions and check their understanding. 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.
30. As a minimum, information about services should be
available at the point of delivery, but for users who are remote from the point of
delivery, other arrangements will be needed. For example: schools, libraries, clinics and
local community institutions might be able to help; toll-free telephone helplines, in a
variety of languages where needed, can be extremely effective; and service providers
should consider making regular visits to remote communities.
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Increasing openness and transparency
31. Openness and transparency are the hallmarks of
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 national departments and provincial administrations and the citizens/
customers they serve. A key aspect of this is that the public should know more about the
way national departments and provincial administrations are run, how well they perform,
the resources they consume, and who is in charge.
32. National departments and provincial administrations
will be required to publish an annual statement - a Report to Citizens/ Customers -
setting out, in plain language:
- the staff numbers employed, and the names and
responsibilities of senior officials;
- the performance against targets for: financial savings,
increased efficiency and improved service delivery;
- the resources consumed, including salaries and other staff
costs, and other operating expenses;
- any income, such as fees for services; and
- targets for the following year.
33. Reports to Citizens/ Customers are not a substitute for
national departments’ and provincial administrations’ 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. The Reports should be distributed as
widely as possible throughout the community. Reports to Citizens/ Customers should also be
submitted to Parliament to assist the relevant Portfolio Committees in scrutinising
departmental activities.
Increasing responsiveness
34. Responsiveness is a core value of the transformed
public service. Its application in practice will have a profound effect on the way
national departments and provincial administrations operate. The capacity and willingness
to take action when things go wrong are the necessary counterparts of the standard setting
process. The key to implementing the responsiveness 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 citizens/ customers, and at the organisational
level, in relation to the entire service delivery programme.
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35. What this means, in practice, is 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 statistics about the number and type of complaints they receive. Often, ‘complaints’
are counted as such only when they are put in writing through the formal channels. Yet
many citizens/ customers do not bother using the formal channels because they have no
confidence in their effectiveness and because they find the process time-consuming and
sometimes daunting. This means that national departments and provincial administrations
frequently underestimate the level of dissatisfaction which exists.
36. The first step, therefore, is to acknowledge that all
dissatisfaction, however expressed, is an indication that the citizen/ customer 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.
37. National departments and provincial administrations 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 and should therefore also be welcomed in other ways such as personal
face-to-face complaints or by telephone;
- Speed. Customers will become more dissatisfied the longer it
takes to respond to their complaint. An immediate and genuine apology together with a full
explanation will often be all that they want. Where delay is unavoidable, the customer
should be kept informed of progress and told when an outcome can be expected;
- Fairness. Complaints should be fully and impartially
investigated. Many customers will be nervous of complaining to the manager of an office
about one of his or her own staff, or about some aspect of the system for which the
manager is responsible. Wherever possible, therefore, an independent avenue should be
offered for customers to use if they are dissatisfied with the response they receive the
first time round;
- Confidentiality. Customers’ confidentiality should be
protected, so that they are not deterred from making complaints by feeling that they will
be treated less sympathetically in future;
- Effectiveness. The response to a complaint, however trivial,
should take full account of the customer’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 direct 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; and
- 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.
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Getting better value for money
38. Improving public service delivery can only be achieved
within the resources that the nation and specifically, the national departments and
provincial administrations can afford. The service delivery programme must go forward in
the context of a transformation programme that is also aimed at reducing public
expenditure and creating a leaner public service. It is therefore essential to make better
use of the resources already available. The Public Service currently costs about R 142
billion a year to run. It is a large sum by any standard and already more than the country
can afford. If only 10% of this amount were saved in improved efficiency and reducing
waste, there would be R 14,2 billion available per year to plough back into improved
services. The key aims of the [...title....] programme will therefore be to search for
ways of simplifying procedures, reduce delays and duplication and to refocus scarce
resources on delivering services better.
39. Many improvements that the public would like to see
cost nothing, 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 the public/ their customers - and the staff who serve them - is
worth hundreds of Rand in customer surveys.
Encouraging innovation, rewarding
excellence
40. 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 [....title....]
that the commitment, energy and skills of these people are harnessed to tackle
inefficient, outdated and bureaucratic practices, to simplify complex procedures, and to
identify new and better ways of delivering services.
41. Performance appraisal will in future include an
assessment of the performance of individual staff in contributing to improving service to
the public. This will be particularly important in the case of staff who serve the public
directly, where a key indicator will be how they rate in their dealings with the public.
An award scheme - the [....title....] award - will be introduced to recognise and reward
outstanding performance in improving public services. There will be two types of awards,
one for individuals and one for groups of staff, who can demonstrate not only that the
service they provide lives up to the Principles of Public Service Delivery but also that
they have brought about some significant improvement in the standard of service they
deliver. The awards will be made annually, and the public will also be invited to
participate in nominating worthy candidates.
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Partnership with the wider community
42. Improving public service delivery matters not only to
the individual users of services, but also to the whole community. Improved delivery of
service in our national departments and provincial administrations, as well as in
components within these organisations such as hospitals, tax offices, etc., is essential
for the future economic prosperity and social development of the country.
43. Business and industry, NGOs, academic institutions and
other bodies throughout the community should be encouraged to play a part in supporting
[....title...]. For example, local businesses might fund the publication of Service
Standards in a variety of official languages, or a multi-lingual telephone helpline, or
sponsor a customer survey. They could also offer secondments and exchanges to public
servants to broaden their experience. NGOs could help to spread information about what
services are available and where to obtain them. Community groups can help individual
users to access public service complaints schemes and could work with public services on
simplifying procedures and regulations. Academic institutions might be willing to conduct
comparative studies on international best practice in public service improvement.
44. As part of their consultation exercises, departments
should involve representatives of the wider community in discussions about the future
development of public services. Departments to should also forge partnerships with
business, NGOs and other stakeholders to encourage them to participate in service
improvement initiatives.
Making it happen
45. National departments and provincial administrations are
required to publish service standards by the end of 1997, and to have already put in place
the organisational arrangements to ensure that these are delivered and reported on. As a
first step, each organisation must draw up, by the end of May 1997, a service delivery
improvement plan, setting out what their draft service standards are and how they propose
to implement their programme. Consultation with customers on the draft service standards
should be completed by the end of June 1997, and agreement reached on the draft service
standards by 31 August. Monitoring arrangements should be devised by the end of September
1997, and arrangements should be in place by the end of November 1997 to ensure that the
service standards will be delivered and the remaining five Principles of Public Service
Delivery adhered to.
46. Service Delivery improvement plans will serve several
purposes. They will:
- provide a basis for discussion and agreement with Ministers
and MECs about service delivery priorities and standard setting;
- inform staff and encourage them to focus on improved service
delivery;
- provide a policy monitoring document for the DPSA, 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.
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47. Service Delivery improvement plans should set out,
among other things:
- existing levels of service and the proposed service
standards to be adopted;
- 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
Public Service Delivery;
- how the department’s communications systems will be
geared up to provide information about services of the type and frequency 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.
Statements of Public Service
Commitment
48. National departments and provincial administrations
will be required to publish its Service Standards in a Statement of Public Service
Commitment by the end of 1997. The main aim is to make a clear commitment to the Service
Standards that users can expect, but the statement should also explain how the
organisation will fulfil each of the Principles of Public Service Delivery to the public.
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.
49. Statements of Public Service Commitment should be
short, simple and easy to understand. Strenuous efforts should be made to ensure that all
users and potential users are aware of the Statements, because it is an essential tool to
enable them to demand services in accordance with the Principles of Public Service
Delivery to the public. In widely spread rural areas, for example, the press, radio, TV
and local community centres will be encouraged to publicise the Statements and, where this
will assist communication, they should be published/ communicated in local languages.
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Pilot areas
50. Some national departments and provincial
administrations have already embarked on service improvement programmes and will be ready
to launch their service standards well before 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.
Supporting departments’ efforts
51. Transformation units in national departments and
provincial administrations will have a key role to play in helping to support national
departments’ and provincial administrations’ 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.
52. 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 within the Directorate: Public Service Reform to guide and assist
national departments and provincial administrations. The DPSA will also monitor the
overall progress of the initiative, in addition to the normal monitoring to be done by the
Public Service Commission and report the results to Parliament.
53. The DPSA’s support team will be available to work
supportively with national departments and provincial administrations 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 Public
Service Delivery, and on drawing up service delivery improvement programmes. The DPSA will
also arrange regular opportunities for national departments and provincial administrations
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 national and international experience.
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Timetable
54. The timetable for implementing [....title...] is
ambitious, but it is achievable with commitment and effort. There are four key target
dates:
End of February 1997: National service delivery
conference at Fort Hare University, Bisho in collaboration with the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and Fort Hare University
End of March 1997: Publication of the
[....title....] White Paper, signaling the launch of [....title....].
Pilot areas publish their statements of Public Service
Commitment and begin to implement their service delivery improvement programmes
End of December 1997: National departments and
provincial administrations publish their Statements of Public Service Commitment.
December 1998: First year’s results published
No time to lose
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that
there are many more hills to climb” (Nelson Mandela, ‘The Long Walk to Freedom’)
55. 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
gradually 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.
56. During the next 12 months the citizens of South Africa
should see the first tangible signs of a major step-change in the way that public services
are delivered, and 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.
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Last modified: 22 April 2008 14:52:05. |
