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7 June 2008

Protocol

Mr President, years ago Richmond was an area of conflict and pain. Many lives were lost here. Many families are still grieving. But the people of Richmond refused to carry the burden of war and started a process of healing.

Today, we stand here celebrating our gains made through peace, democracy and development. Richmond is testimony to the fact that there is no alternative but peace. With peace comes development, empowerment and real emancipation.

This 100th Thusong Service Centre (TSC) became operational in September last year under the guidance and leadership of our provincial government, facilitated by our provincial Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs (DLGTA), who are custodians of the Thusong Service Centre programme in this province.

This effort on our part forms part of a wider national government programme, which has seen 123 TSCs become operational in the country since the start of the programme in 1999.

The TSC programme seeks to ensure that the most physically and economically marginalised communities are able to access government information, services and skills development. It provides a platform for localised service delivery, thus ensuring that government services are taken closer to the people. It is a programme that strives to address the service delivery backlogs and promote effective and efficient community services.

Provincial success

KwaZulu-Natal has a total of 15 operational TSCs with a further nine currently being constructed. Seven more structures have been approved for implementation during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 financial years. In addition to constructing new TSCs, the DLGTA is currently accessing existing unused infrastructure for possible conversion into TSCs, skills centres and small, medium and macro enterprise (SMME) business centres.

In order to ensure a structured rollout of the programme within the province the DLGTA has constituted an inter-government forum, the Provincial Inter-sectoral Steering Committee, which focuses specifically on the establishment and functioning of TSCs.

The DLGTA, as part of its strategy to ensure functionality of these centres, has provided municipalities with operational funding for the appointment of TSC centre/area managers. In addition, the DLGTA also provides centre/area managers with the necessary capacity building to ensure effective management of the centres.

These centres must not only be seen as service delivery centres but as places where human capacity and skills are developed. TSCs will create a physical space through which our youth can tap into a variety of empowering and developmental initiatives.

The youth will have opportunities to have direct interaction with government and government programmes. TSCs, through the use of modern telecommunications and information technology, will bring the global community into the lives of marginalised youth, with opportunities for training, education and distance learning.

Through the continued efforts of all stakeholders, there is no doubt that the province will meet the Presidential target of one TSC in each municipality by 2014.

What we experience today in South Africa are inherited problems of the apartheid past, where people wanting basic services were pushed from pillar to post, often at great expense and across long distances, for services they rightly deserve. They often end up frustrated, uncertain of where to go, and this leads to understandable disillusionment in government’s service delivery efforts.

Our TSCs today are one-stop shops; where you can do all you want under one roof.

Africa Public Service Day

It will be remiss of me not to mention Africa Public Service Day, which will be celebrated on 23 June. This occasion aims to restore prestige and dignity to the public service, and raise performance levels and competence in governments. At the same time promoting professionalism, providing confidence and support to our public servants and rewarding good initiatives. And more importantly sending out a direct message that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.

With the TSCs bringing services and opportunities closer to the people, government is strengthening efforts to build a society which truly belongs to all, irrespective of what nationality they are, and from which people are not excluded due to a lack of access.

Part of what makes the TSC a valuable asset in a community is the manner in which it can assist in accessing services, raising legitimate concerns and basically being a place where dialogue can be facilitated between government and communities.

We have acknowledged there are challenges with regards to poverty. We have acknowledged the need to improve service delivery. All of these, however, have been incorrectly cited as trigger points for the recent so-called xenophobic incidents.

The prevailing negative perceptions that foreign nationals in South Africa are using resources meant for South Africans are not true. There is a perception that the lack of service delivery by government is the root cause of these attacks on foreign nationals.

No amount of economic hardship and discontent can ever justify criminal activity and bigotry that these attacks represent, and any suggestion that poor service delivery and the rising cost of living is to blame for these attacks must be rejected with the contempt it deserves. Some elements within the South African society take advantage of the concerns of ordinary citizens affected by competition for economic opportunity and other government services (economic and social).

Conclusion

The TSCs can act as a conduit for concerns that the communities may have. Communities are encouraged to lobby that the centres become “centres of learning”, where information is shared, perceptions are put to rest and grievances are aired.

Your Thusong Service Centre, your local community development worker, your councillor and your ward committees are the legitimate channels through which concerns or problems can be raised, and this should not be allowed to spill into uncontrolled anger.

Thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
7 June 2008