DPSA connects communities

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) will, as one of its priorities for this year, leverage IT as a strategic resource enabler.

During his budget vote speech, minister Richard Baloyi said other activities the department will engage in include improving service delivery quality and accessibility; maintaining effective systems, structures and processes; and ensuring appropriate governance structures.

The budget for the entire ministry stands at R690.1 million, with R384.8 million allocated for the DPSA, R118 million for the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, R151 million for the Public Service Commission, a share of R14.8 million of the DPSA allocation to the Centre for Public Service Innovation, and R21 million for Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority for operational activities.

The minister said the State IT Agency (SITA) is self-sustaining and does not require an allocation from the ministry.

Baloyi did not give details around plans for, or the performance of SITA, but said the department will give a targeted record of the agency at the National Council of Provinces in June.

”We will give an account as to why we embarked on a turnaround strategy, what the strategy entails, what we achieved through the strategy, and what we are doing to consolidate the gains arising from the strategy.”

The DPSA created SITA to achieve cost-saving by facilitating bulk buying of IT services, coordinating partnerships between government and industry players, as well as improving the public's access to IT.

DPSA deputy minister Ayanda Dlodlo said during the budget vote that certain commitments were previously made by the office of the deputy minister and it will continue to implement the programmes with renewed vigour.

The commitments include harnessing the power of technology through e-government; putting in place measures to ensure the integrity of data in computerised human resources system Persal; rolling out solutions to address the needs of visually impaired teachers; and connecting Thusong Service Centres to the Internet.

There will be local coordination of the Community Development Workers (CDW) programme within the local government sphere, whereby CDWs will be based in the Thusong Service Centres, said Dlodlo.

She added that SITA has deployed satellite connectivity to Thusong centres. A process to validate equipment deployment and facilitate site signoff is presently being undertaken.

The DPSA is working with the departments of basic education, health and communications to develop a blueprint for the connectivity of schools and clinics. A conceptual framework for the implementation of e-government has also been developed.

“For citizens who live in areas that are remote and lack basic infrastructure, services and utilities, access to government services is severely limited. Citizens are required to incur the costs of travelling long distances to reach service points in the nearest local towns.”

The deputy minister said to respond to these challenges, government must repackage service offerings and develop new models and ways of providing services and information, firstly, to maximise the effectiveness of face-to-face service interaction and, secondly, to maximise the take-up of self-service for citizens through the use of technology.

She also commented that government must achieve greater collaboration across all three spheres of government to provide services and information in a more responsive and integrated manner to citizens.

“There have been many groundbreaking initiatives aimed at bringing government closer to the people through the development of numerous integrated service delivery and access mechanisms and channels such as the Community Development Workers, the Expanded Public Works Programme, General Mobile Units, the e-government gateway (otherwise known as the Batho Pele gateway portal), Izimbizo, intermediaries, call centres, the Thusong Service Centre Programme, and the recently opened pilot urban mall project in Soweto.”

To expand on providing citizens with convenient access to services, Dlodlo noted the DPSA and partner institutions will investigate a collaborative partnership with the Passenger Rail Agency of SA to develop government “one-stop shops” via Thusong centres in train stations.

“This is important because statistics are showing that the number of people using those facilities could also benefit by government providing services at particular stations for their convenience. Government will also investigate how trains can be used as another vehicle to take services to the people of South Africa, especially in the remote rural areas which are difficult to reach through conventional roads infrastructure.”

In June, the department will engage traditional leaders countrywide to request that the traditional offices host the Thusong model in a bid to make public service products and services more accessible to rural communities that have little infrastructure in their areas.