Municipalities were challenged to improve the accessibility and quality of services through successful ICT implementation, at ITWeb`s Technology in Local Government conference, held in Midrand this week.
The keynote speakers, the Honourable Mninwa Mahlangu, chairman of the National Council of Provinces, and Gwede Mantashe, chairman of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), highlighted local government`s record of poor service delivery and identified ICT as an ideal facilitator in better fulfilling the needs of municipalities` constituents.
Not only does ICT assist in speeding up and improving delivery of services, it encourages transparency and accountability, said Mahlangu.
"Technology in service delivery is crucial," he said, "and ICT can transform local government by promoting good governance through an increased capacity to deliver. This will allow for greater involvement on the part of residents, and even permit them to monitor what the municipality is doing."
Lack of competence
Mahlangu said ICT was an ideal means of making government more "people-centric" and a powerful instrument in increasing productivity, generating economic growth and creating job opportunities.
However, he also underlined common pitfalls to ICT implementation as it stands in local government: lack of competence in using the technology, lack of finances in both execution and utilisation, and ineffective and incorrect use of the technology.
The parliamentarian also stressed the need to encourage skills development in this sector, a topic that formed the focus of Mantashe`s speech.
The JIPSA chairman differentiated between skills shortage and skills deficiency, identifying both problems in local government. Mantashe acknowledged the skills shortage as presenting a fundamental challenge in the ICT sphere within local government, laying the blame for this situation largely on South Africans` disinterest in the sciences.
"This situation is the result of a combination of past and present factors, such as poor quality of education, lack of scientific proficiency and weak communication skills," he said. "Any of these deficiencies provide us with an individual that is lacking a critical component of a skilled, rounded professional."
Choices
Mantashe echoed Mahlangu`s assessment of the need for improvement in service delivery on the part of municipalities, urging local government to "inculcate a culture of quality service".
Acknowledging that municipalities are monopolies, he drew attention to the fact that municipal constituents are, in fact, customers, and customers should have choices - choices that can easily be provided for through successful implementation of effective ICT strategies.
However, he stressed the need for training in this field in order to provide competent, professional solutions.
Rural areas were included in this vision of municipal ICT transformation and the ideal of e-government. Acknowledging the lack of ICT infrastructure in rural areas, Mahlangu described the possibility of multipurpose service centres, installed in rural areas around the country to make government services "faster, cheaper and smarter through ICT".
These sentiments were repeated by Noedine Isaacs-Mpulo, chief of business operations at the State IT Agency. In her presentation, she underlined the need for core services to be provided to all areas, allowing citizens to use technology to access government services through kiosks situated in convenient locations.
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