Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) has been directed by Cabinet to reposition the Thusong service centres programme to widen government access.
"Repositioning [the project] means the department, working with our partner departments, will have to look at the possibility of identifying the suitable structure, platforms and partnerships to effectively fulfil the mandate of the programme which is not only limited to information," says Nebo Legoabe, GCIS deputy CEO overseeing the programme rollout.
To date, the GCIS, working with all three spheres of government, has operationalised 176 centres across the country, approximately 100 centres short of a mandate given in 2004 to have one centre in every local municipality by 2014. Legoabe explains that the shortfall of centres is primarily due to budget constraints.
The Thusong project is partially funded through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and National Treasury, but also relies on sponsorship and donations from stakeholders and the private sector. "National departments fund their services in centres through their existing operational budgets, but these are not enough currently to reach everywhere. It is for this reason that government is looking to reposition the Thusong initiative," she says.
The repositioning of the programme will include the exploration of other less costly ways to bring government services to communities. "We are looking at other platforms, instead of just the brick and mortar infrastructure," explains Legoabe.
This includes the expansion of the Thusong mobile units, as well as integrating it with other departments' mobile services. "This way, instead of home affairs visiting a certain area on a Monday, a health services mobile unit on a Wednesday and another service on a Friday, we can combine all the services to be available to the specific community at the same time."
Legoabe says that, through the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), the department was approached by the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa to look at the possibility of launching a project where a train will be refurbished to provide all the services normally offered at the centres. The train can then move throughout the country, targeting specific areas according to a predetermined schedule.
However, this project is still in planning phase and the DPSA is currently looking at its viability, she says.
Move to ICT
She explains that the GCIS was mandated, in 1999, to establish information centres in rural areas to assist communities to access more information about government systems. However, the project quickly evolved into an ICT project when it became evident there was a pressing need for citizens to be closer to government service offices.
By 2004, GCIS had erected 96 centres in district municipalities. The project overview was then redesigned to extend to one centre in every local municipality by 2014. The name was also changed to Thusong, a Sotho word meaning 'a place of help'.
The redesign of the project meant centres had to be connected to be able to offer all government services to the communities; for example, payment of municipal bills, applications for official documents such as IDs and marriage, or birth certificates, renewal of drivers' licences, applications for social grants, labour services, etc.
In addition to rolling out more centres, the GCIS also focused on training service providers in the centres, appointing centre managers, installing reception areas in all the centres to streamline rendering of services, and branding all the centres.
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