Minister Faith Muthambi attends Africa Public Service Day in Rwanda, 21 to 23 Jun

SA to share Batho Pele practices at Africa Public Service Day

Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi will lead the South African delegation to share the country’s best practices of putting people first at the annual Africa Public Service Day (APSD) in Rwanda, Kigali.

This year’s APSD commemoration will be held Kigali Convention Centre from Wednesday, June 21- June 23 under the theme “entrenching a citizen-centred service delivery culture: partnering with the youth for Africa’s transformation.”

The theme is in line with the African Union’s 2063 Agenda whereby Africans desire to have a continent that puts its citizens at the centre of all programmes and projects and the decision of the AU’s Heads of States declaring 2017 as the year of  ‘harnessing the demographic dividend through investment in youth.’

In this era of digital revolution, it is crucial to make use of Information Communication and Technology in accelerating services in a more efficient and effective way, so this year’s APSD adopted the following sub-themes: partnering with the youth to build a responsive and sustainable public service; nurturing a culture of professionalism and ethical values in Africa’s public service; promoting self-reliance and empowerment of African youth for socio-economic development and leveraging the ICT skills for quality service delivery.

Minister Muthambi said: ‘ICT is a critical enabler of economic activity in an increasingly networked world, so it is critical not only for South Africa, but for the entire African continent to remain globally competitive. The sector needs long-term policy certainty to be in a position to take the continent into the next trajectory.

‘As a country, our drive towards a new vision of the ICT sector in the context of the National Development Plan (NDP) seeks to provide a long-term approach to addressing these challenges.

‘The NDP in respect to ICT, should therefore, be underpinned by a policy focus and desire to ensure universal access to affordable and quality high-speed infrastructure and services throughout the country.

Objectives of the 2017 APSD

This year’s objectives are to critically examine the theme and sub-themes and to reflect on the function of the public service, its mission and objectives, programmes and projects, successes and challenges.

Give recognition to and make known the importance of civil service, its positive contribution and benefits to public servants, the population, civil society, private sector and government; motivate and encourage public servants to continue the good work done and to come up with new initiatives and innovations to promote Africa development and to promote and prepare the public service and administration for a better future by proposing change for the social well-being of the population.

Expected outcomes

The annual continental gathering is expected to end with practical recommendations on how to improve service delivery and partner with the youth for Africa’s transformation; challenges impending the public services to satisfy citizens expectations identified and sustainable solutions proposed; best practices impacting public sector performance, management and development for improved livelihoods across Africa shared for possible replication.

Africa Public Service Day

The Pan African Conference of Ministers in 2001, declared June 23 as Africa Public Service Day.

Africa Public Service Day is an annual event in which all African countries share best practices, challenges and progress in respect of transformation programmes and the continental APSD has been celebrated five in Namibia, (2007), Tanzania  (2009&2011), Ghana (2013), and in Congo 2015.

The 2017 continental APSD is expected to be attended by about 700 participants from African Union Member States, including civil service organisations, universities, the private sector, media and other non-governmental organisations.

Media Enquiries:
Ali Naka
Cell: 083 923 2328

Nthambeleni Gabara
Cell: 084 852 1668

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