Minister Faith Muthambi: Ministerial Imbizo at Manguzi, Umhlabauyalingana Local Municipality

Remarks of the Minister for the Public Service and Administration Ms Faith Muthambi, MP, at the Ministerial Imbizo in Manguzi, Umhlabauyalingana Local Municipality, Kwazulu-Natal Province

Mayor of uMhlabauyalingana Local Municipality
Councillors
Directors-General and Heads of Entities
Senior Managers present
Our esteemed guests - the community of uMhlabauyalingana Local Municipality
 
It is indeed an honour as the Minister for the Public Service and Administration to be here today to engage with you about how government provides services to you as the community of uMhlabauyalingana Local Municipality.  

As a caring government, we are not here to deliver speeches but implement programmes for economic development of our people.

We are aware of all the serious challenges you facing as the community of uMhlabauyalingana. We came here with President Jacob Zuma last month and intend to monitor progress on all issues which had been raised. Since the President's visit much progress has been made. The Manguzi Police Station has now been upgraded with additional 44 police officers recruited to fight border crime and restore safety and security.

Furthermore, through the Innovation Centre of the Ministry of Public Service and Administration, the CPSI, we will distribute to all homes in this community the Memeza personal safety alarm system.  The alarm system will assist in the fight against crime.

As members of the community, you need to assist the police by providing information that can lead to the arrest and conviction of the criminals in our society. When government and community partner together, this will bring safety and stability in the community because, Working Together, We Move South Africa Forward.  

We visited Kwandaba and Bekabantu clinics to assess the state of health services. I am very pleased with the work the Provincial Health Department is doing in this community and also expressed my sincere appreciation to the nursing staff of Bekabantu and Kwandaba clinic for the excellent work in serving our citizens.

We also visited offices of Home Affairs and SASSA at Manguzi area. We found the situation depressing and we do not agree with the way services are rendered. The people of Manguzi deserve better and we will raise these challenges with the Ministers of Home Affairs and Social Development as well as address serious challenges of youth unemployment and teenage pregnancy.

As much as government would like to provide you as the residents of uMhlabauyanlingana Local Municipality with efficient services, it is also the responsibility of government to ensure that public servants providing these services are provided with the right tools and proper working environment. We would therefore look into these challenges and come up with solutions on how to address them.
 
We need to make sure that public servants are fully empowered to inform you as citizens in situations where services cannot be rendered within the reasonable time or as expected. During our visit to some of the service delivery points, we discovered that there are challenges with the waiting period to be served and we will ensure that intervention is brought in this regard.
 
In the meantime, we need to ensure that public servants have the right and necessary tools, equipment and conducive environment to provide the community with a better service. Public servants will go a long way to improve the relationship between government and the community if they treat them with courtesy, in a professional manner and go an extra mile to serve the community.This is what Batho Pele is about – Putting People First.

We are here to commit that government will continue to provide better and improved services to the community of uMhlabauyalingana. We are a government that is guided by Batho Pele Principles when rendering services to our communities. The Batho Pele Principles are a blueprint of how we, as government, should conduct ourselves when rendering services to you.
 
As the community of uMhlabauyalingana Local Municipality, you should know that Batho Pele Principles require that:

  • Government services should be Accessible.
  • You should be Consulted about the kind of services and initiatives undertaken.
  • You are provided with appropriate and relevant Information about the government services and opportunities in your area
  • You are offered a Redress mechanism if you did not receive a service you expected.
  • Public servants must always be Courteous to you when rendering services.
  • Public servants should be Open and Transparent about how services are obtained and the costs involved.  
  • As a community, you should know the expected Service Standard you are supposed to be provided with.
  •  Public servants should provide Value for Money for the service they render to you as a community.

 Yourselves as the community of uMhlabauyalingana, as the citizens of our country, you are also central to the service delivery success in your area.  Your active participation in the decision-making process of government is central to the success of our country and maturity of our democracy.
 
We want to make an undertaking that we will return to this community in July to assess progress following all interventions to improve delivery of services.
 
I thank you.

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