occasion of the launching of Northern Cape Department of Education Service
Standard, Ekhaya Guest House, Galeshewe, Northern Cape
24 August 2006
Programme Director,
Head of Department Mr Williams,
Chief Directors and unit heads,
Official and colleagues in the department,
Good day ladies and gentlemen
Let me start by indicating that I might be a genuine politician, even
politics worthy of the name. However, the only politics I am willing to devote
myself to is simply a matter of serving those around me, the people serving the
communities and serving those who will come after me. Its deepest roots are
morals because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the
whole nation. Service is what life is all about, and our major obligation is
not to mistake slogans for solutions required in dealing with problems facing
our people.
Today�s occasion should provide us with a platform to say to our
communities, our clients, our customers, that we as government officials,
staff, educators, and so on, in the Department of Education, commit ourselves
to put the people first as we carry on with our duties, and we would respond to
their needs through best democratic practices of consultation and
participation.
Programme director,
Since the mid-1980 there has been a transformation in the management of the
public sectors of advanced countries. The rigid, hierarchical, bureaucratic
form of public administration, which has predominated for most of the twentieth
century, is changing to a flexible, market-based form of public management.
This is not simply a matter of reform or a minor change in management style,
but a change in the role of government in society and the relationship between
government and the citizenry. These shifts marks an �Era of Change� that poses
a direct challenge to several of what had previously been regarded as
government for the few people (minority), and recently the integration of the
Batho Pele �People First� principles that now embraces all of our people.
Programme director,
The integration of the Batho Pele principles to the working practices within
the public service is a major challenge yet through processes such as today�s
one, I am confident that we can begin a real ethical step to development by
signing a pledge and declaring our commitment in providing services, fairly,
equitably, honestly, responsively and without any bias.
Colleagues, we all should be aware of the fact that, government of today is
viewed as a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. Today
people have the right to expect that these wants would be provided for by this
wisdom. Therefore, by accepting our duties in our respective offices as
government workers or public servants, we should commit to care enough to make
the people�s problems our own, because this is the beginning of real ethical
development.
Programme director,
Working for government can no longer allow people to live for themselves
alone. Everyone today must then realise that his/her life is connected to a
thousand of other people out there in need of services that we should offer.
This task requires an individual commitment to an effort to put our people
first, which is what makes teamwork; a company work, a society work, and a
civilisation work and prosper.
Today, the public demands better mechanisms of accountability where once the
bureaucracy operated separately from society. The case for unusual employment
conditions in the public services is now much weaker, especially given the
changes that have taken place in the private sector where jobs for life are
rare.
While I am raising all these issues, the main point is that there has been a
total change on how government deals with the people and therefore these
particular changes ought to be properly managed through such interventions.
Programme director,
The new set-up today in the public sector has got much focus on management,
not policy, and on performance appraisal and efficiency. It is characterised by
the disaggregation of public bureaucracies into agencies, which deal with each
other on user-pay basis. The use of quasi-markets and contracting out to foster
competition, cost-cutting and a style of management which emphasises amongst
other things, output targets, limited-term contracts, monetary incentives and
freedom to manage, is the order of the day. All of these issues points or puts
much focus on our organisation/department internally.
We should try by all means possible to empower our citizens by pushing
control out of the bureaucracy, into the community. Our vision is clear in that
we say we in the Department of Education are here to transform the education
system to reflect and advance the interests and aspirations of all South
African on an equitable basis. We further through our mission say we can
achieve all of these by developing and maintaining a high quality and efficient
education system in our province.
Programme director,
Today we should all redefine our clients as customers and offer them best
choices. Let us prevent problems before they emerge, rather than simply
offering services afterwards. Let us all focus on providing public services and
catalysing all sectors, be it public or private, into action to solve our
community problems.
I believe that the eight principles of Batho Pele are the fundamental
principles that should guide all of us as public servants, behind this new form
of government, which we know, should be for the people by the people
themselves. And together with them, we form a coherent whole, a new model of
government, which would bring a better life to all of our people.
Dear colleagues,
I trust that today�s occasion, would serve as best prose leading us up to
high levels of commitment in our occupations. And through the commitment we are
today making, by signing this pledge entailing our service standards, we pledge
our communities, our clients, our customers, to assist us in monitoring whether
the services we offer, meets the standards that we have set. Let us all think
about what we ought to do for other people that which they cannot do for
themselves, but we can.
Ebner writes, �Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both
right�. Today we all agree to the Batho Pele principles and who so ever differs
with us, should take the opportunity we are presenting today to buy in.
Thank you, ke a leboga, Baie dankie, enkosi.
Issued by: Department of Education, Northern Cape Provincial
Government
24 August 2006
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za)
