The communities of Tongaat and Verulam in KwaZulu-Natal today witnessed the launch of the Local Service Delivery Improvement Forum (SDIF), a forum that seeks to support government service points at local level to effectively and efficiently execute their mandate.
Launched as a localised pilot model for the improvement of local service delivery involving Members of Parliament through the Parliamentary Constituency Offices, the Tongaat model for service delivery improvement will, once successful, be replicated across the country.
The forum will set a local service delivery improvement agenda; provide support to all service delivery points and development initiatives; as well as monitor and evaluate the implementation of the local service delivery improvement agenda.
Chaired by Deputy Minister for Public Service and Administration Roy Padayachie as head of the Parliamentary Constituency Office, the Tongaat Forum will consist of representatives of all local government service points, state institutions as well as representatives of organised and credible local community structures.
Welcoming delegates to the meeting, Deputy Mayor for the City of Durban Councillor Loggie Naidoo encouraged partnerships between government, local political parties and other community structures through this initiative citing "the time for conflict in local politics is over, now is the time we work together to improve the lives of our people". Councillor Naidoo further indicated he was confident all the housing and other service delivery challenges experienced by the community will be speedily addressed through this forum.
Launching the Forum, Deputy Minister Roy Padayachie pointed out that the conceptualisation, development and implementation of this forum is an indication that government is committed to addressing service delivery challenges and is taking a decisive step thereof in unblocking these challenges.
"We are aware of the increasing frustration about the general slow pace of service delivery, poor quality and lack of speedy responsiveness by government to citizen’s challenges. This frustration is felt across the spectrum of South African society particularly the urban and rural poor. Whatever the reasons, be they housing, sanitation, unemployment or desperation, service delivery protests are symptomatic of the challenges that we face as a nation and as government."
"In heeding the call by President Zuma in his State of the Nation Address to fast track the delivery of services, we are today launching the Service Delivery Improvement Forum that will support government service points at local level. The forum will create a platform where government and the organs of civil society engage on how to improve lives of the people. This machinery will further improve communication between government and communities of Tongaat and Verulam," Deputy Minister Padayachie added.
Representatives of the Tongaat and Verulam Government Service Points and Organised Civil Society Structures assembled at the launch signed a pledge that re-affirming that South Africa belongs to all who live in it and that united in diversity will work together to improve service delivery.
"As members of Tongaat and Verulam Service Delivery Improvement Forum, we further commit to spare no effort to guarantee government’s commitment to the nation where President Jacob Zuma in his inauguration address of 2009 stated, "that for as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable disease, for as long as there are workers who struggle to feed their families and who battle to find work, for as long as there are communities without clean water, decent shelter or proper sanitation, for as long as there are children who do not have the means nor the opportunity to receive a decent education, government will not rest and dare not falter in its drive to eradicate poverty."
The functions of the forum will include the provision of support on planning, coordination and implementation of proposed service delivery intervention suggestions, receipt and consolidation of progress reports from the members and submission of consolidated reports to the chairperson of forum, provision of regular feedback to communities on the progress made and the determination of the level of community satisfaction in terms of service delivery.
Supporting messages for this initiative included inputs from the various Heads of Institutions as well the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration as represented by Member of Parliament Ms Faith Bikani.
