Minister Dlodlo urges public servants to celebrate human rights and the legacy of Mandela by living the principles of Batho Pele in service delivery
The Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo has made a call to all public servants to observe the principles of Batho Pele, which require them to be responsive, timeous and efficient at all times in rendering services to members of the public.
Speaking from Parliament in Cape Town today, 20 March 2018, Minister Dlodlo says she is extremely concerned about a growing number of incidents where public servants have been found either on the wrong side of the law or acting unprofessionally and neglecting their duties. She says this type of conduct degrades the image of government in the eyes of the public who expect and deserve high standards of performance and professionalism.
“We have to be firm against those people who take their work for granted and in the process violate the citizen’s rights to services, we must act even harsher against those who are involved in corrupt activities and acts of misconduct in the public service” she said. She commended her counterparts in Correctional Services, SAPS and Home Affairs who acted swiftly and decisively against officials who were engaged in fraudulent activities regarding the release of foreign nationals.
South African citizens deserve an efficient and corrupt free public service and to achieve this state of affairs, everyone in the system has to play their part in the strict observance of the Batho Pele principles. As part of celebrating Human Rights Day on 21 March 2018, the Minister announced that her department will be embarking on a sustained campaign to encourage public servants to observe Batho Pele principles. “We must practically live according to the mantra of the public service – We Belong, We Serve, We Care,” said the Minister.
The Minister also called on senior managers in all National and Provincial departments to adhere to the constitutional provisions of the continuous maintenance of high standards of ethics and ensuring a public administration that is accountable and being transparent to the public.
To this end, the DPSA will during the Batho Pele revival campaign seek to strengthen the service delivery programs across the public service such as Building the capacity of Batho Pele Service Centres; Deployment of senior managers in the coal face of service delivery through Project Khaedu; Rolling out of Outreach programmes as part of on-going interaction with communities; Strengthening the Complaints Management Systems in departments and ensuring that public servants implement the Public Service Charter.
The Service Charter seeks to entrench the values and principles of the constitution. The Minister will also engage her counterparts in the executive in a bid to get them to tighten the screws in the delivery of services to the public.
“Public services are themselves a human rights issue because they impact directly on the lives and dignity of people – section 195 of the Constitution also enjoins us to observe the basic values and principles governing public administration, among which is the imperative to provide a high standard of professional ethics and services to all citizens in an impartial, fair and unbiased manner” said the Minister.
She concluded by reminding everyone that the country is celebrating the legacy of Nelson Mandela, who instilled the values of commitment to service delivery, human dignity and freedom in our nation and society.
“In honouring the legacy of President Mandela, not only should we remember his humility and sacrifices for the freedom of all of us, we should honour his legacy by our own deeds in the attainment of an efficient and development oriented public service,” she said.
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