Today the Deputy Minister for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, Ms Dina Pule met with the Premier of Northern Cape, Ms Hazel Jenkins and the provincial MECs.
The purpose of the meeting was to outline the work of her office; share the approach and processes to be followed to ensure that there is synergy in all government programmes and special projects as well as to forge partnership with the provincial government and other government structures.
During the meeting the Deputy Minister stressed the importance of working together and cooperating with one another in all spheres of government whether provincial, national or local in order to make an impact and achieve results for the benefit of the people.
“As government officials, people do not know whether we are national, provincial or local, they want services. For an example each community has a Ward Councillor and if a Councillor can visit each and every household, in five years we would know the challenges faced by those households individually,” she said
Addressing the meeting, the Deputy Minister informed the executive council that as part of assessing service delivery trends based on the five key priorities of government, her office will from time to time pay unannounced visits to service delivery points with the aim to assess what is working and what is not working, and advise on intervention measures required.
She said it is very important to ensure that there is a high level of accountability as well as transparency in government departments. The Deputy Minister urged the provincial executives to prioritise the resolution of queries from citizens received through the provincial hotline which also serves as an effective monitoring and evaluation tool.
In response, Premier Jenkins committed to not only partner with the Monitoring and Evaluation office but ensure that there is cooperation with all monitoring and evaluation processes.She further acknowledged that currently the reporting process is not as effective as it should.
Following the meeting Deputy Minister Pule visited the Manne Dipico Thusong Service Centre as part of service delivery monitoring and evaluation. Upon arrival she interacted with a number of officials including the Programme Manager Mr Bashir Fleming who shared that the centre services a minimum of 200 people a day. Key services rendered at this particular Thusong Centre include amongst others those from the Departments of Home Affairs, Social Development, Health, Government Communication and Information System as well as the Municipality.
Concluding the visit, Deputy Minister Pule observed that the centre is doing a great job in meeting the needs of the community. “We must encourage the establishment of centres such as these. This is a great example of how government departments can work together seamlessly and take services to the people” said Pule.
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Northern Cape commits to support and comply with monitoring and evaluation of service delivery
