In his budget vote speech of the Department of Public Service and administration delivered in Parliament on 21 April 2010 the Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration Mr RL (Roy) Padayachie stated that South Africa lacks a well performing Public Service, only 58% of the Population is satisfied with the services delivered compared with 81% in 2004.
A revolution in the functioning of the Public Service is what is required to fix the problem. Such a revolution must ensure must that people, processes and technologies are better aligned in the Public Services of the State.
What is required is to firstly build the capacity of the State. Secondly to review the governance arrangements of the three spheres in which Government is aligned and thirdly to better harness the power of technology to support our efforts in the modernisation of the State.
The Deputy Minister committed the Department to implement a thorough cleanup of the Persal System to intensify the effort in human resource development (HRD) and skills development and to vigorously implement a programme in modernising the Public Service through e-government initiatives.
He called on public servants to subscribe to a new ethos and to build a culture of service to the people in which Public Service is driven by a new set of values and is people centred.
The trade union movement is an indispensible partner together with the State as employer and business and civil society as drivers of this revolution.
In a strategy to invigorate service delivery and accountability within the public service, the Deputy Minister will initiate a partnership with the Development Bank and Centre for Service Delivery and Democracy Unit of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
21 April 2010
