Advocate T Madonsela, Public Protector;
Dr R Koranteng, Commonwealth Advisor on Governance;
Prof V Ayeni, Director Governance and Management Services International;
Prof A Badu, Rector Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration;
Honourable guests;
Ladies and gentlemen;
Let me firstly thank you for the opportunity and express my great pleasure to address you this morning; and share our role and approach in our quest for good governance, accountability and improved service delivery.
We welcome the initiative by the public protector and the Commonwealth to host the conference of this magnitude which is in line with what government is trying to achieve.
Many governments across the world are relooking at their government structures and systems to see if they are better aligned and responsive to the current modern day challenges. Many of them have either changed the structure of their administration or introduced performance measures to improve their efficiency particularly after the global economic crisis.
There are always limited resources globally at the disposal governments for spending in their delivery of services. As you might have noticed, the United Kingdom government is going through a major cost cutting exercise.
South Africa is no exception, with limited resources, and therefore we must make sure that we make better use of our available resources and ensure their accountability.
During our 4th democratic election campaign, we have promised and committed to the people of South Africa, that we will deliver services better, smarter and faster. We also committed to ensure that we deliver efficiently and use our limited resources effectively to realise value for money.
This is after the realisation, that despite increased expenditure over the years towards improvement of the lives of our people, significant levels of poverty, joblessness and inequality persist.
Despite the increase in access to housing, health care, education and other basic services, our work did not produce the outcomes we want and what our people expected.
As government we have a very simple formula to turn around the country and eradicate poverty, joblessness and inequality. Firstly; based on our commitment to the country and working together in a united manner as citizens, we can make a difference.
Secondly; that we have 5 priorities which all of us must rally behind, and focus on improving people’s lives in a meaningful manner.
Thirdly, we have 12 outcomes which, working together with all stakeholders we can meet people’s expectations and make an impact our people yearn for. This is a basic and simple formula we have adopted that guides our work, we say one country, five priorities and twelve outcomes.
When President Jacob Zuma took over government in May last year, he announced a new configured government to enable better focus and efficient management of portfolios. Informed by priorities of the ruling party, he said that the dreams and hopes of all the people of our country must be fulfilled.
He further said that there is no place for complacency, no place for cynicism and no place for excuses. Everything we do must contribute in a direct and meaningful way to the improvement of the lives of our people.
As part of the new configured government, we announced the creation of two key portfolios in the Presidency, the Planning and Performance Monitoring and Evaluation.
These portfolios were created to strengthen the role of the Presidency in the planning process and ensure accountability through performance monitoring and evaluation.
In order to give expression to government’s intent for “a better life for all” informed by the election manifesto of the ruling party which identified 5 priorities; namely; education, health, creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods, rural development and the fight against crime and corruption, government translated these priorities into the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2009-2014.
Moving from the position that we have one country, which we are all committed to and want to ensure that its people leave a better life, the Department for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation translated the MTSF into 12 outcomes.
These 12 outcomes, are what we believe if done properly and efficiently should allow the country and government to meet people expectations and improve the lives of our people in a meaningful manner.
They are meant to increase the strategic focus of government work and enable it to deliver services better.
In January this year, Cabinet Lekgotla adopted and approved the 12 outcomes to enable government to prioritise and ensure that resources are focused and geared towards the attainment of these outcomes.
As government we want to make more efficient and effective use of limited resources through introducing more systematic monitoring and evaluation system.
We have identified suitable indicators and measurable targets which we can monitor and evaluate periodically to measure the impact of government’s work in society.
We will analyse the results of our work to inform government decisions, efficient allocation of resources, improve government’s programmes and promote evidence-based policy making.
During the State of the Nation Address this year, the President said that we are building a performance orientated state.
In the same vain he announced that in order to ensure accountability, the work of government will be measured according to outcomes and that Ministers will be expected to sign performance agreements.
In April this year, he signed the performance agreements with all his ministers which are expected to guide the focused manner in which implementation of the government’s programme should be carried out.
Performance Agreements are a management tool for the President to provide Ministers with indication of key issues which he would like them to focus on, and his expectations of their performance in this regard.
The performance agreements are based on the agreed high-level outputs and metrics for those outcomes.
We expect that the process of performance agreements informed by the contents of the outputs, should also be replicated in the administration from Directors-General to the lower levels of the public service.
This will enable government to hold the entire public service accountable to the outputs and targets.
These performance agreements have since been translated into delivery agreements which are essentially a charter between different stakeholders affected by an outcome.
The delivery agreements refine and provide more detail to outputs, targets, indicators and key activities, and identify required inputs and clarify roles and responsibilities of each key stakeholder which contributes to the achievement of the outcome.
The delivery agreements have now been completed and are in the process of being signed. They also provide details which are translated into the Government Programme of Action.
Thus far the delivery agreements of local government, education and environment have been signed. The local government and environment are already public documents which you can access.
Today, the delivery agreement on the improvement of the public service, of which I am a signatory, is being signed and made public in Cape Town.
The Department for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation have a responsibility to institutionalise regular monitoring of implementation of the delivery agreements.
The programme of action which will be placed on the website will also allow the public an opportunity to monitor progress of implementation and also participate in the process of delivery.
The department working with National Treasury, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will ensure that strategic plans of departments and Integrated Development Plans of municipalities are linked to delivery agreements.
The revised strategic plans will be produced and tabled next year to reflect the new priorities. We expect that the budget allocation by National Treasury will also be informed by the delivery agreements.
This will allow government to have one seamless system which will allow better monitoring and evaluation and encourage integrated planning.
Through the delivery forums, comprising of stakeholders impacted by the outcomes, delivery agreements will be monitored and unblock blockages in delivery where they exist. Delivery forums will also prepare quarterly reports which will be presented to the department for performance monitoring and evaluation for submission to Cabinet.
The department will also be using independent sources, to compile independent reports which will also be submitted to Cabinet and the President.
The President will have quarterly sessions with ministers to assess progress in the delivery of the commitments in the performance agreements.
This month, he will meet with ministers coordinating the outcomes to assess progress in the delivery agreements processes and assist to unblock blockages where they may exist.
We are confident and pleased with the journey we have travelled and that our quest to build a performance orientated state is taking shape and will be able to achieve our goals.
Another critical component of our work is the improvement of efficiency of government departments. Following the completion of delivery agreements, we are now working with National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration to improve the efficiency of government departments in areas of delivery.
We will also work with other government departments to assist them to work on identified areas of weakness in their delivery. These areas includes, planning, financial accounting, operations and delegation of authority among others.
These areas we believe, if done properly will go a long way in improving service delivery to our people.
We will also embark on a programme to improve service delivery particularly in areas where people come into direct contact with government like in hospitals, home affairs offices, social development offices and others.
This is to ensure that our hospitals, for instance are effectively managed and properly resourced to deliver services efficiently to our people.
We also are working with the Auditor General and other relevant institutions to gather all accounting information which will begin to give us intelligence on where are the pressure points in the system we need to focus on.
Government departments always get audit disclaimers from the Auditor General which are persistent and it is our endeavour to change that so we can begin to eradicate fruitless expenditure and that we become prudent in our accounting.
We want to make sure that our limited resources as allocated are used effectively and efficiently to achieve value for money. This will be an important contribution we can make to outcome 12 which is about building an efficient and effective public service.
As a department, we had taken a long term view, understanding that to turn around the public service will not be easy but not impossible. To build a culture of accountability starts at the top, that is why the President signed the performance agreements with ministers and has asked ministers to replicate the same priorities throughout the administration.
We remain committed in our work and we don’t claim to be experts, this is like a pilot we have put in place. It is a first time we are implementing this system and many countries are already looking up to us to begin to put together their systems.
The progress we have made so far and the support we have received encourage us to do more and give us an assurance that we are on the right track.
I wish to call on any individuals and organised formations to engage with the system and help us build a better country and improve the lives of our people through the priorities we have identified and the outcomes we have developed.
Remember, it is one country, five priorities and twelve outcomes which we ask you to focus on to build a better a country for all of us to enjoy and leave a better life.
I thank you
