Opening remarks by DP Cyril Ramaphosa to the Workshop on the Institutionalisation of Best Practice Models for Integrated Service Delivery, Ingwenyama Conference and Sports Resort, White River, Mbombela
Today marks an important milestone on our governance calendar as the country’s leadership that is closest to its citizens gathers to reflect on improving the delivery of services.
Our thanks go to the Premier Mabuza of Mpumalanga and his Executive for hosting this landmark event where members of the National Executive, MECs, mayors and senior administrators have come together to share lessons on what we are doing to deliver services much faster and better.
We come together today fresh on the back of budgets and strategic plans that our President, Cabinet, Premiers, MECs, and Mayors have presented to legislatures signalling spending commitments.
We never stop to explore better and faster ways of fulfilling our commitments to the people to provide better education, health care, shelter, transport, water, sanitation and other essentials.
In my address to the National Assembly on the occasion of the Presidency Budget Vote on 23 July 2014 I said: “We will support local government in developing its capacity to deliver basic services. As Deputy President, I will support the Service Delivery Inter-Ministerial Committee by visiting service delivery points to assess progress made in revitalising local government.”
Our coming together here today is a manifestation of the commitment I made nearly four months ago. Today we are also building on all the plans and programmes government has devised to improve the way we function and the way our people live in South Africa.
We face many challenges in improving services – including the challenge that service delivery is sometimes mistakenly cited as a reason for community discontent, when other factors are in fact at play.
In dealing with these challenges, we are motivated by the Good Story that has unfolded in South Africa during 20 Years of Freedom.
This is a story of a caring, effective government that has worked wisely and diligently with scarce resources to make deep, positive changes in people’s lives.
This is a story of good work and centres of excellence that have emerged across the length and breadth of our country, in provinces and in the local sphere.
In the majority of cases, these centres of excellence have produced locally developed solutions. In the spirit of cooperative governance and of building the capable state demanded by the National Development Plan, there is a need to share lessons we have learnt.
We have not shied away from setting ourselves ambitious goals for the workshop and the work that lies ahead beyond the workshop.
We will consider the workshop successful and to have laid a firm foundation if the Premiers and Directors-General leave the workshop:
- With a clearer understanding of the Opearations Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) model and what it takes to implement it successfully in terms of the level of commitment, processes, key success factors, etc.
- Having collectively discussed and agreed on key decision points and committed to implementing the model in our respective provinces
- Highly motivated and knowing that we should now go out and implement the OSS model as a top priority in the various provinces.
For the invited Ministers, success in this session entails leaving here with:
- A clearer understanding of the OSS model and what it takes to implement it successfully in terms of level of commitment, process, key success factors etc.);
- A clear understanding of how National Departments must support the Provincial OSS implementation, and to the extent possible, mirror the OSS way of working and interacting among national departments.I have also set ambitious goals for myself for this workshop and beyond. Personally, I would like to leave here feeling reassured that:
- The provinces understand the OSS model and are taking OSS replication seriously;
- OSS implementation will be pursued as a high priority once participants leave the meeting;
- National departments will accordingly support provincial OSS replication and adopt an OSS working style at national level as well.
Ultimately, when leave here today, our nation must be assured that better service delivery is on its way. We are organising ourselves better and building our capacity as government so that all South Africans will have the better life of which we speak all the time.
I wish all of you well in this session and I look forward to an even better South Africa as a result of what we will achieve here today.
Together we move South Africa forward.
Thank you.
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