KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC, Mrs Nonhlanhla Khoza, has committed herself to ensuring that the Department would refine its interventions on services delivered to communities.
Speaking at KwaMaphumulo's Mathafeni area, northern KwaZulu-Natal, MEC Khoza said government aimed at providing excellent services to its clients at all times.
The MEC also launched Operation Sigalelekile, which is aimed at bringing integrated government services to the people. This is a response to a number of challenges facing communities who struggle to access government services.
The collaboration of government departments saw South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), processing grants applications, even bringing doctors to provide medical examination as one of the prerequisites for disability grants.
Social workers also had an opportunity to process registration of foster care grants and Non Profit Organisations registrations on site. MEC Khoza said Operation Sigalelekile would go a long way in bringing back public confidence in government.
She added that the Department was refining its machinery to deal with service delivery lapses.
"We have been receiving a lot of complaints from members of the public about grants applications, which often taken longer to be finalised due to a number of documents that are required. Therefore, having Sassa, social workers and doctors in one space has helped to shorten the process.
We are very pleased that the community welcomed this new approach," she said.
MEC Khoza said citizens had a right to get services from government, adding that this new approach would go a long way towards fast-tracking service delivery.
"We have also conducted household visits to get first hand experience on the living conditions of our people in the area. In some households we visited we realised that their living conditions were unpleasant. Our social workers and municipality will make necessary interventions to address challenges that we have discovered," added MEC Khoza.
She urged communities to play their part to fight the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and protect women, children and older persons.
MEC Khoza said it was time for officials to stop spending more time in air-conditioned offices, but they should reach out to communities more often to render services. She added that the department would be criss-crossing the province to ensure that all people receive service close to their homes.
"In some areas our people are unable to travel to our offices to get services. Ours is to get closer where people reside. As we go to communities, we will be traveling with many departments, including Health, Home Affairs and our agencies like Sassa and National Development Agency. We also have concerns about the lack of development among our youth and women and we want to ensure that they get help from all government agencies."
MEC Khoza said government officials should not relax when people are unhappy about the quality of services they receive.
"We were taken aback when some people tell us that they can't apply for child support grants because their children have no birth certificates and parents themselves have no identity documents."
She also issued Social Relief of Distress (SRD) to a household of a pensioner who lives with grandchildren. Some of the children had no birth certificates and the family is living in a dilapidated structure.
