1 to 30 September
September marks Public Service Month in South Africa. Public Service Month (PSM) is an integrated strategic national event in the calendar of the Department of Public Service and Administration.
Public Service Month will take place from 1 to 30 September 2018 across the three spheres of government. The 2018 Public Service Month will be commemorated under the theme: “Thuma Mina”: Taking Public Service to the People - Batho Pele: “We Belong, We Care, We Serve’.
The theme reinforces that government is committed to ensure an efficient and effective public service. Public servants are crucial to realising this vision through service excellence and Batho Pele.
During this month government will honour men and women who serve our nation throughout the three spheres of government. Government will also use this month to assess and improve the quality of service delivery.
Public Service Month also takes place in conjunction with the annual Thusong Service Centre Week from 17 to 21 September under the theme: “Thuma Mina Taking Public Service to the People.”
Public Service Month plays a crucial role in improving the morale of public servants and inculcates a sense of pride in being a public servant. During this month we will further strive to instil and reinforce good ethics and professionalism in how public servants do their work. We will also recommit and rededicate public servants to the principles of Batho Pele.
The Batho Pele principles are about getting public servants to perform their responsibilities diligently. They are about encouraging innovation in governance, and motivating public servants to constantly strive towards professionalism and the promotion of best practices.
The Public Service Month serves as a reminder of what it means to serve communities and to also look at the impact the government has, especially around issues of service delivery. As part of the Public Service Month, public servants are expected to:
- Roll up their sleeves and spring-clean their service delivery points;
- Visit schools, hospitals, police stations and courts, talk to citizens, mediate the delivery of services and getting things done;
- Unblock the bottlenecks and red-tape in the delivery of services;
- Ensure the systems and infrastructure are working and use public resources efficiently to the benefit of the citizens; and
- Recommit themselves to belong, to care and to serve the people.
