Modernisation of the Presidential Hotline; Status report on HoD/DG 2021/22 performance evaluation & signing of performance agreements for 2022/23; Brand SA programmes initiated to market and attract investors to SA; with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed all Members to the meeting and noted apologies from Ms C Motsepe (EFF), Inkosi R Cebekhulu (IFP), and Minister Mondli Gungubele due to a Cabinet meeting happening concurrently with the Portfolio Committee meeting. He introduced a new Committee Member, Dr J Nothnagel (ANC).

He proceeded to outline the agenda of the meeting indicating that in a meeting which took place in November 2020, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) had spoken about the modernisation of the Presidential Hotline and indicated that the current briefing would be an update on the project.

The Chairperson said that the issue of non-compliance with the policy on the performance management and development system would always be on the agenda as departments are failing to adhere to the policy.

Brand South Africa (BrandSA) would also brief the Committee on the programmes initiated in 2022 to market and attract investors to South Africa.  

He handed over to the Deputy Minister for a few opening remarks.

Deputy Minister opening remarks

The Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Ms Pinky Kekana, said the Presidential Hotline was an initiative that started in 2009 and its aim was to provide citizens with an opportunity to raise complaints and challenges which they faced within their local areas and help government to pick up warning systems on issues identified by citizens. Through those, government would be able to direct issues to national, provincial and local departments.

The Department is mindful of the concerns raised by Members of the Portfolio Committee in the budget speech, specifically on the turnaround time around issues raised through the Presidential Hotline. She indicated that the presentation to the Committee would also include the diagnostic report done by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which looks at the best time frame of the responses on the platform.

Considering the current challenges faced by government, after considering centralising the Presidential hotline and the CSIR report, the Department may want to consider decentralising simply because of how the three spheres of government respond to some of the challenges faced by the communities in South Africa.  She indicated that the Deputy Director-General (DDG) would share with the Committee some of the ways in which the Department considers approaching the matter and improve the response of the three spheres of government on issues raised about service delivery.

She handed over to the DPME team to present the updates on the Presidential Hotline.

Report from DPME - Presidential Hotline

Mr Henk Serfontein, Deputy Director-General: Management Performance Assessment, DPME addressed the Committee speaking about the strides and the progress being made by the DPME regarding the Presidential Hotline. In the founding objectives of the Presidential Hotline, it was stated that there was a need to deepen the practice of participatory democracy in all spheres of public life, to ensure that government remains in touch with its citizens and listens to their needs. The aim of the Presidential Hotline was to entrench the Batho Pele principles and values in pursuit of service delivery excellence; remove complacency; incorporate the right of all South Africans to freely express themselves on service delivery challenges. The Presidential Hotline also aimed to provide citizens with a sense that their government listened, cared, and was working hard to address issues.

The vision of the hotline was to create an apex, responsive, technologically attuned, space and it needed to be a citizen-oriented response-like public complaints management system. He highlighted that the DPME is currently working on a system that would include multiple entry points to the hotline using modern technology in the form of social media, inclusive of the Presidential Hotline Khawuleza App, Twitter, Facebook etc. There needs to be better management of the information received. A Management Information Intelligence System that uses advanced analytics with an effective and efficient case resolution system, with a 25 working days turnaround time. The hotline would assist government to pick up early warning systems used to identify emerging issues. He indicated that there needs to be proactiveness in the resolution of early warning trends. Although cases reported by citizens may not be resolved immediately, the Presidential Hotline works to ease the minds of citizens. Informing them that their issues have been heard and a temporary solution to a long-term problem could be provided. The DPME envisages a much more proactive feedback system, communicating what has been a trend in most cases and in turn pre-empting some of the incoming cases through the hotline and figuring out what the resolutions are in those cases.

He took the Committee through the Presidential hotline business process flow, highlighting that the hotline consists of several different portals which citizens may use to send in their complaints. Citizens may either call, which is the most predominant mode used by citizens, postal services, and faxes have not been utilised much. Some complaints come through the presidential email address. There are still challenges with integrating emails into the call centre management system, but it is something the DPME is working on.

There are currently 30 call centre agents, and they are based at SITA which provides the call centre services. The Presidential Hotline is not a 24-hour service. There are 18 DPME staff members who provide the back-office support and case management and they are situated in the Union Building. The public liaison officers are used as contact points in various institutions such as national and provincial departments.

He gave a status update on the Khawleza App indicating that it has been designed and tested, but not currently integrated into the system. Work is being done to integrate the Khawleza App into the system, and it should be ready for rollout to the entire country. It was proposed that in the imbizos that are to be held the DPME should give people access to data to utilise the App and speak through the hotline.

A system has been set up where people can communicate their complaints via USSD, and through the use of WhatsApp messages, in cases where people cannot download the App.

The DPME will initiate a communication campaign to raise awareness about the different modes of accessing the Presidential Hotline.

Mr Serfontein indicated that there were assessments done by the CSIR and it created a prototype of a Data Analytics Platform, including a social media ingestion engine. CSIR’s recommendations indicated that costs could be cut and that the DPME should use more technology. It also recommended that the Presidential Hotline should be interfaced with other Departmental call centres to prevent forum shopping and duplication and that the hotline should provide 24/7 call centre operations.

There were some challenges encountered but there were mitigations going forward. There have been low resolution rates of cases, therefore more regular reports are important. There should be evidence of the benefits of using the hotline and responses to the reported cases. There has also been an underutilisation of the hotline.

Reporting to governance structures has commenced in the current quarter. The Khawleza App will be rolled out in the second quarter. The DPME has created terms of reference for procuring new service providers, and the results would be visible in the fourth quarter. There is work being done on the PLO forum, building the back-office capacity. In the fourth quarter, the Presidential Hotline would be re-engineered and re-launched and thereafter the communications strategy would be implemented.

The objectives are to build a system that is seamless and automated, as the Department has observed that most time is taken up in the manual functioning and management of cases. There are plans to ensure that the Presidential Hotline is a real apex complaint management mechanism, creating a “bird’s eye view” of complaints across all spheres of government. Weekly reports and engagements are being done to report to the various institutions. All departments are to have dedicated personnel to resolve Presidential Hotline related issues.

The fourth quarter report from 1 January 2022 - 31 March 2022 provides an overview of the number of complaints received and the trends in the types of complaints from quarter four. It gives a comprehensive account of the queries and complaints logged onto the Presidential Hotline system across the country. The report highlights the top five issues for provinces and for national departments. The report highlights the performance in the fourth quarter, showing trends over three quarters.

The biggest concern nationally was social benefits, with 202 complaints in the quarter. Provincially a place to live was the biggest issue raised in incoming calls, followed by water for household use.

He also outlined the quarterly performance trends from the various provinces. KwaZulu-Natal numbers have increased from April in terms of disaster queries. The Northern Cape was the best performing province with a 100% performance rate. Numbers would increase once the technological issues are resolved.

Report from DPME - Status report on filling of Director-General 2022/23 Performance Agreements

The Deputy Minister made a few remarks before the presentation from the DPME. She said there have been great improvements, however, there have been some challenges along the way. The filling of the Director-General (DG) position supports the office of the Premier. One of the biggest challenges was the way the performance agreements have been structured, most did not meet the requirements and late submissions. Another challenge was that agreements were either not being signed by the Heads of Departments or the executive authorities.

Agreements are not performance-driven, therefore the DPME has produced an innovative approach wherein the structure and the drafting of the agreement are changed. The performance agreement would also focus on the strategic leadership of the Department and ensure that the key outcomes are spelt out and achieved. There has been a lack of consequence management, several DGs have been defaulting and Departments have been performing poorly without any consequences.

She noted that the meeting was not about vacancies, but she said that there have been National Departments that have not been filling DG positions for over three to four years, and these have been the top priorities of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF). It cannot be business as usual.

Mr Serfontein took the Committee through the status report on the filing of DG/HOD 2022/23 performance agreements and 2020/21 annual assessments. Highlighting that the Performance Management and Development System began in 2018, he outlined the role of the DPME, indicating that it supports the Presidency and oversees the implementation of the directive of DGs from national departments, national government, and offices of the Premier in each province. The Public Service Commission chairs the evaluation of the nine provincial DGs and the DG - Presidency.

The annual submission due date for performance agreements to the DPME was indicated to be 30 April. In the event of an election year, HODs are given three months after the due date to enter performance contracts. During a pandemic year, there were also extensions given. There was no extension granted for the submission of the 2022/23 performance agreements. The Departments that are unable to conclude agreements by the set date, have 30 days to request condonation from the Minister of Public Service and Administration. The numbers shown in the presentation could be a bit fluid, as the Department still needs to conclude with numbers of Departments that received condonation.

He said that the Public Service currently has 22% of acting DGs, and quite a few are extended acting positions. About 32% of HODs had not submitted their agreements. 12% of the DGs submitted late applications, and only 56% submitted on time. As it stands, there was a 68% compliance rate.

Over the years there have been a few DGs who have complied with the directive. As a part of consequence management, the DPME has written reports to the Minister, reporting the non-compliance to Cabinet. HODs who do not comply with the directive should forfeit all incentives including notch increment.

There are still challenges visible in the DPME’s performance assessment quality, and the impact that the performance agreements have on service delivery.

The DPME plans to hold workshops to develop a revised performance management system. 40% of the current agreement reflects on what the DGs personal contribution is towards achieving the results set out.

The Department received condonation from the Minister to waive the 2019/20 evaluation panels due to delays caused by the pandemic. There were 29 national DGs required to submit, only 15 submitted and all 15 annual assessments were done by DPME officials using available data.

If consequence management were properly applied to defaulting DGs/HODs and poor performances, there could be improved compliance to prescripts and public service.

Brand South Africa Presentation

The Deputy Minister made a few opening remarks, saying that these are the initiatives requested by the Committee. Whether South Africa can reclaim its glory given the challenges that it was confronted with, July mayhem, gender-based violence etc, all have unintended consequences. Brand SA would be presenting a programme that reimagines the country as an investment destination.

Ms Thandi Tobias, Chairperson, BrandSA, took the Committee through the day-to-day activities of BrandSA. In the past BrandSA tabled the Annual Performance Plan (APP) for the current fiscal year as the Minister approved it. She highlighted that the APP is a set of programmes that would enhance competitiveness in relation to packaging messages on behalf of the nation (team South Africa).

Through the programme, South Africa would be able to attract investment and build a cohesive society and interface with its sister countries on the African continent through the Africa Free Trade Agreement. BrandSA met with the Secretary-General, Wamkele Mene, to table the relationship between South Africa and other African countries, which would attract the attention of the global audience to the South African narrative.

BrandSA attended the Dubai expo where the South African story was narrated and through the expo, South Africa managed to attract the UAE AND China to gain interest in its pavilion. She also mentioned the efforts made with the Mining Indaba that attracted several interested investors. She indicated that BrandSA was able to amplify a just transition in the mining sector through several interviews held to explain the policy framework that South Africa plans to take forward relating to investment in the mining industry. She said that the mining industry contributes 47% of South African exports, therefore it can be seen as a sunrise industry. It is through Brand SA that there is an ability to interface with investors and if they are allowed more space more can be done. BrandSA gains traction daily because of the work it continues to do.

She said that it will continue to support the President's investment drive. At the foundation of it all is the support for economic recovery and reconstruction plans. The message is clear.

Ms Tobias introduced Ms Thoko Modise, Head of Communication, BrandSA, to take the Committee through the presentation.

The presentation provides context of the work done by Brand SA, why it is important, and to what end. She highlighted that BrandSA’s job is primarily to increase awareness on what contributes to factors such as what is the country South Africa, if it exists and what it has in its basket of offerings that should trigger action towards investments on offer.

The process starts with assessing media coverage across the world including the continent.

She outlined the communication strategy foundation, which was built on three factors; namely to rebuild trust and confidence in South Africa; leveraging SA history of overcoming the odds, resilience, and sound economic infrastructure; and reassurance of South Africa’s ability to restore trust and rebuild.

The South African call to action is that “we invite you to” believe in South Africa. A strategy driven in 2022.

She outlined the messaging pillars that inform what message is being driven by South Africa as a destination for investment. These tell a story of who South Africa really is, constantly seeking to inspire new and diverse ways.

It is rare to find all parties and relevant participants one would want to target in one space, which is why these strategic platforms play such a huge role. The visits to these strategic platforms are supported by marketing campaigns targeted at domestic and international audiences.

 Discussion

Ms M Ntuli (ANC) welcomed all three presentations. She said that the Presidential Hotline is quite crucial, however there seems to be a disconnect. How it is possible that the President failed in this regard, as he has opened the platform for the people of South Africa to communicate directly with him. She asked whether the Department bothered to find the root cause of why people are not fully using the Hotline.

She reiterated the importance of the Presidential Hotline, indicating that at the grassroots level people report issues not knowing they have any connection with any person of importance. The people would love to communicate directly with the President. Matters are reported and often they are not taken seriously.

There are communities that do not have access to water, yet one would find that there are water tank drivers who stop in the middle of nowhere to dispose of water and still go back to claim from the municipality.

Young people are glued to social media. Has the Presidential Hotline explored other means of social media platforms to reach the young audience? Young people are the ones who are most tech-savvy, and apps such as Khawleza and the USSD platform would appeal mostly to them.

 She expressed concern about how the ideas spoken of would be accessed and asked for further clarity. The Department has failed the President, citizens are hungry for these opportunities to have direct lines of communication for their issues.

She commented on the issue of filling DG positions, with reference to the Deputy Ministers foreword. It seems as if there is a serious case of “massaging over issues”, and it has stretched out over too many years. Departments cannot remain without DGs. What measures were put in place to ensure that the matter is dealt with? Somebody's head needs to roll.

Once again, the issues of late submissions are an example of “massaging over issues”. Measures need to be put in place.

Mr J McGluwa (DA) said that he is yet to receive a response to a letter written on 6 March 2019, addressed to the presidency and Mr Mothibi (Head of the SIU), where he requested for the investigation of a donation of R100 million to the SA Game Resort from the North West province.

The case was reported again on 12 May asking for assistance on the matter and has still not received any response. If a Member of Parliament cannot be heard, how is it possible for an ordinary person to be heard?

Listening to the projections of the Presidential hotline, the hotline has not been swamped with issues and calls. The hotline needs to be resurrected as it remains a problem.

The hotline is set up to deal with the lack of competence from municipalities and government departments across the country, however the hotline is measured against the same inequalities, incompetency, and the same challenges when it comes to responsiveness and resolutions. It is the ordinary people who are making the calls to the hotline via a cellphone. Is the cellphone line toll-free or charged? The Department should look at approaching cell phone companies to come to the party to assist with the charges.

The Department should indicate when the hotline should be visited, as it remains a service delivery issue. There should be more emphasis on the issue of service delivery as explained throughout the presentation.

He said that his area has been experiencing an increasing issue of vandalism in terms of electricity cable theft, perhaps if the hotline could address concerns of vandalism of public infrastructure.

Dr M Gondwe (DA) appreciated the presentations and the preliminary comments made by the Deputy Minister.

She asked for clarity on the 69% submission rate with regards to the performance agreements of HODs. She expressed her concerns about the low submission rates, stating that these are officials that are meant to be setting the tone when it comes to the matter of compliance. It is no surprise that in the public service there remains a culture of non-compliance as there are people elected to head departments not complying.

There are not enough repercussions for non-compliance in the public service. She agreed with the sentiments of Ms Ntuli that there should be salary cuts as it will hit them where it hurts the most, in their pockets if they choose to not comply.

She expressed her disappointment with the fact that there are DGs and HODs that blatantly have not complied with policies set out.

Regarding the late submissions of DGs in the year under review, she asked for confirmation of whether they applied for condonation.

What are the repercussions for DGs who have not been compliant? Do they forfeit their notch increments as highlighted, due to not fulfilling their performance agreement?

Is the Department, in line with all the challenges outlined? Has it been able to recommend to the Presidency that certain measures need to be put in place and what has the response of the Presidency been? It should not be called Performance agreements if they are not going to measure performance, results, or any compliance.

She asked for the specific names of the departments that have not submitted any performance agreements, as part of the Committee's responsibilities are to ensure that departments comply. She said that it worries her that public service has so many law precincts but none of the departments are compliant.

Ms S Maneli (ANC) welcomed the presentations. She referred to the PDMS system which was meant to assess and evaluate the performance of HODs, in the current financial year. The presentation does not indicate the performance of HODs of the previous financial year.  

She asked for clarity on the key performance indicators and what they state about the performance DGs/HODs. How have they been fairing in their responsibilities and duties, and if there have been any improvements or any regress?

She said that the issue of adhering to deadlines for submitting performance agreements has been overemphasised, due to poor consequence management. She asked what measures are being taken to deal with the matter.

She asked if the deprivation of incentives has been enough to ensure that DGs/HODs are compliant. She asked if these HODs/DGs should keep their positions only because they lose out on incentives.

There should be improvement in the quality assurance of performance agreements. When does the Department plan to implement changes in this regard?

How has the Presidential Hotline deepened participatory democracy? She asked for figures or a timeline. How has the use of technology improved the interaction with members of the public?

She said that if the hotline is not helpful in resolving issues of service delivery, members of the public would lose confidence in the state. In provinces such as the Eastern Cape, none of the queries has been resolved, she asked for the reasons for these zero responses.

She asked if Brand SA has aligned its marketing strategies with what is contained in the national development framework for the country, to introduce all its infrastructure developments to domestic and international investors.

Mr Z Mbhele (ANC) welcomed the presentations, indicating that they were informative and good food for reflection.

He referred to the data analytics of the Presidential Hotline, and the trends presented in this regard. He asked for an outline of which hour of the day, which days of the week, weeks of the month, and months of the year tend to have a spike in queries coming in from the citizens. What insights have been highlighted as systemic issues? With this understanding, it could assist in the planning and reviews of Departments.

Does the DPME rely solely on feedback from PLOs in departments of the various provinces, or is it done directly by a relevant response team with the complainants on a periodic basis? He raised concerns about the risk factors of having inaccurate information. Do the late submissions by DGs contributes to performance assessments?

Referring to the BrandSA presentation, he asked what the response of BrandSA is to investors, should questions around the challenges of crime, social unrest, labour disputes, load shedding and just the decay of infrastructure come up to secure confidence in South Africa as an opportunity to invest.

He asked how Brand SA aligns its marketing strategy with other investment entities in particular other Departments in provinces.  

Ms T Mgweba (ANC) welcomed the inputs from the Deputy Minister and the presentations.

She said that it is important to note that the Presidential hotline was set up to assist with service delivery and therefore it should improve the quality of service delivery. It should be used as an indicator of troubleshooting service delivery issues. It should indicate what has been improved since inception.

She asked if the departments have considered the expansion of the hotline capacity, so that the public does not lose confidence in resolving their issues.  

She asked how the HODs and the DGs have been fairing in their responsibilities and duties, have there been any improvements in the work of HODs and DGs.

She asked for clarity on the impact of crime in attracting investors in the country, and the attitude of investors toward the high crime rate.

She also asked Brand SA to share the lessons learnt at the Dubai expo, and their message to the Davos economic forum.

The Chairperson raised a question from Ms R Komane (ANC) as she had connectivity issues. She highlighted that there have been so many hotlines that have caused duplication and asked how the interface between government hotline and efficient the call centre has been, in addressing complaints. She asked for the turnaround time that compels government to respond to issues. She asked if there are any policies to that effect.  

Responses from DPME

Mr Robert Nkuna, Director-General, DPME, referred to the questions raised about the Presidential hotline. He said that the DPME has a performance indicator which states that there is a need to resolve 86% of cases each year that only applies to the DPME and not the people who are meant to be resolving the issues. He said that the DPME would be taking up the matter with all affected parties and all HODs across the board should have similar indicators.

He referred to the issues of quality assurance, indicating that one would not want a situation where indicators are left to HODs, as it may not always be a fair system.

Mr Nkuna answered the question related to the linkage of the performance agreements of Ministers and DGs, it would still be done. The DPME has also been looking at taking the entire APP of the department and making it the performance of HODs, and it becomes a challenge when assessments are being done.

He agreed with Ms Ntuli that the hotline should be utilised by South Africans. The reforms from the CSIR report could not be implemented due to budget constraints. However, National Treasury has allocated 45 million over a three-year period and that would allow for most of the innovations to take place as recommended by the members.

The recommendation on collaborating with mobile companies has been noted and would be taken up with the relevant departments.

The issue of vandalism to infrastructure remains a big concern to the DPME and in previous meetings with Cabinet there have been pleas that something needs to be done. Implementing a moratorium on the scrap metal industry.

Non-submissions are currently being escalated to the Minister and the Presidency, as one of the responsibilities of Ministers is to ensure DGs have performance agreements.

Mr Serfontein said that he notes the issues raised by Ms Ntuli on the matter of water tanks dumping water that could be used by citizens and in turn claiming from the municipality.

He said that the project has not used social media and it is part of its plans. DPME has been considering the pit terminal if the ATMs cannot be used for the communication process.

He acknowledged that the DPME must be a bit stronger in its consequence management.

He said that he would follow up on the cases raised by Mr McGluwa. He said that the hotline refers cases of corruption to the public service commission which has the anti-corruption hotline. He agreed that the hotline system has not been swamped.

He referred to Dr Gondwe’s concern about the performance agreements. He said that prior to 2018 there has been a system of performance agreement and evaluation of performance which was facilitated by the public service commission, and it was fairly compliance output-based agreements. The assessments were completed between the Minister and the DG, the new system has brought a panel system.

He said that in the 2021/22 financial year, assessments will be done and tabled with DPME in December 2022 and the process of evaluation will take place.

Response from Brand SA

Ms Modise highlighted that Brand SA does not implement projects; it only deals with marketing. Brand SA's budget stands at only R210 million, Brand SA would market the infrastructure project.

She said that Brand SA does encounter some tough questions regarding the state of the country. In the previous year, the entity had to deal with questions around the July unrest, and they highlighted that the fiscal performance of the country improved significantly during the time. Brand SA has pleaded with the state in the past to be consistent in the message of the country and dealing with issues of crime. Brand SA has not been shy in addressing issues.

There have been conversations with key players in terms of load shedding, in ensuring that there are plans for a consistent energy supply in the country, and that was addressed in the Mining Indaba.

She spoke on the issue of the decay of infrastructure in the country, highlighting that it is an issue of the injection of funding for infrastructure in the fiscal year. There has been a sense of hope with the money allocated to the infrastructure and these are the messages lifted.

She said that media and messages packaged for the Davos meeting were important in terms of attracting investments. Brand SA is a show and tell organisation and they would be able to show the committee what was done.

She expressed her excitement with the reach that the pavilion in Dubai had.

Ms Tobias said that the strategies have been aligned with the sixth administration. The process of responding to challenges involves engagements with the GCIS. Messages are packaged in a consumable manner across various media platforms.

Prior to approaching investors, Brand SA researches the perceptions of SA and monitors and traps the perceptions about South Africa to answer questions about the country.

She said that this assists in what would be said at these global meetings, for example, the issue of energy is a global issue and not just in South Africa.

There are areas of improvement and BrandSA may not always have the access to workable solutions.

She highlighted the actions taken in the Davos meeting.  

Ms Sithembile Ntombela, Acting CEO, BrandSA, said that one of Brand SA’s outcomes in the APP speaks to the alignment of stakeholders to the nation's brand experience and execution. Multiple stakeholders are engaged in the investment arena on the key projects. That makes collaboration at a departmental level much easier.

The Chairperson suggested that the adoption of the previous meeting should be postponed, and he adjourned the meeting.