As the leader of transforming the state of public service and administration, the Ministry for the Public Service and Administration is responsible for providing the governance framework for an efficient and effective Public Service through, amongst other things, ensuring that its people, processes and technologies are aligned.
As the custodian of human resources in the civil service, the Department for the Public Service and Administration, DPSA, creates the framework for recruiting, retraining and training the people who are central to the high performance Public Service that we require. Therefore, there would be no need for me to join the DA.
To effect this outcome, the Ministry for the Public Service and Administration has a number of levers at its disposal. We have several directives that deal with specific people's issues to whom we are harnessing our strategy to improve and to raise the ethos of Public Service.
As our mandate is to transform the Public Services, we are working towards inculcating the principle of a customer focus and citizen centric service to the people and all public servants.
The aim is to ensure that all citizens in our country receive quality government service at every service point. In this regard, I have just completed a very interesting four-day public service and community engagement outreach programme, and the Minister is about to implement another of these initiatives in one of the outer lying provinces in the country.
The main focus of our programme is to ascertain the level of compliance to service delivery standards which are central to the Batho Pele principle. We engage in these programmes in people's forums to hear the way people really perceive the quality of public service and make interventions to raise the quality of service.
I must, however, indicate that, in order to achieve this, we need public servants who have values, are principle-driven and also customer focused as well as having the mind-set of being people-centred.
Our challenge, ladies and gentlemen, is to make the entire Public Service share our vision and work diligently to speed up service delivery. Our critical partners such as trade unions and the public sector will certainly assist us to enhance the effectiveness of a developmental state. This sentiment, we are happy to record, was endorsed in the declaration that was adopted during the public service sector summit held earlier this year. In this context, it is critical that we enhance the speedy access to government services.
The Community Development Workers Programme, CDWP, was created in 2003 as the new usher of multiskilled public servants whose role would be to ensure that government goes to the people to offer services where they live, especially the urban and rural poor.
It is, however, necessary to mention that, until now, the community development programme has been implemented through guiding documents. As a consequence of this, a great variety exists in the implementation process of the CDWP nationally.
Our department currently has been engaged in a review process of the Community Development Workers Programme, driving towards the establishment of a consistent policy framework that will guide implementation across the provinces throughout the country. We are also engaged in reviewing the community development programme so that it can play a more dynamic role in the war against poverty. Describing the CDWP as having foot soldiers in the war against poverty, being the eyes and ears of the people and the defenders of the poor will certainly become the mission call of the realigned CDWP. Public service institutions are critical and central to the implementation of our programme of action in the DPSA. Allow me to mention just some of these institutions. Is my time up, Madam Chairperson? [Interjections] Madam Chair, thank you very much.
The institutions I wanted to speak about, if I had time, would have been the Government Employees Medical Scheme, Gems; and the Public Service Commission. As you heard the Minister say, he has entrusted me with the responsibility to ensure that there is compliance in the work of the Public Service Commission. I must tell you that it is a commitment we give this House that we will certainly attend to that in particular. We will certainly do our level best to ensure that peace the PSETA the requirements of improving skills in the Public Service.
In conclusion, we are happy to record that Gems is an institution that takes care of the medical services of public servants. It is a dynamic institution and organisation that earns R12 billion in a year. We are happy to say that it is proceeding very well. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the extra minute. [Applause.]
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe nePhini lakho, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe ngithi angisho ukuthi uhulumeni wakho ngimbona ekuthatha njengento ebalulekile ukuthi kuyiswe izidingo zabantu ebantwini.
Lo mnyango wakho kudingeka ukuthi ufinyelelise izidingo kubantu ngokukhulu ukushesha. Ngiyakubonga ukuthi kubekhona nokunye okwenzekayo kanye nemali efakiwe eziNdabeni zabaSebenzi ukuze kube khona izinto ezibhekene nabasebenzi uqobo. Kodwa engakuxwayisa ngakho Ngqongqoshe ngelinye ilanga ngikule Ndlu ngathi asizinakekele kahle iziKhungo eziku-Chapter 9, ngathi kufuneka uphose amehlo ngoba kukhona abantu abasebenza kahle, kanti futhi izinkinga zabasebenzi zikhona kule minyango.
Kodwa-ke futhi kukhona abantu abenza lezi zikhungo zibe yizinto zemizi yabo, ngoba ngokomthethosisekelo bayazi ukuthi umnyango wakho awukwazi ukuwabheka noma ukuwaphenya ngoba bona baphendula kwiNdlu yesiShayamthetho kaZwelonke. Sengathi leyonto kufuneka ibhekisiswe kahle ngoba iyasikhathaza thina njengabantu abavotayo kuleli lizwe. Okunye okufanele ukubheke ukuthi ungathathi amandla anikezwe uMnyango wakho uwadlulisele kwabanye abantu. UMnyango wakho unikezwe umsebenzi omkhulu wokuthi ubhekelele abasebenzi nokuqashwa kwabantu.
Ozakwethu bathinte nodaba lwakomasipala - ngoba yizimali zabakhokhi bentela eziya khona, kufanele baqikelele ukuthi abantu abaqashwa khona bafanelekile yini ukwenza lowo msebenzi. Uma ungeke ubuveze ubuholi kulokho mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe ngiyacabanga ukuthi iNingizimu Afrika iyobe isefini elimnyama, iyongena ehlathini okwesibili, ngoba labo masipala yibona abasondelene kakhulu nabantu ngendlela okuyiyonayona.
Mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe noma ngazi ukuthi kunezinye izinto ozicabangayo engingeke ngikwazi ukukuphikisa kuzo ngoba mhlawumbe ucwaningile ngazo wabona ukuthi ungasebenza kanjani ngazo. Kodwa-ke njenge-IFP siyasiseka lesi sabelomali, noma-ke amalungu ahloniphekile ebekuxwayisa ngezinto ezithile engingeze ngangena kuzo ngenxa yemizuzu ezosuke iphele. Ngiyabonga kakhulu. (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Prince M M M ZULU: Chairperson, hon Minister and your Deputy. Hon Minister, I see that your administration takes service delivery very seriously.
Your department needs to speed up the process of service delivery. I am grateful for what is happening and also for the funds allocated to labour relations so that there can be something specifically designed for workers. I once warned you Minister, right here in this House, that we must take care of the Chapter 9 institutions. I said you need to be vigilant because there are people who do their work perfectly whereas there are labour issues in these departments.
But, again, there are people who think they own these institutions; they know that according to the Constitution your department cannot monitor or investigate them because they are only accountable to the National Assembly. I think that needs to be looked at carefully because it worries us as the voters in this country. Another thing that you need to be careful not to do is to give other people the authority that has been given to your department. Your department has been given an enormous task to care for the workers and recruitment.
My comrades tackled the issue of municipalities because it is the taxpayers' money that is allocated to them; they must make sure that they employ suitable people for those jobs. If you cannot show your leadership skills in that, hon Minister, I think South Africa would be under a dark cloud, and will be back in the woods for the second time, as these municipalities are the ones which are closer to the people.
Hon Minister, I know that there are things that I could not disagree with you on with regard to your thinking because maybe you have researched them and then concluded how you are going to do them. Nevertheless, as the IFP we support this budget even though the hon members have warned you about certain things that I cannot dwell on right now because of time constraints. Thank you very much.]