Details of DPSA Public Service Programmes

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Details of Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Public Service Programmes

African Peer Reveiw Mechanism

About the APRM
The APRM is a system introduced by the African Union to help countries improve their governance. It is a way of looking forward while taking account of where we are today. Participation in the system is voluntary. A Panel of Eminent Persons appointed by the APRM Secretariat oversees its implementation throughout Africa. South Africa’s APRM process is overseen by our APRM Governing Council, which has ten civil society members and five from Government. The system has a number of stages: The development of a country self-assessment report and a programme of action. This is based on a questionnaire that looks at four themes: Democracy and political governance, Economic Management, Corporate Governance and Socio Economic Development. Once we have developed a Country Self Assessment Report and a Programme of Action, they are submitted to the APRM Secretariat. A Country Review Team led by the Panel member responsible for SA will visit us to consult a wide range of stakeholders on the Report. The Country Review Team writes a response to our report and all the Reports are all submitted to the APR Forum and later publicly released. Progress by countries in implementing their Programmes of Action is reviewed in later years.The point is to encourage African countries to plan a way forward for themselves and to implement their plans. As a Member State of the African Union, South Africa has applied to be reviewed. The President allocated the Minister for the Public Service and Administration the overall co-ordinating responsibility for the APRM process in SA.

Batho Pele

Know your service rights campaign

The Know Your Service Rights Campaign is one of the four strategic thrusts identified to compliment and strengthen the government’s drive to revitalise the promotion and implementation of Batho Pele within the public service as per the Cabinet resolution of the 04th of August 2004. By and large, citizens have for sometime been deprived the satisfaction of enjoying convenient and seamless services offered by government departments.
This can be attributed to amongst other things:

  • Failure of the public service to advance the values of the peoples contract
  • Lack of knowledge by citizens about their rights and entitlement regarding services
  • Failure of the public service and its officials to promote Batho Pele as a way of life Although there are pockets of excellence in certain areas, the reality is that more effort needs to be directed towards improving service delivery on the whole, hence the Batho Pele Revitilisation Programme
  • Being integral to the Programme the campaign seeks to create a platform that will enable citizens to interact directly with the public service and its services through relevant, but effective mechanisms that promote co-orporation. This drive reinforces the public services commitment to realising its vision of creating a better life for all by improving the manner in which services are delivered to people of this country. Key objectives of the campaign are: •To promote awareness on the rights citizens have with regards to the level of services they receive from various government departments as well as educate them on appropriate actions to take when such rights are infringed on;
  • To exert positive pressure on the public service and its officials with the intention of fostering a people and service-centric culture that elicits requisite behaviour and attitude;
  • To emphasise the need to strengthen partnerships between the public and government in service delivery, thereby ensuring citizen participation.

The DPSA is partnering with, amongst others, Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) and State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to ensure that the campaign employs the necessary capacity and resources. The campaign is envisaged to run for a two-year period. During this period and beyond the campaign will serve as an anchor to key projects of the Batho Pele Revitilisation Programme by providing a platform that will ensure the programme enjoys the necessary support, reach and coverage.

Public Service Research Forum

Launch of the Public Service Research Forum (PSRF)

The Branch Research and Analysis officially launched the Public Service Research Forum (PSFR) on 28 November 2014 at St Georges Hotel in Pretoria. The launch was attended by Senior Managers who are dealing with research from National Departments, Offices of the Premier as well as Research Institutions. The purpose of the forum amongst other things is to create a platform and network for engagement around the research agenda of sector departments and provinces in responding to the priorities of the National Development Plan and the Medium Term Strategic Framework.
Ms Colette Clark, the Deputy Director-General at Research and Analysis Branch made a presentation on the overview of the draft Public Service Research Strategy. Moreover, the Launch was marked by very informative presentations from officials of various organisations such as Productivity SA, National School of Government, Centre for Public Service Innovation, Human Science Research Council, Government Technical Advisory Centre, Statistics South Africa and Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The presenters provided numerous research related projects that are currently being undertaken in their respective organisations. Also they presented on how the organisations could better collaborate with other departments in order to leverage on the available research.
As a way forward, the delegates welcomed the Launch and mandated DPSA to form a represented Working Group to take forward to inter alia further investigate the following:

    • The PSRF Terms of Reference.
    • The establishment of a public service research journal as a vital tool to ensure the capturing and sharing of knowledge.
    • The establishment of research portal or repository to ensure access to different types of research in the public service.
    • The hosting of an annual conference where public servants could present their papers and cases studies.

Community development workers (CDWs)

About the CDWs

Background
In his State of the Nation address on 14 February 2003, President Thabo Mbeki identified the need for a new public service echelon of multi-skilled community development workers. Both Presidential and provincial Imbizos revealed deficiencies in service delivery to communities and therefore a need was identified to examine where we currently stand regarding delivery of services to the poor and how service delivery can be improved. The CDWs would be deployed to maintain direct contact with the people where they live and to ensure that government sharply improves the qualities of the outcomes of public expenditure.
Whilst many government departments have community development initiatives, the majority of people who fall in the poorer segment of the population are still unable to access the full potential of government programmes. Among the reasons for this gap between service provision and effective utilisation by the intended recipients are access to information about services and access to the services themselves. The programme was approved by Cabinet on 27 October 2004 and the Business Plan was completed and approved by the MEC on 30 November 2004.
The programme is driven, at the national level, by the Department of Public Service and Administration and is being piloted and implemented in the Provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape , Gauteng , Eastern Cape , North West and Mpumalanga . The departments of Public Service and Administration, Labour and the South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) have been tasked with the development of job descriptions and training of the Community Development Workers. At provincial level, the Department responsible for Local Government establishes and manages the programme for implementation in the Province.
What are Community Development Workers ?
CDWs are special public servants who are undergoing training to enable them to enter communities and households, engage with citizens and determine what services are needed, to ensure that these services are made available.
How can Community Development Workers assist communities ?
CDWs link communities with many government services and programmes. CDWs assist citizens by helping them to access services such as health, welfare, housing, agriculture, economic activity, education and training, and employment opportunities.
Where do Community Development Workers work ?
CDWs work for citizens, with citizens and where they live, building on peoples daily struggles. They are work in rural areas and townships, which are poor, isolated or underdeveloped.
Where can I obtain more information ?
Visit our contacts page for Government and related services, Thusong service centres and Provincial CDW coordinators.