Chairperson, hon Minister Collins Chabane, chairperson of the Standing Committee on Appropriations, hon members of the committee and other hon members, esteemed guests, comrades and friends, ladies and gentlemen, let me start with a quotation by Raanan Weitz, a renowned economist: "While humanity shares one planet, it is a planet in which there are two worlds, the world of the rich and the world of the poor."
It is important, therefore, that the South African people know and understand why things happen as they do in the world and how they have an impact on us as South Africa, and how and what their government is doing in order to better their lives. The Minister has already presented an account of what the Ministry is achieving.
I am quite shocked that some people are still arguing about the nonexistence of this particular Ministry. They argue that it was a case of jobs for pals in order to create space for certain people to be Ministers. The governments of the United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico - countries that are regarded as having advanced democracies - have established such Ministries. Malaysia, South Korea, and Indonesia - most of you quoted Malaysia, and it is performing and doing well - have also established such a Ministry. Therefore, this Ministry is not about jobs for pals, but about perfecting government systems. [Applause.]
Let me also quote other economists: Michael P Todaro and Stephen C Smith, in one of the editions of Economic Development, said:
As people throughout the world awake each morning to face a new day, they do so under very different circumstances. Some live in comfortable homes with many rooms. They have more than enough to eat, are well clothed and healthy, and have a reasonable degree of financial security. Others, and these constitute more than three fourths of the earth's 6 billion people, are much less fortunate. They may have little or no shelter and an inadequate food supply. Their health is poor, they often cannot read or write, they are often unemployed, and their prospects for a better life are uncertain at best.
This is a true reflection of the lives of the people of Africa, Latin America and Asia, a reflection which they experience daily. Added to that are the current developments in the world, such as the economic meltdown in 2008 and the current Euro crisis, which are having a negative impact on their lives.
The government of the ANC endeavours to ensure that our people have shelter, a food supply, health and social services, water, sanitation, housing and security. A Ugandan woman is quoted as saying: "When one is poor, she has no say in public, she feels inferior. She has no food, so there is famine in her house, no clothing, and no progress in her family."
However, in South Africa there are multiple platforms for poor people to express themselves. In response to the call for a more responsive, interactive and effective government, our President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, launched the Presidential Hotline in 2009, which, until now, has been criticised. The hotline aims to provide mechanisms for citizens to interact directly with the President about service delivery matters. It is only in South Africa where citizens have direct access to the President or the Presidency through the hotline.
Two and half years later, after its establishment, the Presidential Hotline has indeed become an important monitoring and evaluation tool to gauge the quality of service delivery by the various arms of government and state- owned institutions. People call in numbers and tell us their stories. There are more than 130 000 cases logged at present, and the resolution rate is more than 80% - I hope the hon McGluwa is listening. This is a resolution rate that we can be proud of, given that we started from a low base of 39% in November 2009.
Since its inception, the Presidential Hotline has made a difference to the lives of many South Africans. This is therefore a platform for quite a number of our people. For example, the hotline has facilitated the unblocking of delayed pensions, and it has ensured that actions are taken when community members alert us to cases that require the intervention of social welfare services and other departments. We are a caring government that serves the needs of the poor and the needs of ordinary South Africans and others who have issues to raise with government.
The hotline received more than 8 000 complaints and queries about the Johannesburg metro billing system crisis. As the Presidency and the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, DPME, we responded and undertook a visit to the metro of Johannesburg to engage with the leadership and to assess the situation and identify bottlenecks.
The metro leadership assured us that their current interventions would bring positive relief to many citizens who had voiced their concerns. The issues raised both by the rich and the poor, by black and white citizens of Johannesburg, are all various issues such as the billing challenges, the responsiveness which was perceived as slow or inadequate, the long queues at the service points, the rate of the turnaround strategy to resolve their problems, and also the uncaring officials who did not apply Batho Pele principles.
We are currently assessing and monitoring the situation. Besides the unannounced visits that are being carried out as we speak, we will be going back to the Johannesburg metro to get feedback on the progress made in resolving the issue.
It was through the Presidential Hotline that we were alerted to the most important element - of 8 000 complaints being made - and we could not ignore 8 000 voices. That is why we had to respond, because of the Presidential Hotline in place. [Applause.]
There are good stories to be told about the usefulness of the hotline by ordinary South Africans. Most recently, a caller complained that her mother was receiving a foster care grant for her two grandsons. The grant had expired in March 2010 and she went to renew it at the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, but she was told that the renewal forms had not been available since March 2010. Then the people decided to phone the Presidential Hotline.
The officials at the hotline referred this case to the national Sassa offices. This resulted in them sending a national official and a social worker to visit the household. After observing the dire poverty that this family was living in, Sassa officials found that the children suffered from trauma as a result of the death of their parents. The family also did not have enough food, only surviving at times on the help of their neighbours. The children did not have school uniforms and lunch food, and were reluctant to attend school - they were refusing to go to school. The family was immediately assisted as a result of the intervention by the Presidential Hotline.
It is clear from this case that the hotline represents our determination to do things differently in government. These and other stories reflect the importance of the role played by the Presidential Hotline in addressing the needs of ordinary South Africans.
In addition, from this and other stories, we are able to identify some service delivery trends and key challenges that should be unblocked by various spheres of government. The management of the Presidential Hotline was transferred to the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation last year in October. I hope, therefore, that from time to time you will call them to give reports, so that we are then able to understand the nature of the work that they do.
In the Budget Vote speech last year, the department undertook to place more emphasis on "on-site monitoring of frontline service delivery". I am pleased to announce that, since June 2011, we have conducted 122 unannounced monitoring visits to five provinces: Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Free State and the Northern Cape. The monitoring teams consisted of staff of DPME as well as staff from the offices of the premiers. We monitored the quality of services delivered in selected offices such as Sassa, Home Affairs, drivers licence centres, health facilities, courts and schools.
During each of these visits, we interviewed community users and staff and produced a score card which suggested improvements, and the reports were then given to Cabinet. We hope, therefore, that these on-site visits will be increased. This year, for example, we aim to monitor more than 150 new sites in all nine provinces. We have included municipal customer service centres on our list of sites to be monitored. We are hard at work in ensuring that service delivery does improve.
Regarding the National Youth Development Agency, I just want to say that the term of office of the board expired on 30 April 2012. Parliament is currently considering a new board, and we hope that process will deliver new people. The chairperson has already thanked the outgoing chairperson for a job well done, together with the board members.