Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members and distinguished guests, I am sure that the members of the country that my hon colleague was referring to which is part of this debate must be wondering whether the GCIS team have a different colour tie for every day of the week, or if that is their standard uniform. [Laughter.] Perhaps you can enlighten us, Minister. The mission of this department is to drive coherent government messaging and to proactively communicate with the public on government policies, plans, programmes and, Minister, achievements. When you quoted this particular mission you left out achievements and perhaps for good reason.
Whilst I support this and recognise the need for government to communicate its policies and programmes, and to a lesser extent its achievements, I cannot help but point out that actions speak louder than words. What I mean by this is simply that if government at all levels were to put the same effort into the delivery of services that it appears to want to put into managing the negative perceptions of nondelivery, we would be able to reduce this department's budget quite drastically, rather than increase it. The money saved could go towards increased delivery of services to reach a diverse section of our communities in order to bring about reconciliation and redress.
The total expenditure increased from 2008-09 by an annual average rate of 18,5% to 2011-12. As my colleague mentioned, this was mainly due to spending on compensation of employees. It may be worth noting that the GCIS has a staff complement of 483 out of a total establishment of 500 - much larger than the staff complement of the Department of Communications.
There is a relatively large increase from 2011-12 to 2012-13, and the budget then reduces in the outer years of the MTEF period. We are told that the increase in this current budget year is because of the new building.
Now, with regard to the new building, we are also told that the premises are designed, and I am quoting the GCIS, -
... literally and figuratively to unleash creativity and establish synergy amongst business units that need to work together in close quarters but are currently physically dispersed, and to enhance our
... meaning, the GCIS's -
... reputation and relations with stakeholders.
I also assume that the stakeholders referred to are not the communities that are looking to the GCIS to provide them with information on government's policies and programmes, since the building that the information would come from would not be of as much interest to them as the effective delivery of basic services.
One of the relatively new objectives of the GCIS is media bulk-buying. We recognise that government needs to take advantage of the benefits of economies of scale. However, this strong position of GCIS buying advertising space on behalf of all government departments should not lead to the abuse of power.
There is no doubt that a functioning and healthy democracy requires dialogue between government, communities and civil society and the GCIS has an important role to play. The poor in society often suffer from deprivation, as well as low levels of health and education. Much of the information on government services needed to improve the quality of their lives, educational standards and employment or business opportunities depends on government efforts to make it available to them.
In this regard - and it has been mentioned by a few speakers - the Thusong Service Centres, formerly known as Multipurpose Community Centres, remain the primary vehicle for the implementation of this information. These centres also serve to integrate government services into primarily rural communities where there is a great need for exactly this type of service due to the great distances that have to be travelled, often at great cost, to established government offices.
There is a multitude of government departments that should, and in some instances do, participate with some level of elementary service at these Thusong Centres. Social Services and Home Affairs come to mind. The Universal Services and Access Agency of SA, one of the SOEs within the Department of Communication, also plays a vital role in establishing these centres.
It is, therefore, with great sorrow that I have to stand here and testify that these centres by and large - particularly in the rural areas, Deputy Minister - do not provide most of the essential services that they could and should. During the two provincial oversight visits that I have been part of this year, most of these centres are underutilised due to a lack of services and in most instances the information leaflets that should be provided by the GCIS are simply not there.
In fact, the GCIS and the SA Post Office also have an agreement whereby information stands are provided to the outlets, which I believe is an excellent initiative to make information available. Sadly, once again, while the metal stands are out there, there is no literature displayed and when the Post Office manager is asked about the lack of information, the reply usually is that they are waiting for the GCIS to provide them with leaflets.
Tragically, and I don't use the word lightly, in one instance when we visited a Thusong Centre - and I think this was in Mpumalanga - in a remote rural area, the building, which was in a relatively good condition, despite nobody knowing who the owner was, was standing abandoned and with no running water. The manager of this centre was telephoned ahead of our visit to come and unlock the gates for us, and as we were getting ready to leave, the gates were being locked behind us again.
There was a community that clearly needed the services that could be provided by an official Thusong Service Centre and could have brought some form of reconciliation and redress to a deprived community. No doubt, in the delivery statistics quoted by the hon Deputy Minister in terms of 170 Thusong Service Centres, this is one of them, notwithstanding the fact that the gates that should stay open are locked.
I think the only thing worse than not having something, is to have the illusion of having it. In closing, I wish to repeat two of the GCIS's organisational values.
Firstly, openness and transparency - the organisation states that it is open in all its communication and accountable and responsible for its actions. Secondly, honesty and integrity - where it states its officials exercise honesty in all their business dealings and strive to protect the integrity of the organisation and, by implication, government.
As members of the Portfolio Committee on Communication, my colleague and I from the DA will hold the department accountable to these worthy values, as I am sure the other members of the committee will also endeavour to do. I thank you. [Applause.]