Hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Chairperson, hon members, friends and guests, if one were to conceptualise the Department for the Public Service and Administration as a very large department store- a 10-storey building with lifts, escalators and fancy displays in the windows; a one-stop shop that offers a myriad of services to the customer; and that customer being the South African population-then the people on the shop floor, the shop assistants, would be community development workers.
On 11 February 2010, the President said:
This year, 2010, shall be a year of action. The defining feature of this administration would be that it knows where people live, understands their needs and responds faster. Government must work faster, harder and smarter.
Community development workers are the human link between government and the people. They are the ones who engage with the people on a daily basis, establishing what the problems are on the ground and helping the community to get the right assistance. They work in extremely difficult circumstances. These heroes of the government go across the country to where the poorest of the poor are and work tirelessly to implement government policy, including improved access to health services; improved access to the education system, job creation through local economic development initiatives, and stamping out crime and corruption.
CDWs assist communities to access government services. To mention a couple of examples of what they do: assisting orphans to acquire grants through the Department of Social Development; assisting homeless people to get decent shelter through the Department of Human Settlements; helping people living with disabilities to access grants; linking the poorest of the poor with stakeholders and businesses in order for them to receive basic necessities like blankets and food parcels; assisting the community to stop illegal circumcision and helping to get the perpetrators arrested; assisting families of the deceased to receive death certificates from the Department of Home Affairs; assisting child-headed households to access grants; and, overall, assisting the South African population to access the government services that are available to them.
Community development workers are, as we speak, busy implementing these government policies. Some of the assistance CDWs get to perform their vast and varied tasks comes in the form of Thusong Service Centres. These centres have been established across the country not only to assist CDWs to perform their work, but also to ensure that every South African citizen has access to good public services.
Government's vision for the Thusong Service Centres is to provide every South African citizen with access to information and services within their place of residence in each local municipality by 2014.
With the purpose of improving the quality of their lives through integrated service delivery, typical services found in these centres include: the Department of Home Affairs; Labour; the SA Social Security Agency; Social Development; Government Communication and Information System; the Department of Health; Post Office; libraries; agricultural extension offices; municipal services, as well as community development workers; the SA Police Service; nongovernmental organisations; and community-based organisations. These hubs of government services on the ground are vital to ensure that the South African citizenry are afforded the best services this government can offer.
The Thusong Service Centres serve not only the community through the tireless efforts of community development workers but also the efforts of ward committees and councillors. The Thusong Service Centres are vital components in the developmental state. One of the major challenges facing the effectiveness of the Thusong Service Centres is the connectivity of the centres to the databases of the government departments serving those centres.
Chairperson, this brings me to my last point. The State Information Technology Agency's revenue for the seven-year period from 2006 to 2013 is expected to grow at an average rate of 10,3%. The main contributor to revenue is information technology services, which grew from R3,4 billion in 2006-07 to R6,1 billion in 2009-10. Operating expenditure grew from R592 million in 2007-08 to R709 million in 2009-10. The solvency ratio at the end of 2009-10 was 2,41:1 and the liquidity ratio was 1,98:1, leaving the State Information Technology Agency healthy and with a sound financial structure.
The agency has established a streamlined procurement process by using volume purchasing and side licences to establish attractive prices on standardised hardware and software. However, Chairperson, as the ANC, we are aware that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the work that this agency is doing for our government. There is a need for vigorous and tighter oversight over the State Information Technology Agency to ensure: the complete and irreversible elimination of corruption within this agency; the urgent appointment of full-time competent staff; an end to all interference that limits the ability of the agency to operate a business; and that acting positions amongst staff are filled with permanent posts without delay.
The new functioning board has started working on the revitalisation of this agency and has created a turnaround strategy for Sita. This turnaround strategy must be implemented within the agency in order to bring the government's services closer to the ground.
Community development workers out there are faced with enormous challenges. They work in places we seldom see. President Jacob Zuma said, in his 2010 state of the nation address:
The Public Service has to respond to the call to make this term one of faster action and improved state performance. We require excellence and hard work. We need public servants who are dedicated, capable and who care for the needs of citizens.
It is our responsibility, as this is the Fourth Parliament, to make every effort to ease the suffering of the people on the ground. We need to step up to the plate, roll up our sleeves and get on with the business of delivery. We are greatly assisted by community development workers and by Thusong Service Centres, and we will be greatly assisted by swift, effective implementation of the State Information Technology Agency's turnaround strategy.
Hon members, we, as the Fourth Parliament, are on the eve of the completion of the first 20% of our term in office. So, if you were to take a cake and cut it into five equal pieces and take one of those pieces out, you will see how far we have come. [Applause.]
We must accept that we are together. When government fails, we all fail. When government succeeds, and this government will succeed, we all succeed, because, hon members, together we can do more. Thank you. [Applause.]