Public Service Commission to conduct on-site evaluation
of the Northern Province against the Batho Pele Policy
02 December 1999
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has visited a number of
Provinces to evaluate how well departments and Provinces
have fared in improving their services to the people of
South Africa. On 6, 7 and 8 December 1999 the Public Service
Commission will visit a number of Magistrate's Courts in the
Northern Province. The purpose of the visit is to assess the
progress made by the Department of Justice in its
implementation of Batho Pele, or 'people first', a
government policy on transforming public service delivery.
This policy stipulates certain principles which departments
are required to observe, among them, that:
- All citizens should have equal access to services to
which they are entitled;
- Citizens should be treated with courtesy and
consideration; and
- Citizens should be given full, accurate information
about the public services they are entitled to receive.
The aims of the project are to:
- Evaluate the extent to which all departments have
implemented the requirements of the Batho Pele policy;
- Evaluate all departments with regard to the extent
to which they have implemented the requirements of the
Batho Pele policy;
- Benchmark departments against key requirements of
the Batho Pele policy;
- Evaluate service delivery at grass roots level (at
the service delivery points);
- Solicit views on constraints/problems experienced by
departments in implementing the policy;
- Obtain baseline information on service delivery
issues; and
- Make recommendations on service delivery
improvement.
These in loco inspections reflect the importance the PSC
places on evaluating public servants' interaction with the
public at service delivery points. It is a clear
illustration that the Public Service Commission is committed
to ensuring that the Batho Pele policy does not end up as
just plans to improve service delivery.
The Department of Justice will be required to demonstrate
how it has delivered to the citizens in the Northern
Province at the various Magistrate's Courts in respect of:
- information on services given to the public;
- the conditions at courts;
- complaints mechanisms utilised;
- courtesy of staff towards customers; and
- the efficiency in finalising cases.
In order to ensure that all citizens have equal access to
services, the quality of services in respect of the
following locations will be evaluated and visited by the PSC:
Naboomspruit, Potgietersrus, Pietersburg, Seshego, Mankweng,
Tzaneen, Giyani, Phalaborwa and Namakgale.
The evaluations of these courts are part of a broader
project of the Public Service Commission to benchmark all
public service departments against the requirements of the
Batho Pele White Paper and will culminate in a report to be
tabled in Parliament and Provincial Legislatures.
For more information refer to: Ms Moshito V Mokgalong
(Commissioner) 082 490-5012 OR Media Contact Person: Yvonne
Mogadime (Communications) 082-448-2385 or (012) 448-2385
Issued by: Public Service Commission
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