The Public Service Commission (PSC) releases Citizen
Talk - a Citizen Satisfaction Survey Report
12 April 2012
A. BACKGROUND
The Public Service Commission (PSC) conducted a citizen
satisfaction survey in 2010 based on the ten South
African-specific drivers of citizen satisfaction developed
by the PSC. The drivers are Accessibility of public
services, treating the citizens with Courtesy and
consideration, Timeliness in the provision of services,
availability of Information on public services, the
Knowledge and Competence of officials, the condition of the
Facilities in which services are delivered, Fairness and
Equity in service delivery, Value for Money in service
delivery, providing Redress where a promised standard of
service has not been met and Outcome of the encounter with
the Public Service.
The survey was conducted with 5 473 service users who make
use of the services provided by the national departments of
Justice and Constitutional Development (Family Court
services) and Rural Development and Land Reform (Deeds
Registration) as well as three provincial departments,
namely, the Departments of Health (Pharmaceutical services),
Social Development (Social grants) as well as Human
Settlement (Individual applications of housing
subsidies).The survey was conducted at the service delivery
sites of the departments to solicit service users’
perceptions based on their current interaction with services
provided by the departments.
B. KEY FINDINGS
The findings of the study are shown in the table below:
Table 1: Service users level of satisfaction with
services rendered by the Departments
|
Driver of citizen satisfaction |
Health |
Social Development |
Justice and Constitutional Development |
Rural
Development and Land Reform |
Human
Settlement |
All
Departments
|
| Outcome |
82.7% |
79.9% |
75.5% |
85.6% |
61.2% |
80.6% |
| Value for money |
80.5% |
83.5% |
76.0% |
83.8% |
62.6% |
80.5% |
| Fairness and equity |
77.3% |
79.6% |
76.1% |
80.7% |
65.0% |
77.6% |
| Facilities |
63.7% |
60.0% |
61.7% |
69.2% |
69.5% |
63.2% |
Knowledge and
competence
of staff |
64.9% |
61.8% |
55.2% |
60.6% |
55.5% |
62.4% |
| Courtesy |
52.6% |
60.5% |
59.5% |
63.7% |
60.4% |
56.6% |
|
Information |
56.0% |
51.7% |
46.0% |
50.9% |
47.7% |
53.1% |
|
Accessibility |
51.5% |
48.4% |
44.1% |
57.7% |
42.9% |
50.0% |
| Timeliness |
34.2% |
43.9% |
37.3% |
45.2% |
53.4% |
38.8% |
| Redress |
27.4% |
24.0% |
9.8% |
24.0% |
16.7% |
23.6% |
| Average rating |
59.1% |
59.3% |
54.1% |
62.1% |
53.5% |
58.6% |
The PSC found that on average the
service users of the participating departments were
satisfied with the outcome of service delivery. This
implies that they received the government services they
required. However, it was worrying that the receipt of
such services was marred by challenges such as redress
mechanisms, which were perceived to be poor, the time it
took for them to receive such services, accessibility of
the services, the provision of information on the
services rendered as well as the courtesy displayed by
the public servants when providing services.
Furthermore, the PSC found that on average, the level of
satisfaction with the services across all Departments
was 58.6%. The service users of Deeds Registry of the
Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (62.1%)
were the most satisfied with the sampled services
provided by the Department, followed by the service
users of Social grants of the Departments of Social
Development (59.3%), the Departments of Health’s
Pharmaceutical services (59.1%) as well as the
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s
Family Court services (54.1%). Individual applicants for
housing subsidies from the Departments of Human
Settlement (53.5%) were the least satisfied with the
sampled services rendered by the Departments.
C. CONCLUSION
The study provides evidence from South African citizens
on their perceptions of the service rendered by
government. Whilst service users expressed satisfaction
with the outcome of service delivery, the study shows
the need for Public Service departments to effectively
manage complaints of service users and communicate the
mechanisms of handling such complaints. The study also
shows citizens’ eagerness to receive services in a
timely manner, which was not the case. It is important
that services are accessible to the service users and
that they are provided with appropriate information.
Public servants must also treat service users with
courtesy.
Issued by the Public Service Commission
For enquiries, please contact:
Mr Humphrey Ramafoko;
Director: Communication and Information Services; Tel:
012 352 1196; Cell: 082 782 1730; Email:
humpreyr@opsc.gov.za; Or Mr Ricardo Mahlakanya;
Deputy Director: External Communication; Tel: 012 352
1070; Cell: 079 769 7955; Email:
RicardoM@opsc.gov.za
National Anti-Corruption Hotline: 0800 701 701
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