President Jacob Zuma has expressed his satisfaction at progress made in changing the way the public service works to improve service delivery.
Zuma met with a task team representing directors general (DGs) of government departments in Cape Town on Tuesday.
He first met the DGs and their deputies in April this year.
The task team presented a comprehensive report on the work being done to solve the problems identified by Zuma in April, the Presidency said in a statement.
He was satisfied with the work done thus far.
“The DGs understand what we are trying to do, and that is important because they run the government departments that must get the work done,” Zuma said.
“The deputy president, ministers, premiers and I depend on them to implement what we want to be done to improve the quality of life of our people. We do not have much time,” he said.
Soon, the public should see and feel the difference in the way government worked.
Zuma said he was satisfied that the DGs understood the urgency in this regard.
The experience of government for most people was a frustrating one, and that should not be the case. People waited for long hours for services in hospitals, pension pay points, municipalities and other service points.
“Since we have highly skilled managers, budgets and other resources, what is the problem? Why is the public service not working in an efficient, effective and caring manner as it should,” he asked the DGs at the meeting.
Caution against use of consultants
He also cautioned against the excessive use of consultants in government.
“We appoint people on merit on the basis that they say they know the work they have applied for,” he said.
But, as soon as they joined the department, they employed consultants and the government had to pay huge sums of money. This could not be allowed to continue.
He emphasised that the local government sphere should not be neglected in the government renewal exercise, as there was a lot of work that had to be done to improve the functioning of municipalities.
A multi-agency working group, including the South African Revenue Service, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Auditor General, the Special Investigating Unit and South African Police Service were working on preventative, as well as enforcement, measures to deal with procurement-related corruption within government.
The government would also continue to work with labour to improve working conditions generally, and the shortage of staff in some sectors of the public service, for example health, education and others.
The next meeting would take place in January after the Cabinet lekgotla (meeting). — Sapa