News & Views
Service delivery solutions to benefit South
Africa
 The
mother of GovTech – that’s how the programme director: Makana
Mosidi, referred to Minister for Public Service and
Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi as she took to the
podium for her address to the conference delegates.
“Collaboration, innovation and service delivery,” were the words
the Minister emphasised throughout her address.
The Minister paved the way for her message by recalling some of
the realities South Africans face daily. “We have inherited a
society of great challenges and inequities. We know what the
before is. And we know what the after is, that we want to
achieve. The before is a landscape of children sleeping on the
street, voters queuing to make their mark in elections, and
shack housing in informal settlements,” said Minister Fraser-Moleketi.
“ICT leaders worldwide face similar challenges,” she said. “but
it’s the way the challenges are approached and the results that
are being achieved that we must look at. The issue is to have a
common approach on how to confront these challenges.”
Highlighting the money spent by government on ICT over the past
two years, the Minister cited figures of R303m for software,
R9,4bn for hardware, and R6,2bn on ICT services. This overall
spend of R16bn must translate into a tangible difference for
citizens.
In addressing poverty, the Minister said ICT is the investment
plan to overcome it. It is the feeding scheme for the hungry –
helping subsistence fishermen to understand the value of their
catch before returning to shore and to know where to access the
best market.
“ICT is the mortar on which to build South Africa and ensure
development,” she added. ICT in the Minister’s view automates
the government of the future and is the bedrock of a modernised
public service, which provides accessible and convenient
services.
The Minister also highlighted that government itself needed to
rise to the occasion. Government she said must move away from
the silo approach and a lack of adequate focus, skill and
commitment.
For a sustainable democracy, she said the country must focus on
teamwork and partnerships to ensure that the best teams are
brought together. She explained that change was like a race – in
spite of the importance of winning, the success depended on the
teamwork and the successful handover of the baton.
“We need more collaborative methods and workspaces. Innovation
means nothing unless it is cascaded across to service delivery.
We need open minds and a willingness to share challenges, ideas
and solutions.”
“We have come a long way but we are dealing with an incredible
deficit. To retain public trust we must find the solutions and
find them together,” concluded the Minister.
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