Cape Town – Public Service and Administration Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi says innovation should be at the centre of service delivery for government to positively impact on the lives of all South Africans.
He said innovation should be allowed to thrive within the public sector and that civil servants can no longer treat it as an “optional extra”, but must institutionalise it in order to deliver services better, faster and more efficiently.
The Minister said this when he addressed the 10th Public Sector Innovation Conference in the Cape Town, on Tuesday.
“As our insights into processes improve and technology develops, new opportunities arise to shorten or improve service delivery value chains. Some services may even become obsolete as new service channels are made possible
“The theme of the Conference highlights the importance of bringing innovation into the equation, as the Department of Home Affairs did.
“This can only be achieved when government departments and State institutions get the basics right and refrain from viewing innovation in isolation as an ‘optional extra’,” he said.
The conference, which is hosted annually by the Centre of Public Service Innovation, was first held in 2007 and is used as a platform to inculcate and institutionalise innovation in the public sector to improve service delivery
Minister Ramatlhodi said there is a need for all public servants to intensify their efforts to be innovatively responsive to the needs of all South Africans.
He said to achieve this, all government institutions need to reinforce and collaborate widely and across all sectors of the economy.
“Sustainable development requires multiple, targeted and effectively coordinated interventions. A silo approach will not only lead to an inefficient utilisation of scarce resources, but the development impact will also be compromised.”
He said as insights into processes improve and technology develops, new opportunities arise to shorten or improve service delivery value chains.
“Some services may even become obsolete as new service channels are made possible.
“For instance, today citizens rather conveniently renew vehicle licences at the Post Office and not at licence offices and, since recently, may opt to apply for an identity document at a bank.
“As announced by the Minister of Health recently, we will soon benefit from an ATM-like machine that will be dispensing chronic medication, courtesy of one of our previous CPSI Public Sector Innovation Awards finalists,” he said.
The Minister also commended services such as eHome Affairs, where citizens can apply for their identity documents online and via banks, as a revolutionary and advanced means of delivering services and in the process, eradicate long queues and delays.
“While there has been a measure of success in some of the solutions that have emerged, many have failed to deliver on the expected value proposition, resulting in wastage of State resources and mounting frustration among public officials and citizens alike.
“Due to the urgency and pressure to find solutions to service delivery challenges, public officials should be on alert not to be caught up in the euphoria of glitzy, off-the-shelf and ready-made overrated solutions that are costly but with unsatisfactory outcomes,” he said.
He said for innovation to be successful, it should be contextually relevant and be able to address the root causes of service delivery failures.
Minister hails his home girl Caster Semenya
The Minister also hailed Olympic gold medallists Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk and Team SA for their achievements at the Rio Olympics.
It was announced during the conference that Semenya and the Minister come from the same neighbourhood.
“I would also like to salute Wayde van Niekerk for breaking a world record and bringing a gold medal home from Rio Olympics 2016. It is indeed humbling to see how we can change our lives by thinking beyond the ordinary and believing in ourselves.
“Our deepest and heartfelt congratulations to Caster Semenya for her incredible performance and all medallists and athletes who took part in the games. South Africa has a lot to offer.” – SAnews.gov.za
