SA marks Public Service Month

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Pretoria – South Africa will in September observe Public Service Month (PSM).

During the month, South Africans will be given an opportunity to reflect on the public service and its ability to deliver quality services that meet the expectations of the public, in line with government’s Batho Pele programme.

Batho Pele is a Sesotho phrase meaning “people first”, a phrase that the public service has embodied as part of an initiative to make public servants service orientated, to strive for excellence in service delivery and to commit to continuous service delivery improvement.

PSM is an annual public service programme for celebrating and recognising public servants and their contribution to the lives of ordinary people by putting people first.

The 2014 PSM will take place across the public service from 1 - 30 September under the theme, Reinventing the Way Public Servants Work: Batho Pele - Putting People First.

This year, unannounced visits will be conducted by senior managers at frontline service delivery sites. The Public Service Improvement Indaba will also be held.

The summarised programme for PSM is as follows:

  • 31 August – launch of PSM and endorsement of Urban Thusong Centre in Gauteng.
  • 4 - 5 September – Service delivery exhibitions, head deployments, engagements with frontline public servants and unannounced visits in Free State.
  • From 8 - 12 September – Engagements with frontline public servants, unannounced visits, Khaedu deployment of senior managers to frontline service delivery sites in Western Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
  • 22 - 23 September – Africa Public Service Day roundtable, led by Premiers and provincial HODs in Mpumalanga.
  • 25 - 26 September – Outreach and service delivery exhibitions in Northern Cape.
  • 29 - 30 September – Service Delivery Indaba and exhibitions in North West.

The programme for PSM will attract diverse stakeholders across the public service, which includes Executive Authorities, selected Chapter 9 and 10 bodies, public servants, academia, private sector, business, labour, NGOs, CBOs, communities and the media. – SAnews.gov.za