Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi says government undertakes visits to communities such as Diepsloot to get first-hand experience of the challenges residents face so as to respond to them properly.
“Instead of being the kind of government that only resides in air-conditioned offices, we want to be where our people are, to have first-hand experiences of the kinds of challenges that they have so that we can respond accordingly with appropriate services,” the Minister said.
She was speaking during a visit to Diepsloot, in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The Minister has embarked on a number of unannounced visits to frontline service delivery points. They are part of a programme aimed at assessing the quality of service that public service institutions are rendering to the communities.
“… The social contract which we have signed with our people requires us to remain in touch with them. It requires us to live amongst them, so that we are able to have first-hand experiences of the conditions which they live under,” Minister Muthambi said.
The Minister visited households where Memeza alarms have been installed by the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI), the Innovation Hub and SAPS.
These alarms are linked directly to sector policing vehicles, CPF members, and the Diepsloot Police Station.
The Memeza project is a crime fighting innovation from the CPSI working together with other stakeholders.
Minister Muthambi told residents government is constitutionally bound to always be at hand to intervene responsively and timeously with much-needed services to help citizens.
“For that reason our government has made a commitment to model ourselves as the kind of government that stands poised, ever ready to honour this social compact, by always being at hand to meet the needs of the citizens,” Minister Muthambi said. – SAnews.gov.za
