DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT & HOUSING

SERVICE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2004/ 2005

NARRATIVE OVERVIEW

The Service Delivery Improvement Plan aims at highlighting the successes on, the challenges that remain and ways of improving service delivery within the Department.

This Service Delivery Improvement Plan will outline the successes and challenges to service delivery in the 2003/ 2004 financial year and commit the Department to precise measures of improving our service rendering during the 2004/ 2005 financial year.

MAIN SERVICES RENDERED BY THE DEPARTMENT:

  • The creation of an environment within which housing development takes place
  • Coordinated Regional/District Planning and development
  • The creation of framework for provincial planning
  • Integrated urban and rural development
  • Coordination of provincial disaster management
  • Consultative traditional leadership programs

The Department hereby reports its successes in relation to the adherence to the eight (8) principles of Batho Pele.

1.CONSULTATION

The following is a list of our internal and external customers; existing consultation arrangements and proposed ways of improving on this principle, if any.

Customers / Existing consultation arrangements that were made during the year 2003/04 / New consultation
Arrangements for the year 2004/05
Internal customers
Member of the Executive Council / Quarterly Management Meetings.
Annual General Meeting ( Imbizo)
Departmental Service Excellence Awards
HIV/AIDS Awareness Programmes / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
All employees of the department / General Staff meetings
Imbizo
HIV/AIDS Awareness Programmes
Departmental Service Excellence awards
Suggestion boxes / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Management / Monthly Branch Meetings
Monthly Management Meetings
All Consultation arrangement as in I and 2 / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Legislature of the Province / Quarterly Presentations to portfolio committees / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
House of Traditional leaders / Quarterly Meetings with House of Traditional leaders Forum
Quarterly meetings with Regional Authorities / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Employee organisations / Quarterly meetings with Labour Forum / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
External customers / Existing Consultation arrangements for 2003/04 / New consultation arrangements for 2004/05
Office of the Auditor General / Presentation of annual report before June every year.
Response to audit queries or management letters / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Property developers ( per attached list) / Monthly meetings with HOD & Housing Branch / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
District & Local municipalities
(as per attached list) / MEC/Mayor’s forum held quarterly
Intergovernmental Relation Forum
Local Government Transformation Conference is held annually / Premier Mayor’s Forum has been established.
Provincial departments / Participation of department in all provincial events.
Participation into the provincial forums: Batho Pele, HIV/AIDS, Gender Desk, Disability Forum etc. / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
National departments / Monthly meetings, workshops and summits
Inter Departmental Task Team (Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme) / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Professional Engineers (list attached) / Monthly meetings with HOD & Housing SBU / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Professional Town Planners / Ad hoc meetings with Development and Planning Strategic Business Unit / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain
Donor organizations UNDP,EU,DFID / Project Steering Committee on Donor Funding is held monthly / Status quo for 2003/04 will remain

2. INFORMATION

The principle concentrates on how information within and outside the department is circulated and/ or communicated.

The following information dissemination mechanisms are applicable for internal customers:

circulars, staff meetings, workshops, e-mails, and news bulletin.

Information mechanism for external customers:

  • Electronic and print media.
  • Summits
  • Project launches

New arrangements for information dissemination for internal customers are:

  • Intranet
  • Electronic document management system
  • Geographic information system
  • Quarterly Newsletter

3. ACCESS

  • All departmental buildings are marked for easy access.
  • Staff members are provided with name tags which are linked to the access control system.
  • Staff members are required to display their name tags while on duty.
  • Officers who do not have cards are obliged to register at security and supplied with temporary cards in order to gain entry into their offices.
  • Visitors are required to register at reception to receive visitor’s card which will enable them to gain entry into the buildings.

CHALLENGES:

All buildings cannot be accessed by people with disabilities due to structural limitations.

WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT:

  • The department is in the process of purchasing the building at 28 Market Street.
  • This will allow the department to make structural amendments in order to comply with labour laws.
  • Landlords for other buildings will be consulted to comply with labour laws on access to the premises.

4. COUTERSY

  • Departmental officials identify themselves and section when answering all calls from internal or external customers.
  • Switchboard operators identify the name of department when answering outside calls.
  • All calls are answered within 3 rings.
  • In the event where the external caller could not be successfully assisted due to unavailability of the relevant official, the call will automatically be transferred back to switchboard. The switchboard operator will then take the message including name and contact details of the caller and the message is passed on to the relevant official.
  • All service delivery complaints are acknowledged in writing. The complainant is informed of the progress in resolving the case on monthly basis.

WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT:

The department is in the process of developing a standard letter to acknowledge receipts of all correspondences received through the registry.

5. OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY

  • The Strategic Plan and Annual Report are published and tabled before the portfolio committee on Local Government and Housing.
  • Non governmental organisations and service providers have an access to all the reports.
  • The Citizen’s report is published annually.
  • The budget is tabled annually before the legislature.
  • The department also appears before the Select Committee on Public Accounts.
  • Programs to encourage openness and transparency are entrenched through: Imbizos, Batho Pele and Road shows.
  • The department has a website that is updated on a weekly basis.

WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT

All pubic reports of the department will be posted into the website.

6. VALUE FOR MONEY

  • The department has introduced a tie line at its 23 and 28 Market Street and 12 20th Avenue Ladine offices.
  • All internal calls do not have to go through the switchboard operator
  • All private calls are being accounted and paid for.
  • Goods and services are procured through departmental procurement policy in order to receive best value for money.
  • The department has cleared all backlogs in relation to payments of promotions and performance bonuses of staff.
  • 5 officials were dismissed through disciplinary processes.
  • The department has managed to fill 90 of the 101 vacant positions that were available.
  • 93% of the total departmental budget was utilised.
  • 100% of the housing fund was utilised.

7. REDRESS

  • All public dissatisfaction and service standards complaints are registered on receipt and acknowledged in writing within 5 working days.
  • Feedback is to the complainant on the case is given on a monthly basis until the complaint has been addressed.
  • If the complainant has not received any feedback, he/ she is offered an apology in writing.

8. SERVICE STANDARDS

  • Departmental Service standards are published annually.
  • Monitoring is done through the Office of Premier and Organisational Transformation Unit within the department.
  • The department conducts annual organisational surveys to check the extent of implementation.
  • Batho Pele Committee has been established to oversee the overall implementation of standards in each Strategic Business Unit.

CHALLENGES:

  • It is not clear/ quantified as to how the services rendered by the department impacts on its outside customers.

WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT:

  • The department is in the process of conducting external customer satisfaction survey.

SUMMARY OF SERVICE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT PLAN

MAIN STANDARD / CURRENT SITUATION/
CHALLENGES / SERVICE DELIVERY
IMPROVEMENT INTERVENTIONS / INDICATOR OF
SUCCESS
Information Technology plan and policy is reviewed annually. / Currently there is no IT plan or policies in place. / Information Management Services is being staffed to address the skills shortage. / A process to develop a Strategic Information System Plan (SISP) has been initiated.
Communication strategy is reviewed annually / The Strategy is not yet finalised / To fully implement the strategy / Almost80% of generating the communication strategy has been done
Media statement is issued at least once a month or two days before an event / No control over media publication of statements issued from the department. / Establish sound relations with the media by participating in Press Clubs / Positive and objective coverage of the department in the media.
Acknowledge all letters/ correspondences received by the department within two days. / No single point of entry of correspondences to the department except for postal correspondences / A standard letter of acknowledging receipt has been developed by Registry. / All letters/ correspondences to the department acknowledged within the prescribed timeframe.
The Access Control Policy is reviewed annually. / The policy has been approved and implemented though there is no full cooperation from staff. / Popularise the provisions of the Policy through the news bulletin and general staff meetings. / The full implementation of the Access Control Policy
Reported fraud and corruption cases attended within one months of receipt. / Lack of enabling resources i.e. transport and communication devices to can effectively address the cases. / The approved Cellphone and Subsidy Vehicle Management Policies address the allocation of enabling resources to Security Service. / The department having investigated and recommended to management measures to address the reported case with a period of one month.
Housing units delivered in terms of housing policies, acts and specifications / Lack of project and financial management skills impacts on the speedy delivery of housing units / Seta was approached to implement the learnership programme for training of emerging contractors / The department allocates not less than a R1m annually for the capacity building of all officials and service providers
Housing projects are to be inspected twice a week / Official kilometre quota on subsidised vehicle and government vehicles impact on the quality of inspection.
Some Government vehicles are not road worthy. / Project managers and inspectors are encouraged to apply for subsidised vehicles. Officials can also travel in groups to offset the kilometre quota. / Project managers have been awarded subsidised vehicles.
Housing contracts are signed within 14 days after submission of inputs. / Shortage of personnel impacts on the standard. / All vacant positions have been advertised. / 90% of housing contracts have been drawn. A section at Legal Services is dedicated to Contract Management.
Claims are registered and forwarded for inspection within a day. / Claims are often returned due to unavailability of other relevant information / Claims should be checked on receipt for compliance to avoid any delay. / Secretariat Services has established client services desk to assist service providers
Service standard complaints are responded to within 2 weeks of receiving a complaint. / A number of cases are in relation to service delivery at municipalities. The department has to wait for responses from the municipalities. / Municipalities should be trained on development, implementation and monitoring of service standards. / 2 municipalities were trained on service standards.
The department’s strategic plan is reviewed annually. / Strategic Plan is not aligned to municipal IDPs. / The department plans to revisit its planning cycle and ensures that it is fully aligned with the local government cycle. / The evaluation and review of the IDPs has already been started.
Officials who are ready for HIV/AIDS testing are offered pre and post testing counselling. / Voluntary Counselling and Testing has not been conducted due to a shortage of human resources. / Voluntary Counselling and Testing will be performed twice a year to measure the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the workplace / Employee Assistance Services have been fully staffed.
All departmental buildings are sign posted for easy identification. / Offices are not yet sign posted due to unavailability of office accommodation. / The department is in the process of implementing an open plan office system which will provide more office accommodation. / The department is in the process of purchasing the 28 Market Street building to allow for structural adjustments
Withdrawal of pension from
Government Employee Pension Fund is processed within two weeks after service termination. / Lack of skilled and dedicated staffing impacts on the service standard. / HR personnel need to be trained on processing of pension funds. / Employees are informed on new pension legislations.
Rectification of an error on deeds documents are accomplished within two weeks. / 140 cases of rectification have been lodged. / The information on deeds of grants not the same as that on the identity documents of applicants / Workshops are to be conducted at municipal level where registration for deeds starts
Local economic development projects are monitored through bi-monthly site visits. / Visits done as per standard / Lack of capacity on the part of municipalities to manage projects. / Planning to have more workshops and institutional arrangements.
Yearly impact assessment on Local economic development projects. / Impact assessment could not be done in 2002/2003 / Unavailability of funds to appoint a service provider / To budget for the said project in the next financial year

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