Vice-Chancellor and the Rector of UWC
Acting Premier
MEC for Transport and Public Works
Coleagues
All Officials of various departments
Graduates
Guest
Ladies and Gentleman
1. Introduction
Congratulations to our Community Development Workers (CDWs). Let us say to you: well done! We are proud of you, the Western Cape Provincial government is proud of you, so as the entire country and most importantly you should be proud of yourselves.This is an important milestone. As the government, we are now having an advanced detachment.
2. Origin of Community Development Workers
I don't think there is a need for me to convince any of you of the importance of Community Development Workers (CDWs) in the context of the challenges we face as a developing nation, nor do I have any reason not to believe that you understand the enormous challenges we face in promoting people driven, people centred governance. In his State of the Nation Address on 14 February 2003, President of our country stated that "It is wrong that government should oblige people to come to government even in circumstances in which people do not know what services the government offers and have no means to pay for the transport to reach government offices". You must remember that many of our people stay in the outskirts.
The concept of CDWs is aimed at developing and deployment of a new breed of cadres who will be at the forefront of efforts by government to develop and transform communities.
Among your tasks will be to address the lack of information, knowledge and communication that our communities are experiancing in relation to government services.
3. By recruiting CDWs - What do we aim to achieve?
As the government we need to improve on a number of areas. With your help we are aiming to : (among other things) ensure that government maintain direct contact with the people where they live, strengthen the co-ordination and integration of service delivery at local level, improve people's access to government services, knowledge and information, enhance interaction between government delivery agencies and the communities, ensure holistic service delivery, improve networking and communication between government and the local communities.
4. Role of CDWs
The knowledge you have acquired here will help you to inform and assist commuinities with access to services provided by governmet, determine the needs of communities and communicate these to government, promote networks between government agencies, community based workers and projects to improve delivery, mobilise communities to participate actively in governance issues, complement and strengthen other government agencies such as , elected representatives, government departments, and organs of civil society, municipal initiatives and programmes to ensure effective service delivery. You must also assist and initiate impact assessment on government services delivery levels and citizen satisfaction.
5. Functions of CDWs
We have changed so many laws and extended rights to many people as part of our transformation effort, yet so many of our people still cannot access their rights, we need your help. We shall need your help in many areas like facilitating development of local economic development projects by working with local communities and groups and helping them to access support, monitoring government services, identifying service delivery problems and blockages and tackling corruption, supporting poverty alleviation and making sure that projects and services reach their intended targets, building partnerships with civil society to tackle problems - supporting the work of mechanisms like CPFs, SGBs, local AIDS councils and ward committees. We bank on your commitment that you will put people first.
6. Batho Pele
Batho Pele is not an "add-on" activity. It is a way of delivering services by putting citizens at the centre of public service planning and operations. It is a major departure from a dispensation, which excluded the majority of South Africans from government machinery to the one that seeks to include all citizens for the achievement of a better-life-for-all through services, products, and programmes of a democratic dispensation.
Visions and missions exist to instil a sense of common purpose and energise members of an organisation towards action. Batho Pele vision and mission emanated from the realisation that government should transform service delivery mechanisms to meet the needs of citizens.
As Community Development Workers you have a particular responsibility to make a contribution to rebuild this province and the country and shape the ethos and aspirations of our society. You need to know that to do well, you need not only individual skills but also the collective instincts and commitment to the nation and society.
As a government we take the situation within which our people live seriously that we are passionately driven to do better with what we have. So you are now empowered to make it easier for all our people to get their Identity Documents in time, for instance. You must also know that the motivating force for our greater efficiency and effectiveness do not derive from the profit-making motive. We are not inspired by making more money. What drives us is the urge to improve the lives of all our people. In conclusion, all those who abuse women and children must stop now!
Thank you
