Premier Ebrahim Rasool will be hosting an awards ceremony to recognise civil servants - or "revocrats" - who have excelled at providing outstanding services to citizens. Thirteen projects have been short-listed for the prestigious Premier's Service Excellence Awards (PSEA), representing the best services being provided by the provincial government to the public and setting the pace for others in the civil service. The awards ceremony will showcase those initiatives, taken by provincial government employees, which have improved the lives of the people in line with the 'we care, we belong, we serve' ethos of Batho Pele. The awards will also set a benchmark for the 68 000 people employed by the provincial government and show CASE off best-practice models of service delivery in the Western Cape . In addition, the projects show that government is changing and improving the way it works to focus and deliver on people's needs.

Congratulating the 13 shortlisted projects on their nomination, Premier Rasool said: "In order for the developmental state to become a reality in the Western Cape , we require employees with a different mindset, attitude and set of skills to what we have experienced in the past. Prior to the developmental state, which we as a new government introduced in 2004, the state bureaucracy was characterized by staff who were loathe to take decision as it might 'put them on the spot', so to speak. Adherence to rules and regulations ensured that you would not be noticed and maybe even rewarded for 'sticking to the rules'."

Premier Rasool also said the shortlisted projects were proof that civil servants were moving in the right direction toward a developmental state. "I think that your nomination for the Premier's Service Excellence Awards shows that we are already starting to see that a developmental government is indeed possible, that government already has a core group of staff who regard themselves as change agents or responsible risk-takers - 'revocrats', if you want to use that term," he said.

A rigorous process of short-listing and subsequent adjudication produced a shortlist of 13 out of an initial 55 projects which indicated their intention to compete for this year's awards. The awards will recognize initiatives taken by civil servants to make the provincial government's vision of 'A Home for All' a reality. In addition, the awards will also take into consideration the extent to which a project has helped to produce citizens who are able to make a meaningful contribution to society. Finally, projects will be judged on whether they have encouraged a culture of Batho Pele by improving the quality of service, as well as greater accountability of government employees to the public.

With partners in Standard Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Premier's Service Excellence Awards is an excellent example of a public-private partnership which shows how government and the private sector can work together for the good of all South Africans. Standard Bank donated R500 000 from its corporate responsibility programme towards the funding of the project. PricewaterhouseCoopers made the services of a project coordinator available at no cost to assist with logistical arrangements. PwC also developed the assessment model used to ensure the integrity of the process.

The Premier's Service Excellence Awards is an annual event, now in its second year, and will be hosted at a gala dinner to be held on Thursday, 23 November 2006, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Find out about the 13 Finalists.

ENQUIRIES:

Ms Ntsietso Sesiu
Project Manager - Premier's Service Excellence Awards.

Cell: 082 904 7920

Tel: 021 466 9554