REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL, ADVOCATE MS SOKO AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW ON DISABILITY
Chairperson of the panel
Honourable Member of the National Assembly Mr. L. Ndzimande
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Heads of Department
Members of the panel
Government officials
The media
Representatives from the disability sector
I greet you all!
As we celebrate our decade of democracy it is imperative for us as well to reflect on our successes, challenges and prepare ourselves for hard work in the new decade we are beginning.
In doing so, we should be mindful and conscious of the silent and unheard voices, voices of those who are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our society. Those that are discriminated against and relegated to low class citizenship because they are regarded to be powerless, useless, hopeless with no say in the development of our communities therefore resulting in wastage of human capital.
The unheard voices of our people, who are children, women, the aged and the disabled, who constitute the majority in our country. Indeed all these odds continue eroding all gains of our democracy.
It is our commitment to contribute in bringing change in our society and in doing so we are sharpening and lubricating our service delivery mechanisms in order to give the best to these sectors.
As such this week in September we are dedicating and committing ourselves to improving services for people with disabilities.
As a result we have organized a service delivery review of which all departments including the Office of the Premier will be participating in.
The objectives of the review process are as follows;
Assess the status quo with regard to service delivery and the creation of
opportunities for people with disabilities in line with Government’s policies.
Determine future interventions as planned by departments,
Render advice to departments through making recommendations on what could be
done to improve service delivery.
In achieving the above objectives as a result a panel has been constituted.
This week will be characterized by rigorous interaction and through this process we hope we will be able to put disability at the epi-center of government delivery.
Therefore it is our humble request to all departments to cooperate with this process because it is for the benefit of the province. As the Office of the Premier we will do the same.
The process should not be perceived as a witchhunt process but rather a booster and a gallant step in improving service delivery.
I want to wish all of you well during this long week, which will be full of excitement. I thank departments in advance for their cooperation.
Lastly, I thank all panel members for agreeing to spend the whole week with us in an attempt to improve service delivery.
All the best and good luck.
Thank you!