Government Development Communication Initiative: Toward a better life through integrated service and information delivery

Mr KT SIGIDI (GCIS Regional Manager - Northern Province)
Mrs B SETI (GCIS Regional Manager - Eastern Cape)

• Background
• Introduction
• Definition of concepts
• Policy framework
• Development communication: the MPCC approach
• Why MPCCs?
• MPCC objectives
• MPCC structures
• MPCC pilot phase
• Lessons learned: toward sustainable MPCCs
• Conclusion
• References

Background

Many South Africans are faced with the challenge of eradicating poverty. It is the not only a poverty of a materialistic nature concerned with daily survival, but a poverty of information to develop themselves.

The information people need to improve themselves and their lives, irrespective of where they are, is often kept in offices of executives, and written in publications in languages foreign to the people it intends to serve.

It is in this circumstance where our people are referred from pillar to post, often at great expense and across long distances, for Services they rightly deserve. They often end up frustrated, uncertain of where to go and this leads to understandable disillusionment in government service delivery efforts. The result is that those people end up without ID’s, birth certificates etc. These basics are a pre-requisite for certain Services that the State is obligated to render. It also has an impact on how Government plans for the future as a basic pre-requisite to planning is an understanding of the needs of citizens once they have formally registered and can be counted amongst those needing State interventions.

Introduction

Definition of concepts

• MPCC - "A Multi-Purpose Community Centre is a structure which enables communities to manage their development, by providing access to appropriate information facilities, resources, training and Services. In all cases the sharing of facilities and synergy of the providers should result in more cost effective and efficient provision of Services" (Benjamin, P. 1997)
  
• "An MPCC is a place where a number of Services are provided by local, provincial and national government, as well as parastatals, NGO’s, CBO’s and the Private Sector." (Patel, A. 1999)
  
• Development Communication/Information: Information and communication whose outcome is development of people for the improvement of their lives - information you can use.
  
• Integrated Service Delivery: with reference to the MPCC concept, integrated Services, refers to a variety of Services that can be accessed from one centre. This means therefore that communities will not have to travel long distances to access Services and information, but would actually get that from one-stop government information centres. An integrated approach will avoid duplication of Services and assist in saving costs.
  
• Partnerships: refers to the formation of linkages with other Service Providers, be they government, private sector, parastatals, Non Government Organisations and Community Based Organisations. These are the partners that will ensure successful integrated government Services. The creation of sustainable partnerships at all government levels, including the above-mentioned bodies, is crucial for the success of the integrated government information and communication delivery programme.
  
• Sustainability: The ability of a project to withstand all outside pressures which may render it unprofitable. The ability of a project /initiative to stand on its own when funding support is removed.
  
• Two-way communication: refers to the process whereby government and communities engage in a dialogue so that each party is aware of the expectations and needs of each other.

Policy framework

A number of policies have been critical in shaping Government’s Development Communication approach as well as the decision to implement through MPCCs. Amongst the most important include:

• COMTASK REPORT: The communication Task Group report published in 1996 made 83 recommendations to government to overhaul its communication strategies and methods. Recommendation 65 was specific to the development of MPCC’s in order for the public to access information as guided by section 32(1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution of the country.
  
• WHITE PAPER ON TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY (Batho Pele) 1997: The government’s approach to service delivery is that people should come first. The community is larger than individuals and any attempt by individuals to provide a service should consider all eight ‘Batho Pele Principles’. Efforts should therefore not only be directed at serving people, but serving in the best manner by providing such Services timeously and at the standard prescribed.
  
• POLICY STATEMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT (JUNE 1999): The President noted "The Rural areas of our country represent the worst concentrations of poverty. No progress can be made towards a life of human dignity for our people as a whole unless we ensure the development of these areas. The government is now in a position to implement an Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS)…This will bring together all government departments and all spheres of government including traditional leaders. The integration we seek must, for instance, ensure that when a clinic is built, there must be a road to access it. It must be electrified and supplied with water." The ISRDS that the President spoke of has been piloted in the Northern Province, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The MPCC process has similarly developed according to the pockets of rural poverty identified by the ISRDS.
  
• CABINET MEMORANDUM NO.15 NOVEMBER 1999: The cabinet memorandum mandated GCIS to provide information to the public so that they become active participants in changing their lives for the better. The GCIS was to facilitate and co-ordinate the government’s Development Communication initiative through the establishment of MPCCs.

Development Communication: the MPCC approach

The MPCC approach is envisaged as a response to the particular historical, social and economic factors, which characterised freedom of access to information and citizen participation, in our past political system. This includes socio-economic problems such as high poverty, high unemployment, low standards of living (people living below the poverty line), poor access to basic Services, remote settlement patterns, lack of access to technology, lack of information, poor health Services, lack of education and skills, lack of infrastructure etc. There are currently many establishments where communities congregate or frequently meet to obtain Services and information. Research indicates that these mostly are libraries, schools, churches, clinics and some other types of community service centres. It should be the aim to optimise the use of these facilities by supplementing their communication capacity, thus minimising costly construction and staffing. These should therefore be the nucleus of the intended community centres, which provide multipurpose Services to communities.

As such the MPCC will become a focal point for development communication. It has to be a hub of activities which will become vehicles through which communities will be able to participate in the affairs of government.

"The primary focus of development communication and information is to be on the poor and disadvantaged whose profile reflects not only a dearth of access to information, but also features as the main target of government socio-economic programmes." (GCIS. 2000:4).

Salient feature of the approach are:

• Face to face interactions between government and people
• The introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to communities
• Political neutrality
• Community participation

• The rights and obligations of citizens.
• The policies and activities of government.
• Developmental opportunities and how to access them.
• Campaigns affecting communities.

Why MPCCs?

Through the opening of the MPCC in December 1999, the Universal Service Agency (USA) located a Telecentre at the MPCC; the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture provides agricultural extension; the Department of Health and Welfare offers counselling and pensions, and the GCIS and their Provincial Communication Counterparts Services a Government Information Centre at the facility, providing communities with the information about government they have requested. This, all in the same complex with no necessary changes to the physical infrastructure other than a few alterations to the dry walling in the facility.

The MPCC also provides a platform for other partners, who have particular social responsibilities, to join in the initiative and to decentralise Services where they are needed most, and where they were not provided before. Government is under no illusion that it can offer these Services on its own. As the President noted, this process should involve the mobilisation of all sectors which have a contribution to make in fostering successful development communication and servicing partnerships.

The MPCC Pilot Phase has suggested three possible models for the establishment of centres conceived of in this way:

• All Services under one roof (Worcester)
• Services in one yard but in different buildings (Kgautswane and Tombo)
• Scattered within a radius of no more than 2km

• Upgrading and optimising existing functional building/s
• Refurbishing non-functional buildings
• Building new facilities
• Further, while partner organisations in the process can add on extra buildings where shortages may discourage departments locating to MPCCs full-time, in many case it is more acceptable to offer such Services on a rotational programme until a client base has been established and the demand for Services has increased. In such cases, departments may use the Boardrooms; halls or other facilities attached to the centre to offer Services on certain days of the week or month. But in all three centres opened during the Pilot Phase, certain departments relocated their personnel to the MPCCs on a permanent basis.

MPCC objectives

These MPCCs will have a few significant roles to play as points of integrated service and information delivery:

• To identify community information and social needs.
• Facilitate access to government Services.
• To provide useful information to communities.
• Provide a platform for two-way dialogue between government and people.
• Enhance decentralisation of Services
• Ensure proper management of government resources (financial and human)
• Ensure responsive government - citizens are entitled to redress under the Batho Pele policy

MPCC structures

GCIS was mandated to champion and co-ordinate the whole MPCC process. To do this, consultative forums were formed Nationally and Provincially. The forum on MPCCs nationally, the National Intersectoral Steering Committee on MPCCs (NISSC) comprises over 28 government departments, eight Parastatals, NGO’s, academic institutions and representatives of the Private Sector. The NISSC in mirrored in each province by a structure of similar character, the Provincial Intersectoral Steering Committee (PISSC).

The main role played by these structures is to mobilise, streamline, integrate and co-ordinate roll-out plans of the various stakeholders. They also play a significant role in ensuring that the MPCC roll-out plan enhances various Provincial Growth and Development Strategies as well as the Integrated Development plans of Local Governments. The results / outcome should be the realisation that if a centre is established in an area, there should be telephone lines (Telkom), Electricity (Eskom), a Telecentre (USA) Home Affairs (Government department).

The establishment and management of the centre itself is the responsibility of a Local Intersectoral Steering Committee (LISSC). Comprising leadership from local Community Based Organisations, the structures of Traditional Leaders, Local Government and local businesses, the LISSC constitutes the centre management committee responsible for key matters pertaining to the sustainability of the MPCC. The LISSC ensures that the community is fully involved and owns the centre. The LISSC is also responsible for the launch event when a centre is opened.

MPCC Pilot Phase

Three Provinces were selected to pilot the MPCC process, namely the Eastern Cape, Northern Province and the Western Cape. The Eastern Cape and Northern Provinces were chosen as they conformed to areas identified under the ISRDS and are characterised by high poverty indices and are rural in nature. In the Western Cape, the concept was being pioneered by the Department of Social Services through its Welfare Centre initiative and the community chosen, Zwelethemba in Worcester, offered the opportunity of analysing the impact of this approach in a semi-urban setting. Most importantly, the community Services outlying rural settlements, particularly, significant numbers of farmworkers.

Some of the lessons learnt through the opening of the first government MPCC in Tombo in he Eastern Cape in December 1999, have an impact on the planned roll-out of further MPCCs:

• That a sizeable number of people were without ID’s.
• That people were travelling long distances to access Services.
• That levels of illiteracy are high.
• That there is minimal interaction between communities and government.
• More positive indicators suggest the following:
• People were enthusiastic about Services being provided by government through MPCC’s.
• There is a significant buy-in by all the sectoral stakeholders.

Service Providers offering their Services through the MPCC, attracted significant numbers of community members to warrant viable provision in that location.

These insights were confirmed when the second MPCC was launched in Kgautswane in the Northern Province early in March 2000, but some variations had to be built into the approach:

• This was a centre run by dedicated and committed women belonging to an NGO.
• The centre had significant involvement of the private sector, government and most importantly the involvement of institutions of higher learning like Technikon South Africa
• The centre has a clinic, Telecentre/computer centre, a resource centre, sports fields, poultry farming facilities, arts room, a library and further rooms where departments who visit the centre render Services to the whole community
• There is also a community bank at the centre itself

The Kgautswane experience taught us that where strong community processes and structures are already active, government needs to play a less prominent role and should concentrate on adding value to the programmes already underway. This places importance on the need to develop strong partnerships around service delivery, on the conclusion of sound Memoranda of Understanding between those who will share the facilities of the centre, and generally on the importance of collaborative management processes/structures to sustain viable Public/Private Partnerships.

Lessons learned - toward sustainable MPCCs

The MPCC Pilot Phase served its intended purpose well, namely to provide government and its many partners in MPCC establishment, with insights which will guide future roll-out and some key points in this regard suggest:

That the initiative is a good one.

That provincial governments should take ownership, and that the concept should be workshopped across all spheres of government and in villages, especially as communities and Local Government structures will take primary responsibility for the use and sustainability of the centres. When communities own such facilities, for example, they will prevent vandalisation, theft, underutilisation etc.

That sustainability of the centre is fundamentally linked to proper centre management and the institutionalisation of effective administrative procedures governing those who deliver Services through centres.

That communities will only use centres if they are well marketed across the District and the benefits of the MPCC are well known.

The presence of government in MPCCs either on a full-time or part time basis adds valuable resources to centre management and lends stability to the use of the centre. In collaboration with innovative income generating measures adopted by Centre Managers, the sustainability of the centre is greatly enhanced (in Worcester in the Western Cape the MPCC has a gymnasium attached and this generates significant revenue for the centre).

Conclusion

This initiative is meant to help the weakest who were denied access to government the unemployed, the uneducated, those who face pervasive forms of censorship, distortion and misleading information, and insufficient channels to communicate their ideas and opinions. Ashraf Patel in his paper ‘Community Information System, Governance Development and Democracy’ argues that the reality of the communications environment is that it reduces the capacity of ordinary people to control the decisions that others take about their lives. This disempowerment violates the human entitlement to dignity, equality and liberty. Government’s Development Communication approach through MPCCs aims to roll-back some of this legacy in South Africa.

Some of the challenges which this 2nd Biennial Exploration Conference could engage include:

• Is this initiative by government really putting our country on the road to prosperity?
• Are there other avenues and initiatives that warrant our collective attention either to replace or add to this initiative?
• How best can this initiative be supported by those institutions that are not involved as yet?
• What role can educational institutions play in shaping a curriculum which will ensure that initiatives such as Government’s Development Communication approach through MPCCs, become part and parcel of the academic programme?

References

Benjamin, P. (1997). ‘Information access for all in South Africa: Universal Service in Information and Communication Technologies’. Paper presented to the Information Systems and the Public Sector Conference, Manchester, 29 June - 2 July 1997.

Benjamin, P (ed.) (1998). ‘Multipurpose Community Centre Research Report’. NITF. Johannesburg.

Cameron, R.G. and Stome, A.B. (1995) Serving the Public. Van Schaik. Pretoria COMTASK REPORT (1996). ‘Communication 2000. A vision for government communication in South Africa.’ Final report of the Task Group on Government Communication. Pretoria.

Department of Public Service and Administration. (1997). ‘White Paper on Transforming Public Sector Delivery (Batho Pele)’. Government Printers. Pretoria.

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). (1999A). ‘Guideline document on the MPCC Project’. GCIS. Pretoria.

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). (1999B). Cabinet Memorandum No 15 ‘The establishment of Government Information Centres (GICs.)’ Pretoria.

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). (2000). ‘Report on the establishment of Government Multi-purpose Community Centres: towards an integrated information and service delivery system.’ GCIS. Pretoria.

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and the Department of Public Works. (2000). ‘The Multi-Purpose Community Centre Project and The Multi-Purpose Center Initiative’. A paper prepared jointly by GCIS and the Department of Public Works for a workshop of the two departments on 30 August 2000.

Mbeki, T. (1999). State of the Nation’s Address by the President (Speech); 25 June 1999. Cape Town.

Patel, A. (1998). ‘Community information systems, governance, development and democracy.’