It aims to use the Gateway Project (e-government), to deliver optimise service delivery, public participation and governance through technology such as the Internet and new media. The project will allow people a 24-hour access to government services anywhere through different access devices and medium.
According to public service and administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the centres will be established within Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) and within municipalities.
Delivering her budget speech in Parliament yesterday, she said the project, in general, included an electronic portal and a toll-free call centre.
She said government had also taken note of research conducted by the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) that showed that only three million out of 42 million South Africans made direct use of the Internet.
'It is imperative that our e-government initiatives such as Gateway incorporate realistic approaches to ensure that more of our citizens access services through face-to-face mechanisms and through intermediaries,' the minister said.
She said the Gateway project was a joint initiative of her department, the CPSI, the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), in conjunction with the provincial and local government department.
During the GCIS parliamentary briefing week in Parliament in February, Minister Fraser-Moleketi, said the first phase of the e-government Gateway would launch Internet portals and brand them to the general public.
'As part of the project's second phase, the capacity to conduct two-way transactions online will be developed, so that citizens may make applications for ID books, birth and death certificates and social grants online,' said the minister then.
She added the public would also be able to use the facilities to make payments for law violations such as speed fines.
The Gateway would allow people access to services through the Internet portal itself or through a number of intermediaries, including mobile services, urban malls and the MPCCs.
Quelle: all Africa
