The first phase of the portal was launched this morning in Johannesburg. "As government, we are hoping to get feedback on the first phase so that we can be able to upgrade it to become more user-friendly where necessary," she said, adding that the portal would enable people to know where and how to access business related and/or social services.
Minister Fraser-Moleketi said the initiative was part of ongoing efforts aimed at improving service delivery.
"The Batho Pele Gateway Portal is poised to make government services accessible to people at their convenience- not the convenience of the officials," she explained.
The Portal was announced by President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address in May.
"In two months we will launch the Batho Pele Gateway portal which will provide streamlined government services online," he said.
The portal, accessible through Government's website, www.gov.za, provides access to comprehensive government information.
Government will utilise one-stop service centres, the Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCC) to make the Gateway a reality for the rural people.
In addition, citizens will be assisted by specially trained personnel in nine MPCCs selected for the first phase implementation of Gateway and 55 points of access at postal facilities.
There will be direct interface with the Community Development Workers to enable them to access information on government services to provide to the communities in which they will be working.
Forty community development workers have so far been trained in Gauteng to carry out the programme.
The e-Government Gateway has five phases, with the first one being the information phase. The second phase is the transactional stage where users will be able to make payments like electricity bills, water and other services.
Over the next year specific attention will be given to rapidly improving access to services through the use of technology and generally increasing the efficiency of core government systems.
The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) plays an important role in the management of IT systems within the public service.
Government has promised to ensure that the general return on investment on IT expenditure for both government departments and ultimately citizens is increased.
Autor: Thabo Mokgola
Quelle: AllAfrica, 29.07.2004
