The National State of Service Delivery Dialogue: Reducing inequality and encouraging economic grow

The main goals of South Africa's National State of Service Delivery Dialogue are to fix problems between cities and rural areas, make and enforce policies, involve the public, learn from other countries' experiences, and create a shared vision for the future. the communities, civil society and the government will all be involved in the process to find answers to these problems. 

A major discussion about the delivery of social services took place in Pretoria, South Africa recently. It focused on transformative local government as a way to fight poverty and improve basic services. 

During the national dialogue, Maropene Ramakgopa, the Minister in Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, talked about how the government is committed to using strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation to improve the delivery of social services. She talked about how inefficient government public service is a problem and how important it is for people to be held accountable and come up with new ideas. Minister Ramokgopa stressed how important it is for the government, businesses, and civil society groups to work together for long-term growth and active citizen involvement. She highlighted the importance to have better monitoring tools, make decisions based on data, and work together more closely with local governments. By lining up its programmes with the National Development Plan, the government hopes to improve service delivery and make sure that everyone can receive it. 

The head of the UN Resident Coordinator's Office, Kefiloe Masiteng, delivered a message of support from the UN, recognizing the critical problems South Africa is facing. She stressed how important it was for everyone to work together to fix the underlying problems that make it hard to provide social services. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), South Africa needs to put rural development at the top of its list of priorities, she said. 

The UN stressed that new technologies can help strengthen communities and make service delivery better. The main topic of discussion was making sure that underrepresented groups have fair access to resources and long-term solutions, while also encouraging new ways of running cities and working together. During the discussions, the need for fair financial and income distribution was emphasized, along with the significance of involving the community in decision-making. Some successful models from Brazil and India were used to show how important it is to build spaces for everyone and manage land well. Some of the officials who attended were from the Presidency; the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; the National Planning Commission. Others came from also people from provincial and local governments.