Purpose
The Director-General and Head of Department of the Premier ensures the achievement of the vision and mission through providing support and ensuring the effective utilization of the available resources for the Department.
Core Functions
- Accounting Officer of the Department of the Premier and Head of the Provincial Administration of the Free State.
- Secretary to the Executive Council (EXCO) and coordinates the implementation of EXCO resolutions and decisions.
- Responsible for inter-sphere relations between the Free State Provincial Administration and other provincial administration, as well as, national departments, including coordination of actions and legislation that ensure intra-governmental cooperation between the relevant provincial departments.
- The Director-General is the chairperson of the Forum of Heads of Departments (FOHOD) and coordinates the implementation of FOHOD decisions, recommendations and programmes.
- The Director-General is responsible for, and accountable to, the Premier for;
- The functions of, and organizational arrangements in the public service within the Province
- Employment and other personnel practices, including the promotion of broad representivity as well as human resource management and training;
- Labour relations, and public service transformation and reform;
- The Departments strategic direction, operations and performance;
- The realization of the outcome-based performance management; and annual priorities and plans; and
- the effective and efficient management and administration of the Department, which includes the effective utilization and training & development of staff, the maintenance of discipline and the promotion of sound labour relations within the Department, and the proper use and care of state property.
Special Project Unit
A Special Project Unit is located in the Office of the Director-General. This Unit is responsible to ensure the successful coordination and implementation of specifically identified projects of the Department and/or the provincial government. Such projects may be identified by the Premier, Executive Council and/or FOHOD. These projects are predominantly transversal in nature.
Intervention Unit
The objective of the Unit is to facilitate interventions and to provide support and advice to the Premier and Executive Council on injunctions and service delivery issues. The Intervention Unit serves to facilitate the continuous engagement with the general public and other stakeholders that are characteristic of the Premier’s consultative and hands-on approach.
The provincial government has fundamentally changed the way it goes about its business. There is a continuous emphasis on the collaborative nature that must characterize the work of government departments and to breakdown the “silo mentality” that used to characterize government operations. Another major characteristic of the new government is the emphasis that every citizen in each city, town and village must be able to establish regular and direct contact with the Premier and the Members of the Executive Council (EXCO). This all-inclusive approach led to the establishment of the Premier’s Intervention Unit. The central emphasis of the Unit is to serve the vision of the Premier by focusing on strengthening partnerships with Free State citizens, closing gaps between government and communities and enhancing and consolidating efforts of advancement and development. The Premier’s views are represented on numerous platforms. The unit is tasked with;
- Liaising with stakeholders,
- Consultation with communities on service delivery issues and government programmes,
- Operating and managing the provincial call centre, hotline and attending to Free State matters referred by the President’s Hotline,
- Identifying, assessing, prioritising and referring issues reported to the Premier,
- Interventions to remove bottle-necks, blockages and non-compliance related to service delivery, implementation and other issues,
- Assisting service delivery partners with technical advice and intervention services and
- Assisting and advising stakeholders on the implementation of specific injunctions of the Premier and EXCO.
Public Liaison Centre (PLC)
The PLC liaises with individuals, communities, NGOs, groups and other sectors within civil society as well as business and government structures wanting to raise issues with the Premier. Matters are then either resolved within the PLC, or referred to other units, departments and organs of state for consideration. Information, data and statistics is used to inform priorities and programmes of the Free State Provincial Government (FSPG).
The PLC has three sub-units:
Direct Liaison Unit
All people or groups wanting to directly raise urgent matters with the Premier, but cannot meet with him due to time constraints, are interviewed by this unit. The unit either resolves the issues raised or refers it to the relevant institution to deal with. Each case is followed-up tracked and monitored to its resolution.
Provincial Call Centre
The Presidential Hotline is managed by this sub-unit. The Unit also deals with various calls and walk-in customers who wish to seek assistance from the Department of the Premier on various matters. Municipalities and Departments have appointed Public Liaison Officers to whom cases are referred. Cases are referred to relevant institutions and reports must be received within determined time-frames on how each specific matter is attended to or resolved. Currently, the Free State is the second best performing province in the country with of 77% of cases resolved.
Community Liaison Unit.
High profile community leaders, mostly clergy, are employed as Community Liaison Officers (CLOs). The CLOs engage with communities to inform them of the FSPG planning and programmes and informs the FSPG of issues raised by communities. This Unit builds relations with communities and also provides an important channel for government to get a sense of the issues that impact on the lives of our communities and the capacity of government to be responsive.
Unblocking Service Delivery
One of the functions of the Intervention Unit that continuous to grow is the intervention from the Premier’s Office to remove blockages and obstacles that stand in the way of service delivery. This is not only limited to provincial departments and public entities, but may also require engagement with national departments and state-owned enterprises that are established and operational in the Free State. Requests for assistance are received from various sources, including government structures, communities, individuals and the private sector. Such requests are assessed and the best options for resolution of issues are designed and pursued.
Delivery partners are engaged and encouraged to adhere to the principles of Operation Hlasela as a service delivery model aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness with which government services are rendered. Specific projects may be targeted for monitoring to ensure that quality, cost-effectiveness and time-frames are adhered to, specifically when such relate to specific injunctions arising from decisions of the Premier and Executive Council. When critical service delivery issues are encountered, or issues that negatively impact government are reported, these are often escalated to this unit to resolve. Interventionists clinically and urgently investigate, plan and resolve these issues within localities, municipalities or departments.
Implementation Support
The Intervention Unit also contributes to the coordination of the Premier’s major campaigns. Critical support services such as facilitating processes to provide critical documentation for individuals, such as Identity Documents, Birth-, Marriage-, and Death Certificates. Assistance with registration for pensions, grants and food parcels are also given.
Before and during implementation of priority projects, the main concerns and priorities of communities are determined in conjunction with other role-players, such as the Department of Social Development, relevant local and/or district municipality and the Public Liaison Centre. This enables the FSPG to customise projects to the needs of communities and individuals.