By Candace Freeman

PUBLIC Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has praised improvements that have been made in service delivery and urged people to raise concerns if they were unhappy about government services.

The minister was speaking in Pretoria today where she officially launched the Batho Pele Campaign, "Together beating the drum for service delivery".

Government first introduced Batho Pele in 1997 as an initiative to improve delivery in the public service based on the principle of putting the people's interest first.

"This programme is about calling all public service cadres to rise to the call and ensure that the spirit and practice of Batho Pele is revived and further entrenched," explained the minister.

She added that the drumbeat is also about calling public servants to declare war on undesirable behavior such as corruption and others that are not in line with putting people's interests first.

The programme will be rolled out in the form of change facilitation and engagement workshops countrywide throughout the year. "The public shouldn't be patient with non-delivery in the public service. They should indicate where something isn't happening. At the same time they should let us know when someone provides them with good service," she said.

"The challenge is to effect a culture change where pride in work is seen as having its own reward, where the citizen satisfaction of is a cherished goal, where to serve enhances the life not only of the beneficiaries but also the provider," said the minister.

SOURCE: - BuaNews