THE Western Cape Provincial Standing Committee on Governance recently visited the Thusong Centres in Mbekweni as part of their oversight role. The concept of a Thusong Centre is to establish a centralised governmental service centre – local, provincial and national - under one roof.
For these service centres to be effective, all the departments have to work together to make it successful and fully operational. This level of comprehensive service to the public has clearly not yet been attained, says parliamentarian Johan Visser of the DA.
“The Thusong Service Centre at Mbekweni, Paarl, is not being effectively utilised yet. Not all the key players have bought into the idea that a one-stop-service-centre is a necessity for the communities in the Western Cape. A second centre is already in progress of being constructed in Paarl East,” says Visser. “Managers should be sufficiently trained in order for effectively managing of the centres and the buildings must be well signposted.
“The first mobile Thusong centres have been rolled out and the intention is that the service should be within reasonable walking distance in order to be user-friendly.
“The Democratic Alliance will be monitoring the progress of these centres and will continue to provide efficient oversight on this issue to ensure problems are addressed quickly and efficiently. Some of the immediate issues that need to be addressed are financing and accessibility.
“While the concept is good, it is still in the developing stage and problems will be experienced.”
