CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEY
OVERVIEW REPORT
PRESENTATION TO PARLIAMENTARY
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION
09 APRIL 2003
Contents
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Purpose and Objectives
Research Methodology
Scope
Overview of CS Index Scores
Overall Public Sector Rating
Complaints
Benefits of CS
Recommendations
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
• Need for citizen driven service delivery to ensure
improved:
 Efficiency
 Effectiveness
 Service delivery
• Promote the values and principles set out in
Section 195 of the 1996 Constitution
• Test compliance with the Batho Pele Principles
OBJECTIVES OF THE
SURVEY
• Accommodate citizens’ desire to be
consulted about services rendered to them
• Identify key factors that influence the
satisfaction of users of government services
• Determine the citizens’ perceptions of the
quality of services being offered
OBJECTIVES OF THE
SURVEY (2)
• Measure actual service delivery against
expectations in order to identify gaps
• Identify and highlight areas that have to be
prioritized for improvement
• Provide a benchmark for future surveys to
allow monitoring and evaluation of service
delivery levels within the Public Service
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Moments of the truth involving engagement
with departmental teams responsible for
service delivery to understand how they
view:
the processes within the services they provide
the citizens using the service
their priorities
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (2)
• In-depth interviews with service users to
understand:
how they define their ultimate service
experience
what they really like in the delivery of a
specific service
their service requirements and expectations
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (3)
• Questionnaire design, developed according
to attributes generated from the moments of
truth and in-depth interviews sessions
• Representative sampling, with a ruralurban split, also considering other
stratification elements like gender, race,
age, etc.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (4)
• Fieldwork involving face to face interviews
• Analysis of data using appropriate
analytical tools
• Participant Observation which was used to
evaluate the real-life processes of the
department
SCOPE OF THE SURVEY
• The survey included four departments
across 9 provinces:
Health
Education
Housing
Social development
SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (2)
• The survey was conducted with both internal and
external service users
• External satisfaction survey – measured the
experience and expectations of the general public
that make use of specific services
• Internal satisfaction survey – measured the
efficiency of the internal processes of the
department and the satisfaction of the department’s
service providers e.g. emergency medical services
in the Health department
SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (3)
• Department of Health included the
following services:
External Services
Ante-Natal Care
Post-Natal Care
Care at child birth
Internal Services
Emergency Medical Rescue Services
SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (4)
• Department of Education included the
following services:
External Services
Life Skills
Adults Basic Education and Training
Internal Services
Outcomes Based Education
SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (5)
• Department of Housing included the
following services
External Services
Housing Subsidies
Internal Services
Municipalities
NGOs
CBOs
Developers and Contractors
SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (6)
• Department of Social Development
included the following services:
External Services
Social Security Grants
Social Development Projects
Internal Services
Social Workers
Social Development Organization
Overview CS Index scores
• The key findings of this study are based on
the overall Citizen Satisfaction (CS) Index
score
• CS Index score is based on the variance
between citizens’ expectations of service
delivery and what is actually experienced
• Results are analyzed at a national level due to
the sample size which would have yielded
statistically insignificant provincial analysis
Overview CS Index scores
Overview CS Index scores
• The above figure shows the CS Index scores for
both internal and external services.
• The figure implies the following:
 The expectations of citizens who participated in ABET,
Life Skills, received Ante-Natal care, care during birth,
Post-Natal care, social security grants, are largely being
met; while
 Citizens who participated in OBE, EMRS, internal
housing delivery services, housing subsidy, social
workers, NGOs and social development projects
processes are less likely to feel that their expectations
are being met.
Overview CS index scores
• It is difficult to make comparisons between
CS Index depicted above as no similar study
has been conducted
• The table below shows scores taken from
different countries using the same tool
Country
South Africa
USA
Sweden
Sector
Banking
Postal Services
Hotel Industry
Telecommunications
Finance
Public sector
Banking
Public sector
CS Index Score
77.1
76.7
76.7
82.1
74.4
67.0
67
64
Overall rating of the public sector
• Interaction with one government
department, shapes the perception people
have of overall government performance
• The survey also asked respondents to reflect
on how satisfied they were in general with
government
• The results are plotted in the graph below
Overall satisfaction level with the
public sector
Overall satisfaction levels with
public sector
• The above graph demonstrates relatively
high satisfaction levels with government in
general
• Citizens who have expressed high
satisfaction levels with a particular service
tend to rate government higher, and vice
versa
Overall satisfaction with public
sector
• The results demonstrate that:
ABET learners, learners taking life skills
education courses, and citizens receiving care
before and after birth were pleased with public
service delivery. These citizens had a high CS
Index scores.
Citizens surveyed on OBE, EMRS, internal
housing services expressed dissatisfaction with
public services.
Complaints
• Many citizens are unaware of complaints
processes
• Of those who are aware, a low proportion
have actually lodged complaints
• Many who complained, remained
dissatisfied with the way the complaint was
dealt with
Benefits derived from surveying
citizens
• Ensures that departments continue to meet
their goals and targets
• Ensures that departments continue to adhere
to Batho Pele principles
• Identifies opportunities for service delivery
improvement
• Identifies what citizens want as opposed to
what departments think they want
Benefits derived from surveying
citizens
• Contributes to more effective resources
allocation to meet priorities of citizens
• Contributes to development of proactive
responses to emerging citizen demands
• Provides feedback to frontline staff,
management and political leaders about
programs’ effectiveness
• Evaluates the achievement of departmental
vision
RECOMMENDATIONS
• It is recommended that the following steps
should be undertaken to ensure that a CS
survey is integrated into the performance
management system:
Develop a clear plan of integrating data from
CS survey into the department’s performance
measurement system
Drive the measurement of satisfaction on
annual basis.
Recommendations
• Develop a service delivery improvement
plan based on:
Citizen determined priorities,
Citizen expectations to benchmark service
levels that are challenging but realistic
Managing unrealistic expectations by
improving external communication that
clarifies resource limitations and the mandate of
each department.