Question 1 (40 Marks)
Read the case study below and answer the questions that follow:
The MyNews 24 section of News 24 online contains reliable blog-like opinion pieces, such as this
commentary written by DikgosiThokoane. This sort of articles is highly accessible and is often written
with keen insights into the pulse of the subject matter. In this case, Dikgosi Thokoane reflects on the
Public Service sector in South Africa.
Public Service Delivery, South African Style!
DikgosiThokoane
Here, I am taking a look at the sobering effect of a poor public service experience in two governmental
institutions; the department of Hate (umm, Health) and the department of Horrors (Home Affairs); that’s
what the public actually calls these departments. Funny enough, this situation did not make me angry or
annoy me; it gave me a real fright about the future of service delivery in this country if things carried on
like this.
On the 22nd February this year, my baby girl was born in Tembisa Hospital on the East Rand; an amazing
moment in my life this was. She was born in a public hospital because yours truly registered his wife
late onto the medical scheme and therefore the pregnancy was precluded from cover till the baby is born.
She was not able to register the child in the hospital because we are still in the process of legalising our
marriage and we wanted to register the baby with the father’s surname.
The following day, mom and child were discharged from hospital and we were all happy to get home; my
wife was complaining about the service rendered in the hospital but our cold comfort was that at least
she is out and if we have things our way, it will be a long time till she has to do use a public hospital
again. Ya well, that is what we thought.
On the same day, I took them to Limpopo, to go honour a few traditional rituals for a new born baby. The
following weekend I went to Limpopo and while there, we decided to go register the baby for a birth
certificate. That is when all my troubles started.
1
st attempt: Monday, 04th March
My wife and I drove from Apel (Fetakgomo municipality) to Lebowakgomo in Limpopo, to go register the
child; an approximately 40km drive in one direction. When we got there we found a very long queue, but
luckily the security personnel there are part of the team and seemed to have been trained to engage
people when they got to the line and show them where to go.
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The security lady engaging us asked for our documentation (our ID’s and the clinic card), which she
checked and realised that it was not stamped. She then advised us that we might not be assisted if the
clinic card is not stamped. True to the fact, she took us to a supervisor and explained what she realised
with our clinic card; the supervisor confirmed that unfortunately they will not be able to assist us unless
the document has an original stamp on it. We had no choice but to leave.
My wife remained in Limpopo for another 4 weeks and when she got back she went to the clinic to get
the clinic card stamped. Last week we decided to try again to register the child’s birth. I needed to do this
ASAP because I cannot just stay away from the office; also the Medical Aid needed this certificate to
register the child on my scheme.
2
nd attempt:
In the afternoon, we arrived at the department of Home Affairs in Ivory Park; before I went in I called the
departmental Call Centre to verify if I had the correct documentation with me. The lady on the line
explained to me that all we needed was the parent’s ID’s and a clinic card for the baby and we are good
to go. We were so upbeat when we heard this, so I went in; when I got in I was told that their computers
are off-line. Their advice to us was to come back the following day or go to another branch.
I then called the Call Centre again, to get contact numbers for the possibly closest branches. The lady
gave me the number for Kempton Park and Centurion; while she was still on the line, I dialled the
Centurion number, only to hear that the number is not correct. I told her and she rectified the number
she gave me, that number was still wrong when I dialled later. So I dialled Kempton Park and they were
online, so we rushed there.
We got to Kempton Park and there were about 4 sets of parents in front of us; but the queue was
moving slow regardless. After about 45 minutes, we got to the front; the lady helping us did not even
ask for the clinic card, instead she asked for a little piece of paper which should have been issued by
the hospital the baby was born in. The only other piece of paper we had from the hospital was the right
one but was cut off in the wrong place and the hospital personnel did not stamp it either. This lady told
us that she wasn’t even allowed to register a child without this document because it is a registration
certificate from the place the baby was born. We had no choice but to leave.
We decided to rush off to Tembisa Hospital to get the document rectified; when we got there at about
15H30, I stayed in the car with the baby and my wife went in. She came back in about 30 minutes and
told me that the responsible department that needs to fix this has knocked off for the day; therefore,
she was told to come back the following day at 08H30. My wife also told me that the staff member
assisting her was irritated with the respective colleague that drew up the paper because according to
her they always pulled such stunts with paperwork issued to mothers of new born children when
discharged from hospital.
3
rd attempt:
We got to Tembisa Hospital around 09H30; intentionally because we know how hospital employees
slack off in the morning before they get things done. Again, my wife went in and I stayed back with the
baby. This time she was gone for just over 2 hours; when she got back with the document she told me
that I was right and we should have come in later than we did. She told me that the people that were
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meant to help them ignored them for the best part of the time they were sitting there, while they were
going up and down for no apparent activity.
Then we were off to Home Affairs in Kempton Park again; we got there just after 12H00. Again, there
were about 8 sets of parents in the queue to register birth certificates. There were a whole lot of other
people who were waiting for their certificates and all other documentation to be issued; this gave the
impression that the branch was too busy. Anyway, we waited our turn to get in line and while we were
waiting, the people around regaled each other about service in government departments.
A little while later, two women walked in, one with a baby on her back and another in her hands; it turned
out a little later that the babies are twins and they belonged to the lady carrying one on her back. The
poor lady was all alone and the lady carrying the other child was actually just helping her; as I was taking
care of our child, my wife helped the lady with the twins. I hoped that the officials would see her and fast
track her application, but they just looked and didn’t take notice.
During the exchange of ‘war stories’, the twins’ mother was telling me how she went full term without
knowing that she was carrying twins. No one in the clinic or the hospital suspected a thing, even
though her pregnancy was not regular and she kept mentioning it to nurses and the hospital doctor.
She was telling us that they only found out upon delivery that she was carrying twins and only because
after delivering the first child, she still felt movement inside her. When she told the nurses, they
reprimanded her about seeking all their attention to herself; the lady said she reached down and felt
the child’s head between her legs and screamed for help; that is when they noticed that she was
carrying twins.
Anyway, about two hours later, we walked out of Home Affairs with birth certificates; the twins’ mother
came with us because we gave her a lift home.
I am scared, really scared. If this is the service we receive now, how bad is it going to be in future,
because the government is doing nothing to jerk it up? They are paying lip service to public service
delivery as far as I am concerned. All they do is draft policy after policy and splurge money on some
tenderpreneur scheme or another; all in the name of public service delivery. No one bothers to monitor
the quality of work done by any service providers or the public servants.
They could take the 240 million they spent on Nkandla and send this people to some course or another,
to train them about customer service. Government employees do not realise that the public is their
customer; hell, even politicians don’t seem to realise that either. That is why I am so scared for us and
our children.
Source: http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Public-Service-Delivery-South-African-Style-20130418
1.1 Question 1.1 (10 marks)
The case study highlights the variations between goods and services in the public sector. Provide
a discussion of these differences.
1.2 Question 1.2 (30 marks)
Identify two major problems outlined in by Dikgosi Thokoane and describe the ways in which each
of these problems could be remedied by sound operations management.
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Question 2 (20 Marks)
Weekly sales of copy paper at Cubicle Suppliers are provided in the table below. Compute a three-period
moving average and a four-period moving average for weeks 5, 6, and 7. Compute the MAD for both
forecasting methods. Which model is more accurate? Forecast week 8 with the more accurate method.
Week Sales (cases)
1 17
2 21√
3 27
4 31
5 19
6 17
7 21
2.1 2.1 (10 marks)
Compute the Mean Absolute Deviation for both forecasting methods
2.2 Question 2.2 (2
marks) Which model is more accurate?
(2
2.3 Question 2.3 marks)
Forecast week 8 using the more accurate method.
2.4 Question 2.4 (6 marks)
Use the information in the table below to determine the three-year moving averages for years 4 to
10.
Year Demand
1 74
2 90
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3 59
r
4 91
5 140
6 98
7 110
8 123
9 99
Question 3 (20 Marks)
Using an appropriate diagram, discuss the integrated nature of the different functional relationships in a
manufacturing or service organisation of your choice.
Question 4 (20 Marks)
Determine from theory the value drivers for an organisation and provide a critical analysis of how these
drivers can be applied to an organisation of your choice.