During 1995 a study was undertaken regarding the management of orientation procedures in the central and provincial government services in South Africa. It transpired that after the dawn of political democracy on 27 April 1994, the South African government service faced a number of major challenges. It had a major role to play by forging ahead with processes of reconciliation and reconstruction to establish an equitable society in the country. To fulfil this role effectively, the government service needed to free itself from its past practices, which were steeped in a policy of separate development, to be transformed into a much more coherent, representative, competent and democratic instrument for executing new government policies and meeting the needs of all citizens. Those in government were obliged to render community-oriented services to the various peoples of South Africa in order to achieve, maintain and enhance the quality of life of all the inhabitants in particular and the welfare of society in general. The research that is the basis of this article was based on the assumption that existing orientation training procedures in the South African government service were inadequate for successful orientation of public service personnel on all post levels. It was concluded that an improved approach to that type of training should have been devised and implemented for the common good of the newly integrated society. The findings and proposals emanating from the abovementioned study are expounded in this article. The article contains a description of the background to the study, requirements for effective, efficient and community-oriented service rendering and a number of proposals that were made on the strength of the research findings.

During 1995 a study was undertaken regarding the management of orientation procedures in the central and provincial government services in South Africa. It transpired that after the dawn of political democracy on 27 April 1994, the South African government service faced a number of major challeng...