28 Jun 2015

The leadership of the North East District has been called upon to apply their minds and come up with solutions to the challenges that they encounter in their efforts to render quality services to the communities they serve.

This was said by the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Frans Van der Westhuizen when addressing the district senior management in Masunga on June 24. Mr Van der Westhuizen said he was aware that the district was not doing remarkably well in terms of project implementation.

He said though the problem affected other district councils, something needed to be done because the delays in project implementation were a sign that service delivery was also not up to standard.

He also raised concern over poor waste management that had become the norm in many parts of the country; saying that in many places there was no proper waste collection.

He implored council secretaries to take a personal interest in the issue and place it among those issues that were at the top of their priority lists. He said it was improper to neglect the issue of waste management as it had a direct impact on people’s lives.

On other issues, Mr Van der Westhuizen also informed management that government was concerned about the water supply challenges that many parts of the country were grappling with.

He said there was need for the water reticulation infrastructure to be improved.

He however, indicated that government was working around the clock to improve water supply throughout the country.

On the issue raised that the limitation on how much overtime an officer could work per week, Mr Van der Westhuizen expressed concern that guidelines on overtime work were not being strictly adhered to.

He said it was sad that some employees had turned overtime payments into a second salary; something he said was totally undesirable and would as such not be allowed to go on.

Mr Van der Westhuizen emphasised the need for proper planning in relation to how and when duties would be performed during the normal working hours, as well as strict monitoring by supervisors to ensure that officers engaged in overtime work only when it was absolutely necessary.

He however, stated that it was crucial for managers and staff that government was not against overtime work, but rather that there was need for it to be closely monitored and controlled.

On the issue of officers overstaying in their duty stations, Mr van der Westhuizen said his ministry was aware of the problem.

He said there was a need for a transfer policy that would clearly spell out how long an officer could stay in a  duty station.

For his part, the district commissioner, Mr Rapetse Mathumo said the feedback by the assistant minister on various issues was most welcome as it helped the leadership gauge the district’s performance with regard to the delivery of services.

He assured the assistant minister that an effort would be put towards improving on the areas of carrying out destitute housing and poverty eradication projects, as well as general project implementation. Ends