24 May 2016

-  Jwaneng deputy district commissioner, Ms Kolobetso Sejakgomo has described the Presidential Inspectorate Task Team’s visit to the district as an eye opener to both the civil servants and the government programmes beneficiaries.

Speaking at a debriefing meeting after touring of projects in Jwaneng and Sese on Friday, Ms Sejakgomo noted that the visit revealed loopholes, challenges as well as success stories of Youth Development Fund (YDF) and poverty eradication funded projects.

She said the visit had shown that civil servants had to pull up their socks and deliver timely services to the beneficiaries, which include monitoring and evaluation of projects. 

She said before the team, led by Mr Johnnie Swartz visited, it seemed like everything was going well, but it became evident that there was a gap between civil servants and the beneficiaries which  needed to be closed.

Ms Sejakgomo said the district was planning a workshop for the beneficiaries to share ideas, experiences, challenges and how they can be addressed. 

She also stressed the need for civil servants to unite and share the little resources available to hasten distribution of government programmes to the people.

“As civil servants, we also need to cultivate the spirit of commitment to serve our country with pride without expecting payment every time. We should also serve with generosity and excellence,” she added.

In an interview, task team member Mr Johnnie Swartz explained that there was a challenge of shortage of staff to drive programmes. 

He also added that team spirit among the employees was also lacking.

Mr Swartz also shared the sentiments that their visit was an eye opener and the district should work on their setbacks and challenges to improve on timely and quality services to the nation.

“The elderly are excelling in small stock projects while the youth are doing much better in services while others have abandoned their projects,” he added.

He also mentioned that backyard gardening remained  challenged and that  it needed to be reviewed, especially in terms of water bills, sustainability and viability of the project per district.ENDS