13 Feb 2018

The Nata Roads Depot has a small establishment and most of the vacant positions are former industrial class positions, says Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Kitso Mokaila.

He said from 2015 to date, statistics revealed a drop in vacancies as positions had been filled through promotions while some of the positions were abolished by DPSM around December 2016 to April 2017 to create positions for new ministries.

Minister Mokaila said recruiting for such positions was done through internal advertising and that the existing staff did not meet the requirements. In addition, he said advertising regionally tended not to attract employees as potential candidates refused to go on transfer citing social problems, which in most cases could lead them to financial embarrassment.

Mr Mokaila said delays in posting staff to areas where there were vacant posts affected productivity adversely, but that the department had taken the initiative to employ temporary employees and also fill in with interns from the Ministry of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development.

“At times sending officers for relief purposes was necessary,” he added.

The Member of Parliament for Nata/Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga had wanted the minister to state the number of vacant posts at the Nata Roads Depot offices since 2015, when the vacant posts would be filled and why it had taken long for staff to be posted to areas with vacant posts. He also wanted to know whether the delays did not affect productivity in those departments. Ends