17 Jun 2019

Charleshill Sub-district Council hearse driver is remunerated higher than other light duty drivers.

Speaking during a council session recently, senior assistant council secretary, Mr Christopher Maramba said the hearse driver was remunerated at B3 salary scale while others were at B4 scale.

He explained that the remuneration rate was elevated because the driver was expected to execute special services beyond driver’s duties such as  undertakers’ or mortuary assistant duties.

In addition, he said the driver was entitled to overtime pay and subsistence allowance.  He was responding to nominated   councilor, Mr Shadrack Modisane, who requested the sub-council to state how a hearse driver was remunerated and whether such driver was engaged in carrying out undertaker’s duties.

Despite this explanation, Mr Modisane seemed not convinced saying the hearse driver duties deserved a better pay since at times they had to load and carry decomposed  bodies while other corpses would be just wrapped in a blanket.

 And the driver  was expected to keep  the hearse clean as well as  conducting undertakers’ duties.

Mr Maramba requested that the issue be momentarily be put on hold because the concerned individual had laid a formal complaint.

“The issue is on the table, it will be resolved accordingly and if the driver has been cheated, he will be compensated,” said Mr Maramba.

However, he explained that the arrangement was done because there was no mortuary in the sub-district then but since there was mortuary, the issue could be revisited.

“The  norm is that a mortuary could be engaged to provide such services,” he explained.

However, he said they would look if the available mortuary had capacity to provide such services given that there were some  rural areas to service.

He said if the undertakers had capacity, the arrangement would change but if they did not have the capacity, the current arrangement would have to continue.

Still at the sub-district council session, Peer Education Programme Coordinator for Basic education in  Charleshill, Ms Gotshwanetse Ekenyane  stated that the longest serving head teacher  in the entire region was at  Kalfoitein Primary School who had been there since 2005.

Ms Ekenyane further said Makunda Primary School head served the school from 2009 while the one at Boipelo served from 2016.

However, she said management tenure in one school should not be more than eight years and teachers’ tenure in one school should not be more  than five years.

Regarding replacement of school head at Ncojane Primary School, she said they hoped that ministry‘s  promotional board would soon address the matter.

She said they had not deduced correlation in overstaying of teachers with school performance in their school saying their school academic performance was not consistent.

When responding to  Councillor  for  Metsimantsho/Ncojane, Mr Baduetse  Setswalo’s  concern that the science  laboratory at Marakanelo Junior Secondary School was not equipped and there was shortage of books  and   furniture at the school  library, Ms  Ekenyane said process of  equipping the laboratory was ongoing. ENDS