07 Jul 2021

There are currently no plans to review Job Effectiveness Descriptions (JEDs) for District AIDS Coordinators (DACs) because they still perform the same duties, Parliament has been told.

Answering a question on Tuesday, local government and rural development assistant minister, Mr Sethabelo Modukanele said instead there was potential for growth for DACs beyond D3 scale.

“As public officers, they can still progress beyond D3 subject to availability of positions across ministries and departments,” he stated.

Mr Modukanele said given the need for a multi-sectoral approach as well as active involvement of all stakeholders, DACs coordinated response to HIV/AIDS at district level under the supervision and administrative support of the district commissioner.

He informed Parliament that since HIV/AIDS was declared a national emergency, coordination of activities fell under the office of district commissioner as coordinators of all government programmes at district level.

However, he said management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or COVID-19 response was not the DACs’ mandate since they fell under the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA).

Furthermore, Mr Modukanele reminded Parliament that initially sectoral response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and Primary Healthcare Services (PHCS) was under the then Ministry of Local Government until 2010 when some PHCS were relocated to the then Ministry of Health through Presidential Directive CAB/188/2009.

He stated that services that were relocated to the Ministry of Health were health education, curative healthcare, community health and family healthcare.

However, HIV/AIDS Coordination and Environmental Health services remained with the Ministry of Local Government, he added.

The assistant minister was answering questions from Maun East MP, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile, who had asked the minister about the plight of DACs in terms of office, professional placement and progression.

In particular, Mr Kekgonegile wanted the minister to state the rationale behind housing and supervising DACs under the district commissioner’s office at district level while professionally they fell under the local government and rural development corporate services and working professionally under NAHPA.

He wanted to know if there were plans to review their JDEs given that the post had been on D3 scale with no progression structure since 2002.

Mr Kekgonegile also asked if the increase in the workload over the years did not warrant the establishment of a fully-fledged department with a structure operating and housed in one ministry.

The increase in the workload is attributed to the advent of COVID-19, SHE workers’ supervision and rampancy of non-communicable diseases. He further wanted to find out which ministry would be appropriate for such officers. ENDS