28 Oct 2013

The Vice President, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe has called on decision makers in the civil service to exercise fairness.

Addressing a public officers meeting in Letlhakane on October 24, Dr Kedikilwe said some public officers were treated unfairly and their personal issues not taken into consideration when decisions were made.  He implored supervisors to adhere to the transfer policy and consult concerned officers before taking any decisions.

He said making decisions that could impact negatively on the welfare of an officer would ultimately affect service delivery. Dr Kedikilwe said where possible, married officers should be placed within a reasonable distance of each other. However, the Vice President noted that there were exceptional cases based on the scope of work of either of the spouses.

He stressed that personal vendetta should not override procedures when taking an official decision. Public servants were also urged to be devoted to their assigned duties, as the community depended on them for services.

Dr Kedikilwe also noted that there were cases where some public officers stayed too long in less developed areas while others enjoyed the luxury of towns and cities. He said having worked as a public servant for many years and heading the Department of Public Service Management (DPSM),  he was aware of the challenges encountered by employees and the personal time and extra energy they put in to satisfy community demands.

As the chairperson of the Rural Development Council (RDC), Dr Kedikilwe said he encouraged quality and timely service delivery and coordinated pursuits of all council, central government and land board departments. The Vice President said he was aware that many of them were working under difficult conditions, but appealed to the public service to work hard and produce more with less.

“As we push towards better service delivery, we must also on the other hand work on creating an inviting working environment. We have to map out possible solutions to problems in the public service,” he said. Dr Kedikilwe said besides budgetary constraints, hindrances in the public service affecting personal lifestyle and service delivery would always be addressed amicably. “Work on coming up with possible solutions to some of the challenges,” he stressed. ENDS