I had a discussion with some comrades on Sunday about the call for tenders to be scrapped. Frankly speaking, I think that would be a disaster of monumental proportions. Since taking over in 94, ANC has not done enough to build the capacity of the state to deliver services. It also inherited an inefficient public service and we continued with that culture. When I became a Councillor in 1995, we had a problem with employees in our Parks department and I have no reason to suspect that the situation has changed. Attempts to improve performance was resisted by unions who even threatened strike action. The problem in short; Employees report for duty at 07:30. They change into their work gear and leave the depot at 08:15 to arrive on site at 09:00. Upon arrival, a truck driver sets off to buy meat, two of the cooks start preparing fire and the others spend 30 minutes preparing to work. They eventually start work at around 09:30, break for lunch at 12:30 till 13:30. Amongst a team of ten, one is a driver and the other two are dedicated to cooking ad washing dishes. The remaining seven then restart the lawn cutters at 13:30 and start working again at 14:00. They leave site at 14:45 to make it on time at the depot, shower and knock off at 16:00. Three employees were not working and the remaining seven worked for 5 hours or less. I think there needs to be a conscious effort by the state to build its capacity to deliver. Trade unions have to be part of this initiative to improve productivity and service delivery. Firstly, the public service must build a culture of service. We need to move away from stated and published Batho Pele principles, to implementation of that charter. I think Hon. Nkosazana Zuma, made great strides in this regard when she was Minister of Home of Affairs and the legacy lives on. As if rolling over budgets is not enough, departments also roll over objectives. You look at strategic objectives set by a department in year one and you realise they have not changed in year three. This also calls for the strengthening of Provincial and National Treasuries who are tasked with approving Annual Performance Plans. How do they approve similar APPs for a department every year? In order to achieve this efficiency, we need to attract competent individuals and such individuals must be appropriately compensated. At this point, some will say I am high on something because the public sector wage bill is already high. Yes, the public sector wage bill has increased exponentially in the past few years, but have we seen an improvement to match the increase? My answer is an emphatic, NO!!! The increase happened sporadically without a clear plan. Every MEC and Minister wants to have more DDGs because it makes them feel important. They do so without thinking of the impact on the public service as a whole. MECs and Ministers have found a way to go around the Ministerial Hand Book and have bloated staff structures in their offices. The appointment of a Deputy Minister for almost every Ministry as well as the creation of new Ministries did not help much in this regard. We need to rationalise the public service and put money where it matters most. Secondly, Public Works needs to build capacity to deliver on infrastructure projects. IDT is a monumental flop and has failed to fulfil this role. Restructuring IDT, employing the correct calibre of managers and building project management capacity can turn the situation around. The IDTs mandate, that is the restructured IDT, must also be charged with the responsibility of building houses. Apart from recruiting competent professionals, IDT must have a pool of artisans who can carry out projects without going out on tender. IDT is better suited because it is an entity of government and not a department and can, therefore, compensate employees competitively. At the moment, IDT is a burden to government and adds no value. IDT can also use its status to borrow from the market and fast track service delivery of infrastructure projects, based on commitments from department. In conclusion, I believe that it is possible for the government to deliver on infrastructure projects, but not now. It is possible to reduce the number of tenders, but not now. A true Public Works Programme can create real employment and deliver on governments infrastructure projects. Government departments are currently surrendering billions in un-spend capital expenditure which is scandalous in my opinion given the backlog we have. For as long as we do not address the issue of governments capacity to deliver, government will continue to under-spend and surrender money at the end of the financial year. Lastly, those in higher authority must develop the balls to fire people and not tolerate incompetence. Moving non-performers around is not a solution. Government must not be a retirement village for those who cannot make it elsewhere in society. Speaking as an activist, a patriot and a parent!!!
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 22:26:56 +0000
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