Date: 20/05/2006
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government
Title: Mashabane: graduation ceremony of community development workers


  Speech by Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, MEC for Local Government and Housing in Limpopo at the graduation ceremony of community development workers, University of Venda for Science and Technology

Members of Executive Committee here present,
Executive Mayor of Thulamela Local Municipality,
Executive Mayors from different Municipalities here present,
Senior Management of UNIVEN led by Registrar Academic Mr Khuliso Nemadzivhanani,
Director-General of our Province,
Members of Provincial Legislature here present, Councilors,
Traditional leaders,
Graduates,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

It is indeed a proud day for our province and the entire country as we officially celebrate the passing out of our first batch of competently trained Community Development Workers (CDWs) in Limpopo. For this, we wish to extend a token of gratitude to the management and staff of the University of Venda for Science and Technology for agreeing to partner with Government, in the training and development of our Community Development Workers. Everywhere, Universities are known for their teaching and research abilities; while today’s globalising world, demands much more than these. Industry and society for instance, expect Universities to strengthen their linkages with the productive sector, both private and public, in order to increase the relevance of their work energies in the service of humanity. We are nonetheless aware that, the founding ethos and mission of your University affirm these values, and more; particularly the higher premium you attach on the need to carry out community service responsibility to your immediate environment. As Karl Marx, the 19th century German philosopher remarked; “philosophers all over the world have interpreted the world, the challenge however is to change it”. Equally, it should be your mission as a University community to change this region, the Province, the country and the world for the better.

Programme director
Obviously, we have got no doubt that today’s graduation ceremony will mark the continuation of these endeavour; and of what we believe, would be a long and enduring relationship with the University community around issues of service delivery and community development in general. We have got no doubting in our minds that today’s ceremony will set a trend for other institutions of Higher learning to follow in this regard.

Programme director
Many questions have been asked before, about the relevance of the CDW programme within our public service. Critics have tended to see the introduction of this programme as nothing but duplication of already existing roles and functions within our Government. Some have failed to differentiate the roles of our elected Ward Councillors and of CDWs in the implementation of Government Programme of Action (PoA). While we fully agree that Ward Councillors and Community Development Workers would often complement each other in their diverse roles, we still maintain that their functions are different and distinct from each other. At best; we all know that, Councillors are politicians whose stay in office mainly depends on their electability after every five years; while Community Development Workers are a special category of public servants that are multi-skilled and multi-pronged to bridge the service delivery gap between Government and the people it serves.

Programme director
Perhaps it is necessary to provide a brief background and context under which the programme of CDW takes place. The need for Community Development Workers (CDW) came after a realisation was made that, many ordinary people in our Province and the country, especially the poor and the vulnerable and those in marginalised communities, still face difficulties in accessing Government services where they live. We realized that this continued to happen despite enormous progress we have made and the number of interventions we continue to make to assist those with difficulties in accessing public services.
During the many Imbizos and “Exco meets the people” held, we often heard of Government services which were not reaching the intended beneficiaries; or services which were of poor quality or sometimes not provided timeously. There were cases for instance, we have heard of people in a village going for more than a week without water because a water generator is stolen or of houses that are collapsing or left unfinished because the contractor has not paid workers and so on. All cases pointed out the fact that, the existing capacity in Government was not adequate to deal with the challenge at hand; hence the need to introduce a new layer of public servants that would be locally recruited and deployed to become the ears and eyes of both Government and the community at a local level. Of particular significance is the fact that, CDWs are breaking new ground in that, even though they are employed by the Provincial government, they will be working with the people at a Municipal Ward level, acting on their behalf and working hand in hand with all the three spheres of government. This places them in an ideal position to promote synergies and integration across the three spheres in the interests of local residents.

In resumption of their duties, Government expects them to perform and fulfil the following key functions amongst others;

* assisting communities with developing and articulating their needs,
* facilitating the development of community structures,
* facilitating public participation in government development projects,
* identifying service blockages in the community,
* finding solutions to identified needs and blockages by interacting with national, provincial and local government structures,
* co-ordinating activities of local community’s workers
* resolve disputes between government and communities and act generally as all-round community organizers and facilitators.

In doing all this, we expect CDWs to work hand in glove with elected Councilors and complement other existing Government programmes like MPCCs and Health Community Liaison Officers in order to achieve the objective of bringing Government closer to the people. It is also our hope that the establishment of Community Development Workers programme will help strengthen institutional effectiveness and efficiency of our Government as required by our Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS).

Programme director
We are delighted to hear that eighty two (82) Community Development Workers (CDW) have completed their year long training; with your institution; and are ready to resume their responsibilities as outlined in their pledge or code of service. Allow us; to use this opportunity to also welcome the seventy one (71) CDWs, who have already been permanently appointed in the public service. We have got hope and understanding that they would indeed become the leading lights, in building a caring Government. Surely; the graduates that are before us today, must help us to breathe a new breeze of fresh air into our public service so that together we can internalise the values of Batho Pele in the work of our Government. This is an imperative which both our legislation and the Constitution demands of us; as we celebrate the tenth year of its adoption. Programme director
Once again, we wish to take this opportunity to thank all our graduates for successfully completing this programme; hoping that they are now ready to discharge their functions. You have obviously worked very hard, and you deserve these accolades; use this qualification wisely to the benefit of your people for they need you now more than ever before. Congratulations also to the parents and academic staff for your enduring support and encouragement. May the University of Venda for Science and Technology continue to grow and produce more generations of experts and organic intellectuals for the benefit of the Province and indeed South Africa as a whole.

I thank you

Issued by: Local Government and Housing, Limpopo Provincial Government
20 May 2006