Date: 07/12/2006
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government
Title: Moloto: Community development workers graduation
Address by Limpopo Premier, Mr Sello Moloto, at the second graduation ceremony of community development workers (CDWs), University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Vhembe District
MEC for Education, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi,
Mayor of Thulamela Local Municipality,
Executive Mayor of Vhembe and other mayors here present,
Acting University of Venda Vice Chancellor and Principal, Dr JV Leatt,
Executive deans and professors,
Members of Provincial Legislature here present,
Councillors and traditional leaders,
Representatives of the local government Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and the Education,
Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA,
Our grandaunts,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:
Today is yet another proud day in the life of Limpopo as we officially mark the passing out of 318 CDWs who are now ready to assume their community responsibilities in every part of our province. This graduation ceremony is the biggest and the second to take place, ever since the passing out of 82 learner CDWs in May this year. It is gratifying that after 12 months of intensive education and training we now have the kind of public servants who are community based and multi skilled to serve our people in all the various areas of social delivery like health, social development, housing, agriculture, water, energy, economic development and education.
We are proud that the University of Venda (UNIVEN) has delivered on its mandate, as it promised in its mission statement and vision. Like UNIVEN is showing the way, we believe it is incumbent upon all South African universities to teach the kind of values that strengthen community participation and democratic citizenship in their pursuit for academic excellence and relevance in the globalising world. The collaboration we have with UNIVEN on community development workers programme and in other areas, therefore, show the extent to which the university has embraced academic transformation and curriculum change in all of its disciplines. The teaching of community development as one of the academic disciplines in particular, stands out remarkably well as one of the most striking indicator of the universities ability and determination to move with the times and changes currently taking place within both government and in the private sector.
It further underlines the fact that in these changing times no institution and no government can exist as an island, nor afford to be aloof from the concerns and challenges of the day as this would simply mean isolation and indifference to the prolonged suffering of our people.
The collaboration we have with this university is characteristic of the role universities everywhere should play in supporting democracy and social transformation. It is the role we have always thought universities must play in post apartheid South Africa once the country becomes liberated. The symbolism of today's graduation marks the continuation of the journey we embarked upon 12 years ago with higher learning institutions in an endeavour to harness their synergies for the common good of our society and our people. We are proud to be the ones to witness the coming into fruition of such a historic and enduring relationship.
Programme Director, you will recall that the need for CDWs programme 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 under served areas still face difficulties in accessing government services where they live. We realised for instance that despite enormous progress that has been made in all fronts, communication is often the missing link between government's intentions on the one hand and people's service delivery needs on the other. In some cases we have noted that government service delivery mechanisms themselves, however, relevant often do not always reach the intended recipients effectively and timeously owing to a variety of reasons such as skills shortage, poor human resource capacity, communication challenges, poor systems integration and effective inter-governmental relations.
This reality has been confirmed many a times by our people in the many interactions we have had with them through Izimbizo and "Executive Council (ExCo) meets the people". In these forums the deafening message has often been that government services are not reaching the people who need them and that people are not able to access services due to lack of information or because these services are located in far away places. All of these weaknesses combined, made us to come to the conclusion 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 of both government and the community at local levels.
As a result, this is why we adopted the CDW method of intervention as a key programme of government and an essential tool in bridging the service delivery gap between government and communities.
Programme Director, it is now exactly two years since the programme was launched in September and a lot has happened since. In many municipalities across the province we hear positive reports that many CDWs are doing their best to assist our people to gain housing and to assist them with applications for identity documents (IDs) and social grants. However, despite these successes there are also glaring practical lessons that we have learned in the last two years which must help us strengthen this programme to become even more effective.
One such daunting challenge has been the question of role clarification between CDWs and elected councillors which at times resulted in unnecessary competition and turf battles between them. While we must acknowledge that councillors and CDWs are collaborating well in many areas, there are instances where this is simply not happening as it should. However, the point must still be made that the real or perceived bickering and petty squabbling between councillors and CDWs simply borders on non-observance to the code of ethics and cannot be allowed to go on while our people wait for services.
We once again wish to reiterate the point we have often made that there is no need to exaggerate differences between CDWs and councillors as each one of them is expected to be familiar with their respective roles and functions. The fact remains that CDWs are expected to liaise, co-ordinate, inform and assist communities with access to services, on the one hand while councillors on the other hand are expected to act as elected representatives of the people.
It is important that we emphasise that councillors and CDWs are not enemies and therefore need to complement each other and not to compete against each other in executing their diverse roles.
In this instance it is your role as CDWs together with elected councillors to ensure that there is maximum collaboration between yourselves and all the other role players in local government. Our people will be constantly looking up to you to ensure that water taps do not run dry, that cracking houses are fixed, that contractors who build unfinished houses and disappear without paying workers are reported, that the poor, the elderly and the disabled are assisted in obtaining services and social grants and that disputes between government and communities are resolved amicably without resort to conflict.
If we have to make an example in this regard, the case of Moutse boundary dispute should serve as both instructive and illustrative as it proves the point that a lot of discontent by communities in the country usually stems from distortion of facts, lack of communication and sometimes poor interaction between government officials themselves on the one hand and communities on the other.
As you will recall, Moutse has been on the news for some time due to a level of instability taking place in the area as a result of boundary changes. This has been the case until recently when government initiated two Izimbizo in the area which helped a lot in making people to understand where government stands on various service delivery challenges. These interactions also helped a great deal in allaying people's fears about the implications of the new demarcations as we are now beginning to witness a sea change of heart on the part of community members who are now willing to work and co-operate with their government in dispensing services to the people. We draw parallels from the successes of our government's intervention in Moutse simply to make the point that, likewise, CDWs should and can equally use communication and information sessions as vital tools in the execution of their work.
Programme Director, once again we wish to take this opportunity to thank all our graduates for successfully completing this programme hoping that you are now ready to discharge your duties and functions in the most effective manner. Our government has invested a lot on your capabilities and skills because we want to see service delivery backlogs reduced in all the affected areas of the province. We have full confidence in your abilities to succeed and failure cannot be an option.
We ask you to use this qualification which is in your name, wisely, for the benefit of your people who need your services now than ever before.
We are confident that this calibre of the CDWs cadre we have produced today is solid enough and has all the ingredients we need to build a future model of a public servant in our country.
We urge you to help us in inculcating a results oriented culture in the public service which will serve to inspire the rest of our government to live up to the Batho Pele principles.
Government places a high premium on your work because we are determined to bring real and lasting changes in the lives of those at the receiving end of our services.
Once more, we thank the university council and management for ensuring that the experience of our learners in this institution becomes the most fulfilling and rewarding one. Congratulations also to the parents and academic staff for your enduring patience and encouragement throughout the duration of the course.
May the UNIVEN live and continue to grow in order to produce more generations of community and organic intellectuals for the benefit of the nation and future generations to come.
I thank you!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
7 December 2006
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government
Title: Moloto: Community development workers graduation
Address by Limpopo Premier, Mr Sello Moloto, at the second graduation ceremony of community development workers (CDWs), University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Vhembe District
MEC for Education, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi,
Mayor of Thulamela Local Municipality,
Executive Mayor of Vhembe and other mayors here present,
Acting University of Venda Vice Chancellor and Principal, Dr JV Leatt,
Executive deans and professors,
Members of Provincial Legislature here present,
Councillors and traditional leaders,
Representatives of the local government Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and the Education,
Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA,
Our grandaunts,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:
Today is yet another proud day in the life of Limpopo as we officially mark the passing out of 318 CDWs who are now ready to assume their community responsibilities in every part of our province. This graduation ceremony is the biggest and the second to take place, ever since the passing out of 82 learner CDWs in May this year. It is gratifying that after 12 months of intensive education and training we now have the kind of public servants who are community based and multi skilled to serve our people in all the various areas of social delivery like health, social development, housing, agriculture, water, energy, economic development and education.
We are proud that the University of Venda (UNIVEN) has delivered on its mandate, as it promised in its mission statement and vision. Like UNIVEN is showing the way, we believe it is incumbent upon all South African universities to teach the kind of values that strengthen community participation and democratic citizenship in their pursuit for academic excellence and relevance in the globalising world. The collaboration we have with UNIVEN on community development workers programme and in other areas, therefore, show the extent to which the university has embraced academic transformation and curriculum change in all of its disciplines. The teaching of community development as one of the academic disciplines in particular, stands out remarkably well as one of the most striking indicator of the universities ability and determination to move with the times and changes currently taking place within both government and in the private sector.
It further underlines the fact that in these changing times no institution and no government can exist as an island, nor afford to be aloof from the concerns and challenges of the day as this would simply mean isolation and indifference to the prolonged suffering of our people.
The collaboration we have with this university is characteristic of the role universities everywhere should play in supporting democracy and social transformation. It is the role we have always thought universities must play in post apartheid South Africa once the country becomes liberated. The symbolism of today's graduation marks the continuation of the journey we embarked upon 12 years ago with higher learning institutions in an endeavour to harness their synergies for the common good of our society and our people. We are proud to be the ones to witness the coming into fruition of such a historic and enduring relationship.
Programme Director, you will recall that the need for CDWs programme 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 under served areas still face difficulties in accessing government services where they live. We realised for instance that despite enormous progress that has been made in all fronts, communication is often the missing link between government's intentions on the one hand and people's service delivery needs on the other. In some cases we have noted that government service delivery mechanisms themselves, however, relevant often do not always reach the intended recipients effectively and timeously owing to a variety of reasons such as skills shortage, poor human resource capacity, communication challenges, poor systems integration and effective inter-governmental relations.
This reality has been confirmed many a times by our people in the many interactions we have had with them through Izimbizo and "Executive Council (ExCo) meets the people". In these forums the deafening message has often been that government services are not reaching the people who need them and that people are not able to access services due to lack of information or because these services are located in far away places. All of these weaknesses combined, made us to come to the conclusion 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 of both government and the community at local levels.
As a result, this is why we adopted the CDW method of intervention as a key programme of government and an essential tool in bridging the service delivery gap between government and communities.
Programme Director, it is now exactly two years since the programme was launched in September and a lot has happened since. In many municipalities across the province we hear positive reports that many CDWs are doing their best to assist our people to gain housing and to assist them with applications for identity documents (IDs) and social grants. However, despite these successes there are also glaring practical lessons that we have learned in the last two years which must help us strengthen this programme to become even more effective.
One such daunting challenge has been the question of role clarification between CDWs and elected councillors which at times resulted in unnecessary competition and turf battles between them. While we must acknowledge that councillors and CDWs are collaborating well in many areas, there are instances where this is simply not happening as it should. However, the point must still be made that the real or perceived bickering and petty squabbling between councillors and CDWs simply borders on non-observance to the code of ethics and cannot be allowed to go on while our people wait for services.
We once again wish to reiterate the point we have often made that there is no need to exaggerate differences between CDWs and councillors as each one of them is expected to be familiar with their respective roles and functions. The fact remains that CDWs are expected to liaise, co-ordinate, inform and assist communities with access to services, on the one hand while councillors on the other hand are expected to act as elected representatives of the people.
It is important that we emphasise that councillors and CDWs are not enemies and therefore need to complement each other and not to compete against each other in executing their diverse roles.
In this instance it is your role as CDWs together with elected councillors to ensure that there is maximum collaboration between yourselves and all the other role players in local government. Our people will be constantly looking up to you to ensure that water taps do not run dry, that cracking houses are fixed, that contractors who build unfinished houses and disappear without paying workers are reported, that the poor, the elderly and the disabled are assisted in obtaining services and social grants and that disputes between government and communities are resolved amicably without resort to conflict.
If we have to make an example in this regard, the case of Moutse boundary dispute should serve as both instructive and illustrative as it proves the point that a lot of discontent by communities in the country usually stems from distortion of facts, lack of communication and sometimes poor interaction between government officials themselves on the one hand and communities on the other.
As you will recall, Moutse has been on the news for some time due to a level of instability taking place in the area as a result of boundary changes. This has been the case until recently when government initiated two Izimbizo in the area which helped a lot in making people to understand where government stands on various service delivery challenges. These interactions also helped a great deal in allaying people's fears about the implications of the new demarcations as we are now beginning to witness a sea change of heart on the part of community members who are now willing to work and co-operate with their government in dispensing services to the people. We draw parallels from the successes of our government's intervention in Moutse simply to make the point that, likewise, CDWs should and can equally use communication and information sessions as vital tools in the execution of their work.
Programme Director, once again we wish to take this opportunity to thank all our graduates for successfully completing this programme hoping that you are now ready to discharge your duties and functions in the most effective manner. Our government has invested a lot on your capabilities and skills because we want to see service delivery backlogs reduced in all the affected areas of the province. We have full confidence in your abilities to succeed and failure cannot be an option.
We ask you to use this qualification which is in your name, wisely, for the benefit of your people who need your services now than ever before.
We are confident that this calibre of the CDWs cadre we have produced today is solid enough and has all the ingredients we need to build a future model of a public servant in our country.
We urge you to help us in inculcating a results oriented culture in the public service which will serve to inspire the rest of our government to live up to the Batho Pele principles.
Government places a high premium on your work because we are determined to bring real and lasting changes in the lives of those at the receiving end of our services.
Once more, we thank the university council and management for ensuring that the experience of our learners in this institution becomes the most fulfilling and rewarding one. Congratulations also to the parents and academic staff for your enduring patience and encouragement throughout the duration of the course.
May the UNIVEN live and continue to grow in order to produce more generations of community and organic intellectuals for the benefit of the nation and future generations to come.
I thank you!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
7 December 2006
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
