at the Department of Public Works MEC's Excellence Awards, Mafikeng
29 August 2007
Programme Director
MEC for Public Works, Honourable JD Thibedi
Other MECs and MPLs present here
Our esteemed officials
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Our hosts, the Department of Public Works and the MEC for Public Works,
deserve our applause for inviting us to an evening as uplifting as this one. In
showcasing the talent within their department, the cream of the crop, they are
lifting our spirits and making us see our work in another light. We are truly
grateful and appreciate the privilege of being witnessing their celebration of
excellence and achievement. I for one am reinvigorated and inspired to doubly
redouble my efforts in the service of the people of the North West province and
our blessed country.
Every year we begin our major speeches, including the State of the Province
Address and the Budget Speech, by cataloguing our achievements as a province.
This is intended not to boast and gloat but to respond to the fundamentals of
our mandate as government and that is to serve our people these masses of men
and women and boys and girls whose daily lives are ultimately aimed at one
thing and one thing only: Let today be better than yesterday and let tomorrow
be the best day of them all.
When we speak of our achievements we are openly and publicly accounting to
our employers, the public. We are reporting on the mandate they gave us and the
service we render them. We do so in tacit acknowledgement of the fact that a
government which does not serve the interests of its people has no right to
exist. We do so in confirmation of the old-time simple but effective definition
of democracy as the government of the people, by the people, for the people.
That is why we speak of Batho Pele and call ourselves public servants.
The quality of our service to our people will depend greatly on our attitude
and it is that positive attitude, which brings us here today. As Winston
Churchill said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."
Service in general is a virtue. It is even more of a virtue when your simple
act of building a clinic positively impacts upon multitudes of people, some of
whom are not yet even born at the time you put the first brick up and mix the
first wheelbarrow of mortar. Service is sweet, but it is even sweeter when you
see farm children picked up in winter by school buses which government is
providing for their transportation. Service is the heart and the soul of our
existence as government. That is why we call government the public service.
We call it service because for us it may be a job, but it is more than a
job. It is Churchill again who got this right and interpreted it properly when
he said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
Indeed, for us it is both about making a living and making people�s lives. We
are here to celebrate excellence. We are here to celebrate achievement. We are
here to celebrate victory. We are here to celebrate success. We celebrate
excellence because it could easily have been mediocrity, achievement because it
could have been indifference, victory because it could have been failure and
success because it could have been disaster.
There is a simple but very profound statement I believe in, and it says "For
everything give thanks." It is often used in the context of religious and
spiritual discourse, but it is equally applicable to the public service, where
the idea of people working for others is a norm and where it is therefore easy
to forget some of the sacrifices they make for our communities to thrive and
our society to prosper.
It therefore gives me immense pleasure to sometimes stop, pause for a moment
and salute the men and the women who keep the public service going. May I take
advantage of today's event, then and on behalf of the government and the people
of our province say thank you to them? We may not always say so, but your
service to your people and your country is immensely appreciated. You are the
true patriots you who are committed to building a nation of progress and
prosperity.
In the corporate world it is often said a business will struggle if it makes
no money, but with all the money in the world a business will collapse if it
does not have proper human resources. Human capital, then, is considered the
pillar upon which all successful companies stand, and the most important asset
of any company is its people. That is perhaps even truer of government. Without
public servants there is in fact no government, for government, as we earlier
opined, is a servant of the people.
I am infinitely pleased, then, when our Department of Public Works locates
itself squarely in the middle of service delivery and service excellence by
recognising the centrality of its staff in the quest for a better life for our
people. By recognising and rewarding excellence the department is setting
standards to which its staff must aspire, in the process of which the quality
of work is bound to improve. That is a central principle of continuous quality
improvement and a key element of total quality management, both of which are
critical for any organisation or institution to succeed.
We are building a great nation here and in the process we are building a
legacy of life and a heritage of honour for generations to come. From our
commitment today shall be born a major economy tomorrow. It is through small
beginnings, with the basics of life and the dedication of ordinary men and
women, that major economies are built ask Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and
Taiwan. Ask Cuba, India and indeed the People's Republic of China. As you ask
them, however, take note of the work ethic characterising those economies and
how every job, be it that of street-sweeping or computer-making, be it in the
public or the private sectors, is considered public service and is done
patriotically and with pride.
Let us recognise those cadres who have served this department and our
province for lengthy periods of time. You have provided very important
continuity and stability and those count for much in the public service, where
we as politicians come and go but service delivery must remain constant and
consistent. Let us recognise those colleagues who set performance standards
above the norm. The distinction you demonstrate through excellence is worthy of
emulation by us all. The awards we present to you all today are the North West
people's statement of gratitude for the diligence and pride with which you
serve them.
Accept, then, our congratulations, tinged with a certain amount of positive
envy. Accept our appreciation, mixed with some positive jealousy. Walk tall and
with pride, but keep your feet firmly on the ground. Let your faces beam with
smiles and your hearts beat with joy, but stay rooted in your hardworking ways.
Striving for excellence, you no doubt know, is one of the highest forms of
existence. Paying tribute to excellence Churchill, again who else? Ironically
said, "No crime is so great as daring to excel."
From your achievement we are motivated and inspired to reach out further and
fly higher. From your achievement we see well beyond the horizon and right
through the firmament. With your wings we fly to worlds of imagination and
creativity in search of excellence. When we see you we begin to understand the
great inspirational story of Jonathan, the seagull and more especially the
words of the elder that "You can go to any place and to any time that you wish
to go," and Jonathan's own memorable words, "we're free to go where we wish and
to be what we are."
In that kind of conviction and belief lies the seeds of excellence and
achievement and we are privileged to witness their growth here today.
I thank you all.
Issued by: Department of Public Works, North West Provincial
Government
29 August 2007
