The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) ends the year 2012 on a high note with its human resource unit receiving top honours and the finance unit commended by the legislature.
The department’s human resource unit was awarded this recognition by Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane at the 2nd Human Resources (HR) Summit at Birchwood Hotel recently. The department which has nearly 80 000 employees in 15 district offices and head office, as well as the biggest budget in the province of R27 billion, obtained first position compared to all other provincial departments.
For the past three consecutive financial years, the department has received an unqualified audit opinion. Matters of emphasis have come down from eight in the previous years to two in the last financial year. The department no longer receives matters of emphasis related to wasteful expenditure, payrolls, as well as non-compliance on submissions to treasury and the auditor general.
Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy congratulated the department for this achievement.
“I am thrilled that the GDE is on a right footing with regards to management of both its finances and human resources. This achievement is a result of the hard work, team spirit and a collective effort by GDE staff. Congratulations to all our staff for these accolades,” Creecy said.
The primary purpose of the summit is to reposition HR as a strategic partner in the quest for delivery of strategic priorities of the provincial government. Human Resources Management is one of the key performance areas of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Regulatory Framework.
GDE spokesman Charles Phahlane said the rationale for the summit was to provide a platform where HR Practitioners in GPG can share best practices and take their rightful place as key drivers of service delivery.
“The HR award says a lot about us, that we have been able to turn around this ship that is GDE from an HR point of view. If you are working in an HR of the size of GDE, you are not going to pull something like this off without each and every manager on board and staff in district offices pulling their weight,” Phahlane said.
All departments are compelled to submit financial statements and fill in a questionnaire and provide evidence and panel of judges is adjudicating. Phahlane said that despite the bureaucracy, one of the successes of HR directorate was allowing people to take initiative.
“The key and the secret to our success is that people need to be able to take initiative and be given space to make decision as especially in a large bureaucracy like GDE,” he said. “The key is how you allow people to take initiative and make decision but still staying within the boundaries of law and simply going back to basics.”
One of the pointers was that there were fewer incidents of GDE staff not having received their salaries in past three years compared to previous years.
Enquiries:
Charles Phahlane
Tel: 011 355 1530
Cell: 071 860 4496
