Department of Labour tables a 50 percent achievement report to Parliament
The Department of Labour has managed to achieve 50 percent of its annual performance targets in the fourth quarter of the 2014-15 financial year, Thobile Lamati, the Director-General, told the portfolio committee on labour in Cape Town on Wednesday.
He was giving a presentation on the summary of the department’s quarter four report based on the annual performance plan tabled in November last year.
“The major challenge faced by the department in the financial year 2014/15 has been shrinking financial resources which had a huge impact on the human resources of the department as vacant posts, employment services practitioner posts and client services officers were hardest hit by limited funding,’’ Lamati said.
He said the high targets set by the department at the onset of the financial year could not be met as human resources got depleted and were not replaced during the past financial year. The solution, the Director-General said, lay in the “filling in of critical posts in 2015/16’’.
Also, Lamati said targets have been revised in line with the capacity of the department to implement going forward.
“The newly-adopted legends, as per the Auditor General prescripts, have drastically affected the standards of performance in the department. Performance below 100 percent is regarded as incomplete and this has had huge impact on the overall performance of the Department,’’ he said.
Turning to the promotion of equity in the Labour market, Lamati said 109 employers were reviewed during the said period. Of those, 82 were found to be non-compliant. “The non-compliant ones were issued with recommendations within 90 days.’’
Among the top brass of the department who accompanied the Director-General; (DG) were Phelele Tengeni, Deputy Director-General for Corporate Services, Sam Morotoba, Deputy Director-General for Public Employment Services and Bheki Maduna, the chief financial officer.
With regard to the protection of vulnerable workers, he said of the 42 682 workplaces inspected during quarter four, over 4 000 were found to be non-compliant.
Lamati also told the committee that a number of departmental offices have had to be closed due to them being unfit and unsafe for occupation. The offices include those in Johannesburg and Soweto. He said staff has had to be moved to other offices in order to continue rendering services to the public.
Lumka Yengeni, chairperson of the committee, said this situation “compromises service delivery and must be sorted out immediately.’’
The DG said he had written to the Department of Public Works asking for an urgent meeting to attend to accommodation challenges.
Lamati said underperforming provinces would be contacted to explain reasons for this and there will be consequences for poor performance.
He also used the opportunity to brief the committee on the forthcoming International Labour Organisation’s conference to be held in Geneva from May 31 until 13 June.
Enquiries:
Mokgadi Pela
Acting Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 808 2168
Venessa Cupido
Acting Provincial Communication Officer
Western Cape Provincial officer
Cell: 082 770 8029
