Department of Labour’s Service Delivery Campaign yielding positive results
Milestones were realised during the very first day of the Department of Labour’s Service Delivery Campaign. Held in a small peripheral town of Reitz in the Eastern Free State, this campaign saw scores of clients descending to Petsana Community Hall to access the services of the Department.
To that effect, no less than 200 clients were assisted by dedicated Labour officials. This is one of many service delivery innovations the Department came up with to try and speed up the delivery of quality services. This is also meant to improve accessibility to the services of the Department by taking them to small towns on the outskirts whose residents would ordinarily have to travel to bigger towns to access such services.
This Service Delivery Campaign is also held as part of the Public Service Month under the theme: “Thuma Mina, Taking Services to the People: We Care, We Belong, We Serve,” The “Taking Services to the People” part of this theme is demonstrated strongly during the Thusong Service Centre Mobile Outreach which is spearheaded by the Office of the Premier and Government Communication and Information System in the Free State.
One of those many clients assisted as part of this campaign earlier today is John Maseko who drove in the wee hours of the morning all the way from Klerksdorp to be assisted. “I heard about this campaign on radio and decided that I will drive here to get assisted. My first ever application was in March this year and I have been given the run around ever since. I was so amazed by the professional conduct displayed by these Free State Labour Officials. They were very diligent and resolved the impasse on my application in no time. As if I have not seen enough, they processed my application right on the spot, assessed it and paid the benefits right there and there,” he ecstatically said.
Madineo Mariam Motaung from Petsana Reitz came to apply for the very first time today for her maternity benefits and her application was processed and paid right on the spot. This Greenfield Chicken employee and the mother of a three weeks old baby could not hide her jubilation to the manner in which her application was handled. I was afraid as to how am I going to provide for my child but my fears are no more,” she said.
A 61 year old Sophie Khombelwayo, a domestic worker in the same town was also thankful to the Department of Labour for assisting her to finally be paid her Unemployment Benefits. I worked for my domestic employer for more than 12 years. I could not take it anymore as my health was deteriorating. The medical report from a medical practitioner suggested that I am in no position to continue working and my employer should terminate my employment. To my dismay, she refused and even refused to sign my UIF documents. Persistent Labour Officials assisted me to get those fully completed documents, processed my application and paid it instantly,” Ms. Khombelwayo said.
Yet another client looking for services of the Department was Paseka Samuel Motloung, an employee of a company called Machine King in Reitz. His pinkie finger was amputated due to the accident he sustained at work. His employer apparently refused to complete his necessary forms for processing of the application with the Compensation Fund. The Fund’s officials referred the matter to Labour Inspectors who instantly attended to the case and visited the employer. Owing to the intervention from these Inspectors, the employer undertook to complete the forms which will then be collected by one of the Inspectors tomorrow morning.
Public Employment Service officials embarked on a door to door activation programme, in different companies in the area, looking for job opportunities for work seekers on the Employment System of South Africa database, and were given a total of 10 job opportunities by Lewis Furnisher Store in Reitz right on the spot. Such opportunities are envisaged to culminate into 10 work seekers getting employed.
In response to this positive outcome, the Head of the Department of Labour in the province, Nomfundo Douw-Jack said: “We will never relent for as long as there is a client out there seeking our services. We will continue to crisscross this province until the very last client is assisted. Be that as it may, we are humbled by this positive feedback and vow to continue improving our services for the better. All thanks and praises to be afforded to those dedicated officials who are leaving no stone unturned in the delivery of quality services to our clientele.”
This campaign will be sealed tomorrow, 20th of September 2018 at the Department of Labour Offices in Reitz. Those clients who may have not been able to come today are urged to do so tomorrow. The campaign will start at 09:00 until 15:00.
For enquiries:
Josial Ramokoena - Provincial Communication Officer Free State
Cell: 0760928157
E-mail: josial.ramokoena@labour.gov.za
