Remarks by Minister for Public Service and Administration, Ayanda Dlodlo at the Rahima Moosa Hospital Public Engagement Session
Gauteng MEC for Health, Dr. Gwen Ramokgopa
Deputy President of DENOSA, Ms. Thandeka Msibi
Chairperson of the Nursing Council, Ms. Sizeni Mchunu
Chief Executives of the Representative Hospitals
Gauteng Head of Department of Health
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me first greet and appreciate all women who are in attendance on this important occasion and acknowledge the sterling work you continue to do in the service of our people.
In particular I would like to single out and acknowledge those who will be receiving their excellence and long service awards today and thank them wholeheartedly for their commitment and dedication to improve the lives of our people.
Among them are people who occupy the category of general workers in the system, and who most often are forgotten when such recognition awards are conferred on outstanding workers. I am pleased that Rahima Moosa has taken the initiative to recognise their sterling service and I would like to encourage the rest of the institutions to do the same.
Such dedication contributes immensely to the rich legacy of our stalwarts and forebears in the nursing profession such as Mme Charlotte Maxeke, Mme Cecilia Makiwane and Mme Albertina Sisulu among others.
Ladies and gentlemen
We meet at an important time when the country and our nation celebrates the centenary of Mama Albertina Sisulu, who herself has left an indelible mark in the history of our struggle for freedom and democracy.
The progressive constitution we are all proud of, the stable democracy and the future that is free of oppression and prejudice, all constitute the products of hers and her generation’s sterling efforts as freedom fighters and lovers of their toiling masses.
These tributes to all these women, who were outstanding public servants would not be enough without reflecting on the sterling and selfless contribution of Mam Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who as well dedicated her entire adult life and career to the service of the people.
When she became the first black medical social worker more than six decades ago, Winnie Mandela distinguished herself as a selfless public servant and lover of humanity.
Abandoning a lucrative scholarship to study abroad, she chose to spend her life among the needy and vulnerable to become a foot soldier in the fight against dehumanizing poverty, degradation and racial hatred.
This kind of courage and commitment should inspire us to serve our people with humility, dignity, commitment and a sense of accountability. As we gather here today, we must recommit to the pledge to serve our people with pride and dignity to follow the sterling example of Mam Sisulu and her generation of activists.
Let me also take this opportunity to recognize the important contribution that the Nursing College is making in upscaling the skills profile in the health sector. I am proudly informed that the college is the only one in the country that provides for specialist training of about 10 programmes in the profession and that it has the highest output of specialist nurses in the country.
In this regard it plays a large and critical role in enabling service delivery to the country’s most critically ill and injured from before birth (care of women with abnormal pregnancies) to birth and throughout all the different phases of life to the end of life.
We must take pride in such important initiatives which contribute to the much needed skills profile in the public service. Our quest to professionalize and turn around the image of the public service will benefit immensely from these important programmes and initiatives.
It is in the same vein that we launched the Graduate Recruitment Scheme a few weeks ago. This scheme, is one of the practical initiatives proposed by the National Development Plan towards the achievement of a goal to make the Public Service a career of choice.
As we are all aware, the National Development Plan highlights the importance of adopting a more long term approach to developing the skills and professional ethos that underpin a development oriented public service.
The NDP has observed that young people seeking to enter a career in the public service often find it difficult to identify a suitable entry point in the system. It is also true that departments struggle to identify and develop young talent from the ranks of the youth and unemployed graduates across the country.
The introduction of this scheme therefore will provide a more coherent entry route for young public servants and will provide targeted training and help to build the skills and professional ethos required for the sector. We are particularly excited by this venture because it realizes the need for government to be proactive about producing and retaining the skills that it needs.
While on the important subject of skills, we must also attend to the need for infrastructure refurbishment, maintenance and development in our institutions. Without adequate infrastructure, we will not succeed in our objectives to deliver quality services to our people. We have also taken note of the dire needs at this particular hospital and we should, together with my counterpart make means to meet these challenges to enable the institution to deliver services to our people.
I would like to conclude by reflecting on the story that is making the rounds about the fate of public servants and the misplaced allegations of planned retrenchments. As I said in a statement I issued to the media a few days ago, that report is a complete misrepresentation of the government program in relation to the macro organization of the state and the initiatives proposed to manage the public sector wage bill. Its intended objective is to create unnecessary and dangerous panic not only in the public service but the entire country and it must be rejected with the contempt it deserves.
The reality is that the President’s call to restructure government in order to enhance service delivery and making the public administration more effective and efficient by removing superfluous functions and structures does not include an option of retrenchment as reported in the paper.
Once again let me congratulate the employees who have been awarded the long service and excellence awards and also encourage the rest to emulate their example.
The public service needs a cohort of dedicated individuals, who are professional, skilled and committed to the service of our people.
Thank you.
Media enquiries:
Mava Scott
Cell: 076 095 2350
E-mail: mava.scott@dpsa.gov.za
