Durban - Dedicated and hard working public servants will be rewarded for going the extra mile, according to the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Richard Baloyi. Baloyi was speaking at the 8th Batho Pele Learning Network (BPLN) in Durban yesterday
Baloyi said the Public Service Awards would be a way of encouraging public servants to perform their duties well in order to carry out the Batho Pele principles and to make sure that service delivery is happening in the country.
"With these awards we will be giving recognition to those government employees that have done very well in their work. But most of all we want to encourage other public servants who are not doing well to improve and make sure that they are delivering to the poor who deserve the best," said Baloyi.
The theme for this year BPLN is "Driving service delivery through collaborative and interactive government."
The department said the awards would be officially launched next year, where there would be local and provincial awards in different sectors. Winners would then move onto the national or overall leg, where the best public servants would be awarded for their outstanding performances.
Baloyi said the department is going to identify a team of judges who will visit all areas to identify those servants that are doing excellent work and also participating in the spirit of Batho Pele.
He also urged all public servants to make sure that they are using the principles of Batho Pele in their daily duties.
"If all the government employees can take the initiative to make sure that they practice the principles, we would not have the people marching on the streets complaining about the service delivery in their areas," said Baloyi.
He said they have done well in terms of transparency in the government, but there was still room for improvement and to ensure that service delivery is getting to those on the ground.
The BPLN was launched in 2003 by the DPSA to ensure that those in the public service have a platform to; explore an understanding of the meaning of Batho Pele and its importance in the business of government; understanding government's various initiatives and programmes to make Batho Pele work; as well as sharing and learning from each other based on practical experiences in implementing Batho Pele on the ground.
