Programme Director;
Members of the Executive Council of the KwaZulu-Natal Government;
Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature;
Mayors and Councillors;
The Director-General of KwaZulu-Natal;
HoDs, Municipal Managers, and Senior Government Officials;
Representatives of Labour, Civil Society, and Communities;
Members of the Adjudication Committee;
Nominees of the Premier’s Excellence Awards;
Members of the Fourth Estate;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
INTRODUCTION
We would like to start by welcoming you all to this evening of festivity during which we celebrate the public servants of KwaZulu- Natal.
That we are able to gather in this great hall tonight to celebrate together in one room, seemed like a distant possibility only a few months ago, as we joined the world to battle the threat of Covid-19.
As if that was not enough, our province also faced the economic effects of the July 2021 riots which saw massive looting and burning of businesses across the length and breadth of KwaZulu-Natal.
In addition we suffered the pain of losing our beloved His Majesty Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu and the Regent Her Majesty Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu.
The combined assault of these events on the souls of the people is undoubtedly the worst in living memory. Yet throughout these tribulations, we placed our hopes on the public servants who in spite of threats to their own lives, served as a bulwark to protect and serve the people of KwaZulu- Natal.
Tonight, we want to recognise those among you who went out their way, travelled that extra mile in the spirit of Batho Pele in the selfless service of fellow citizens.
We are here to celebrate you, the unsung heroes of our people, who braved the dark nights to be at the side of the Covid-19 patients in hospitals. This evening we recall the policeman and traffic officer who used whatever means to protect the public from criminal attack and violation of our hard-won freedoms. This evening belongs to the teacher who gave hope to the frightened learners as we took the first steps back to class.
It is to honour the public servant who comforted us as we suffered the pain of losing our beloved royals and told us that there will be a brighter tomorrow.
As we celebrate tonight, we are aware that many also fell in this war. There is indeed, no war without casualties but we are here to say to the families that we do not take the sacrifices of your loved ones for granted. We direct this to the many in our midst whose relatives and precious ones perished during this recent period of trial and tribulation.
At this time Ladies and Gentlemen, may I ask you all to stand in honour of all our public servants, those who are with us and those who have departed and give them a round of applause by clapping for one minute.
Thank you and may the souls of our departed colleagues Rest in Peace!
Ladies and Gentlemen in line with this festive mood, of the Premier Service Excellence Awards, may I remind your all that as the great jazz and soul singer George Benson wrote in 1980 in his famous song
“This is your night.
Whenever dark has fallen
You know the spirit of the party
Starts to come alive
Until the day is dawning
You can throw out all your blues
And hit the city lights
'Cause there's music in the air
And lots of lovin' everywhere
So come on out tonight
And we'll lead the others
On a ride through paradise
Never mind the weather
We'll be dancing in the street
Until the morning light
'Cause there's music in the air. Give me the night.”
Ladies and Gentlemen let us make this a night of true celebration as we welcome the dawn of the morning after a period of darkness as a few days ago the President declared that KwaZulu-Natal now officially has a new king.
We would like to take the opportunity to hail His Majesty King Misuzulu kaZwelithini for ascending to the throne, and for wiping the tears of the nation after undergoing these trying times. His Majesty joins that illustrious line of monarchs who shaped our nation into one of the most formidable in the world and which is respected across generations.
Long may our King Live. May the people of KwaZulu-Natal grow stronger into the centuries to come.
Sithi Bayede Ngonyama! Bayede Silo samabandla! Hlanga Lezwe!
BUILDING A CULTURE OF SERVICE EXCELLENCE
An unknown author once said “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence”.
We seek to use this event to motivate all those who have answered the call to serve our people to bequeath a legacy of selfless service etched in the hearts of our people.
In celebrating the worthy winners who are being recognised through these Awards, let us pause and ask: Are we, who are in the public service, striving to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans?
What are we doing to restore the dignity of the most vulnerable? What is our individual and collective responsibility in building a peaceful, secure, prosperous KwaZulu-Natal where our people have access to improved healthcare, clean drinking water, shelter, decent sanitation, quality education, and economic opportunities?
Once again, allow me to pay tribute to all the shortlisted nominees for your dedication to your work and for going the extra mile to put a smile on the faces of our clients and stakeholder.
We celebrate you for treating our people, especially the vulnerable poor, with utmost respect and dignity. In you, we have a cadre of public service officials who respect themselves, value their work, and never treat clients with contempt and disdain as if they were doing them a favour.
Day by day, you are ensuring that the people of KwaZulu-Natal who come into contact with government and the public service experience the true meaning of Ubuntu, of people first, batho-pele.
We take pride that the KwaZulu-Natal’s Excellence Service Awards recognise employees in all categories – from general workers in a ward to senior government officials in all three spheres of government.
All the men and women that we are honouring this evening are passionate about people’s development and the progress of KwaZulu-Natal.
They know that there is dignity in labour and hard work. And they are being crowned today because they have heeded the advice of the late Dr Martin Luther King Jr who said:
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well’ ”.
AWARDS TO HONOUR THE HARD WORKING CIVIL SERVANT OBJECTIVES
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Premier’s Excellence Awards occupy a special place in the history of improving the performance of the public service in KwaZulu-Natal.
These awards were initiated in KwaZulu-Natal for the first time in 1999 to recognize and reward service excellence from the public officials. In our province, we seek to recognise those public servants who are successfully implementing the Batho-pele principles and enhancing Operation Sukuma Sakhe in the various war rooms across all our districts.
We are humbled and proud that this KZN initiative was later adopted by our national government in 2013 in the form of the National Batho Pele Excellence Awards led by the Department of Public Service and Administration. As you know, winners in the provincial awards are entered to represent KwaZulu-Natal in the national awards.
The Premier’s Service Excellence Awards (PSEA) are an effective vehicle that helps KwaZulu-Natal to entrench the professionalization of the public service and to reward excellence in the public service. They contribute in creating a culture of continuous improvement in the quality of service delivery.
These Awards serve to inculcate ethics in the public service as well promoting a culture of professionalism in the sector. Through them, we will be recognising excellent leadership, firm management, and self-sacrifice in providing quality and effective services to the people of KwaZulu-Natal.
We firmly believe that public celebration for those who reach high levels of performance is critical to boosting public perception for the public service - by recognising those who maintain the integrity of the public service. These are upright women and men who work tirelessly to build trust and boost confidence in the public service.
Our various categories help us recognize people who have dedicated their lives to their work and have maintained the integrity of the Public Service. With their evolution, the awards now promote sharing of best practices, learning, and gauge citizen satisfaction towards government performance.
REORIENTING THE PUBLIC SERVICE TO BE PEOPLE-CENTRED
As we celebrate the role of public servants today in creating a South Africa that is truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, equal and prosperous, we recall the words of Founding President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela to the Public Service Commission in 1996 where he said:
"For the majority of South Africans, the Public Service was seen as a hostile instrument of an oppressive minority.
“We have an immense challenge to build a state that is truly oriented towards the service of all South Africans; that is equitably representative of our society; that is guided by the broad vision of a better life for all, and that is dedicated to making efficient use of public resources.”
The public service has been qualitatively transformed and oriented towards the service of all South Africans. Despite some weaknesses, the public service continuously strives towards the goal of a better life for all.
BATHO PELE IN KWAZULU-NATAL
Ladies and Gentlemen, Today’s event is bringing into the open the sometimes lonely and unrecognised efforts of those who have gone beyond the call of duty and are doing their work diligently, efficiently and effectively. Today is not a day when we only give away trophies and celebrate. It is a day when all of us gathered here reflect on what excellence really means and what we are doing to encourage and monitor a culture of continuous improvement of service delivery standards and greater accountability to our citizens.
You will recall that under the late Minister Zola Skweyiya, South Africa passed the White Paper for Transforming the Public Service which came to be known as the Batho Pele White Paper in 1997.
In the foreword to the White Paper, Dr Skweyiya said:
“Access to decent public services is no longer a privilege to be enjoyed by a few; it is now the rightful expectation of all citizens, especially those previously disadvantaged. This is why the guiding principle of public service transformation and reform is “service to the peopIe”. The transformation of our Public Service is to be judged, rightly, by the practical difference people see in their everyday lives.”
The White paper identified eight ( principles or guidelines for Batho Pele. They are:
• Consultation
• Service Standards
• Courtesy
• Access
• Information
• Openness and Transparency
• Dealing with complaints
• Giving Best Value
Over the years, KwaZulu-Natal has also added two principles, which are:
• Encouraging Innovation
• Customer Impact
Through these awards today we are reinvigorating the Batho-Pele principles.
It is in this regard that we insist on rooting out corruption and professionalising the public service by improving the skills of those working in it.
We call on all public servants to live according to the ideals of the “I Do Right Campaign” even if no one is watching. This means that we must all be enemies of corruption to make sure that the poor are not deprived of essential services because we inflate prices so that the hands of the corrupt are greased.
It is also equally a call to the private sector not to be involved in corrupt activities like collusion, price fixing, corrupting public officials and making the state pay more for services and products.
We must continue to report corruption and to protect whistle blowers both in the public and private sector.
Public servants who lack commitment or work half a day instead of a full day, public servants who feign illness, drag their feet or not meet agreed deadlines must also recognise that their actions are tantamount to corruption, fraud, or cheating the state. We again insist that managers must lead by example and ensure that there is consequence management to improve performance and deliver services better.
Let us consistently apply the rules fairly without regard to who is involved to create a culture of trust and predictability for those working in the public service.
In KwaZulu-Natal, we will continue with listening campaigns to the concerns of our public citizens.
We are called upon to respond promptly to people’s complaints that we receive through the Presidential Hot Line or other means.
In the year ahead, we will intensify Operation Siyahlola to monitor front line service delivery sites and take appropriate action to attend to the concerns of the people and stakeholders of KwaZulu-Natal.
We are guided by vision 2030 of the National Development Plan (NDP) which recognises that we must build the capability of the state to play a developmental, transformative role.
These Awards are about the Province’s desire for an activist cadre of public servants that are patriotic, professional, prudent, and efficient.
They are about mobilising everyone in the public service and society to make meaningful contribution in forging a state that treats citizens with dignity.
We hope the Awards will make us recognise that if we underperform, the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal will remain trapped in poverty and indignity.
The Awards must make us realise that unless we all embody the Batho-Pele ethos, socio-economic transformation will be painfully slow and social discord will grow.
On an occasion like today, we must again give a huge round of applause to all public servants who were at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. We salute them for their selflessness in risking their own lives to save our own.
On a day such as this, we also remember the many individuals in the public service who lost their lives. They were health officials, teachers, police, correctional officials, senior managers, councillors, members of the legislature, and the Executive Council.
How can we forget that this was the time we also lost senior government leaders like MEC Bheki Ntuli, MPL Riccardo Mthembu, Mayor Nonhle Mkhulisi and many more.
They all met their death in the trenches with their boots on trying to save the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal. In their honour and memory, we must all continue to dedicate ourselves to serve with care and faithfully.
In this regard, you will recognise that the two years awards that we will be giving today also contain categories of public servants who have protected our collective wellbeing in the difficult time of deadly pandemic.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to convey a special gratitude to the individuals who adjudicated the Premier’s Excellence Service Awards in the last two years.
We appreciate the rigour and thoroughness that you have put in your work. We appreciate too that you also took our advice of doing background checks on nominees and shortlisted candidates.
We are indeed happy to see that you consulted with members of the public who are the real clients or customers of the public service. There is no doubt, however, that we need to strengthen this component of getting the public more involved – including through nominations – since they are the ones who directly experience our three spheres of government when they interact with government.
Finally, we wish to congratulate all the deserving shortlisted nominees.
And we say Halala to all the worthy winners today.
We thank you immensely for your dedication to our people and the role you have played in improving the image of the public service.
We applaud you good servants of Africa!
Together Growing KwaZulu-Natal!
I thank you!