Find a better way of doing things, staff told

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Friday February 4, 2011 00:00

Addressing council staff at the Town Hall this week, Matenge said respect must begin at home.

He also raised concern about staff performance, saying the issue had reached the attention of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government.

Matenge said  the community of Selebi-Phikwe was not happy with the services it was getting from the council because some people were dragging their feet and not delivering.

'(However,) despite a few people who are not delivering, we did exceptionally well last year in terms of performance,' he said. 'I appreciate the effort you put in your work,' he said.

Matenge pointed out that Selebi-Phikwe Town Council got position three in the countrywide review councils in 2009 and emerged the Best Council in the Northern Region in the same year, bringing a trophy from a WITS Convention in Francistown.

SPTC also got position three at the national level in Gaborone. In addition, SPTC got position two in 2010 in a review of Chief Executives. 'I am in charge of managing your brains and it is a tough job,' Matenge said.

'I expect all of you to play your role. Your performance must improve this year, but we cannot have a productive council if we still have people who are not productive hiding behind others.'

He said there should be communication and that relationships must exist because people could not work together unless they were a team. While employees were required to fill the Performance Development Plan (PDP) because the document is needed by DPSM, some officers who have not filled it, he added.

Matenge revealed that the council was currently working on its strategic plan which should be ready by April.

The Mayor, Lekang Mukokomani, told the same staff meeting that council employees had an obligation to serve the community of Selebi-Phikwe well and that providing good customer service was not negotiable.

He advised the employees to take stock of themselves and learn from their mistakes and that the challenge was finding a better way of doing things.

'We must discard the old ways of doing things,' the Mayor said. 'It is time to find better ways to improve service delivery.'

He warned lazy employees that he would take action against them.