The Eastern Cape government has rewarded provincial public servants for their resilience and bravery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The public servants were recognised during an awards ceremony in East London on Thursday.
The “first line of duty workers” were lauded for preserving the Batho Pele principle. The provincial government says these awards will promote excellence.
The pandemic has brought out the best from the civil servants. Innovation and creativity came to the fore from government workers dealing with the pandemic.
The Provincial Health Department was the biggest winner in these awards.
Butterworth Hospital CEO, Nontuthuzelo Jadezweni, is one of many health workers, who received an award. She was recognised for the best-implemented project.
Jadezweni says when a shortage of PPE hit, they had to produce their own.
“If you see in theater, they use green towels to cover the parts of the patients during operations. Those long clothes are like long sheets. What we did, we felt that the material is the same as the ones to make gowns; that is PPE gown. We took those and looked for a factory in Butterworth and we had to issue travelling permits to the staff who helped us. We took those to the local factory and gave them the sample of the gown.”
Jadazweni adds that they managed to avert disaster as drought in the area continues to deepen. She says they ensured water security to keep the hospital operational.
“That was one of the experiences we went through – the shortage of water, but fortunately, our infrastructure came through for us during such times.”
The Department of Rural Development also scooped an award for innovation. The department produced its own sanitizer.
Acting Chief Director of the department, Dr Thembekazi Silwana says they worked with other institutions of higher learning.
“(The department) has got a collaboration with all the institutions in the Eastern Cape. What we did was to sit down and utilize what is in our collaborations. One of the universities we contacted was Rhodes University, the faculty of pharmacy. We had to utilise that collaboration to work together in such a way that we meet the regulations of the pharmaceutical body and also, we meet the regulation of the World Health Organisation.”
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane says the awards will encourage workers to be the best and promote growth.
“Government has made money (available) for skills development, for capacity building. The issue is to identify potential, create a career path in government. Eight hours at work can’t be a small thing and we’ve got to make that workplace an exciting space. We are trying to create a conducive environment with this.”
The pandemic proved the principle of putting people’s first, Batho Pele, is still alive. The initiative was introduced when Nelson Mandela was still President.
