Fridays are a write-off

Fridays are the worst days on which to expect public servants to do their work, the Gauteng MEC for infrastructure development, Qedani Mahlangu, says.

She told the portfolio committee on infrastructure development this week that the government was not getting value for money from its workforce.

"We're spending so much money [on wages] but the value we get, in my view - and this is something the government as a whole needs to look at - leaves much to be desired."

It seemed it was now a "culture" that people did not work on Fridays, she said.

Mahlangu took a swipe at senior government managers who took "two-hour lunches" and had "meetings" away from the office.

"I don't know what the level of productivity is [among civil servants] but we're spending close to half a billion rand on salaries and yet we are not getting the kind of work we should be getting.

"If you want quality spending in the public sector, you are going to have to tease out every quality employee to get the best results," Mahlangu said.

The annual report of her department showed that it spent nearly R449-million of its R1.4-billion budget for the 2012-2013 financial year but achieved only 40% of its targets.

In its analysis of the annual report, the portfolio committee noted "a slight over-expenditure" on compensation of employees.

"Though it is not a serious over-expenditure, what is concerning is that the department's vacancy rate during the period under review stood at 42.7%," the committee said.

"The department has 3454 [approved] posts but the staff complement stands at 1978."

Filling the department's vacancies would not be easy, admitted Mahlangu: "We are still fishing for a chief financial officer.

"People tell me that they don't want to come to [the department] because there are many tenders around. They say it is a dangerous place."

The department was unable to generate significant revenue from its portfolio of 24000 properties, managing to rake in only R15-million in a year.

According to its annual report, the department of infrastructure development:

Verified and registered only 1224 properties;

Vested only 158 properties of a target of 600;

Leased out only 16 provincial properties instead of the annual target of 150; and

Leased out only 14 residential properties instead of 100.

The report also revealed that 499 of the department's buildings were in a poor state of repair and 1228 in an "average" state.