Premier Zille Hosts Annual Service Excellence Awards

Premier Helen Zille hosted the province’s annual Service Excellence Awards on Monday.

The ceremony is an opportunity for the Premier and broader public to acknowledge outstanding performances from public service professionals in the Western Cape Government.

Delivering the keynote address, Premier Zille said: “As we take a moment to recognise the reward hard work and dedication of our colleagues, it is also a good occasion to evaluate our progress as a government.”

“The Western Cape unemployment rate is at 20.7%, compared to 27.7% nationally. We are also 12 percentage points lower than the national average on the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes discourage work-seekers. While there is still much to be done, we have worked hard to facilitate a conducive environment for businesses to operate and to encourage business confidence in our province.”

“We have also led in our audit result outcomes with a notable 80 percent of Western Cape municipalities achieving clean audit opinions in 2015/16, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 18 percent and the Eastern Cape with 16 percent.”

“We remain committed to being the best run regional government in the world. This means we have to continue working hard to find innovative ways to deliver quality essential services amidst the various socio-economic challenges we face,” said Premier Zille.

Some of the category winners in the 2017 awards include:

• Gladys Martin-Adonis (Mitchells Plain Community Health Centre, Department of Health): Gold Award for Best Frontline Public Service Employee
• The Department of Community Safety: Gold Award for the Best Implemented Programme/Project
• Jo-Ann Johnston (Department of Economic Development and Tourism): Gold Award for the Best Public Service leader
• Netembeko Napakade (Gugulethu Community Health Centre, Department of Health): Gold Award for Best overall Batho Pele (Citizen-Centric) Public Servant
• MOD Year Beyond (Department of the Premier): Silver Award for Best Public Service Innovator (Team/Project)

“We are determined to continue making progress, and to better the lives of the residents we serve. We are truly better together,” Premier Zille said.

Please note: pictures are available on request.