Western Cape Government honours employees who go above and beyond | Western Cape Government

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Western Cape Government honours employees who go above and beyond

5 December 2019

The Western Cape Government held its Service Excellence awards last night- where public servants who embody the culture of excellence, accountability and responsibility were honored.

The awards, introduced in 2015, are hosted annually by the Premier of the Western Cape.

Premier Winde said: “As a government, we have spent the past ten years cementing a track record as a capable state. We are known for our clean governance, topping the Auditor-General’s rankings for clean audits again this year. But being a caring government that is working to meet the needs of its residents, is about more than achieving good numbers. It is about values like honesty, trust, hard work, commitment and respect.”

Awards are made to individuals and teams in ten categories including Best Frontline Service Delivery employee, Best Public Service Leader, Best Public Service Innovator (individual and team), and the Best Ethics Department. Two new categories for Best Public Service Leader for middle management public service employees, and Best Back Office Service Delivery Employee were also added this year.

Premier Winde said: “I was pleased to see a strong representation from the Departments of Health and Education among the winners, as these are the frontline services which the majority of Western Cape residents would interact with. However, we also saw a strong showing from projects in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Agriculture, and Economic Development and Tourism which assures me that residents interacting with the Western Cape Government, are exposed to service excellence.”

The winner of the Batho Pele Public Servant award was David Arendorf, from the Department of Health. A general assistant at the Symphony Way Community Day Centre, his duties include general cleaning work such as mopping, removing waste bins and keeping entrances tidy. He has however taken on many more additional tasks including checking oxygen tanks and replacing the empty ones, testing the generators weekly, handyman tasks and he has also volunteered to be trained to maintain the borehole.

 “Mr Arendorf is the epitome of going the extra mile- from taking on additional tasks to helping out his colleagues. He also helped the facility save R1.7 million in municipal fees by conscientiously checking the water meter reading. It emerged that the facility was being billed on a meter estimate, and thanks to his efforts, they received a credit for the excess payments last year. We can all learn from his dedication to his work,” Premier Winde said.

 “I was also especially pleased to see that the top public service innovator award went to someone from the Department of the Premier; Mogamat Samir Hartley. He has been instrumental in helping us to develop the systems which allow us to run a seamless First Thursday event every month. As a government, we need to be innovating and finding new ways of service delivery and Mr Hartley, and the Mitchell’s Plain Community Based Care Team from the Department of Health who walked away with the team award for innovation, are examples of how this can be done.”

Media Enquiries: 

Bianca Capazorio

Spokesperson for Premier Alan Winde

Tel: 021 483 5004

Cell: 072 372 7044

Email: bianca.capazorio@westerncape.gov.za