“Teamwork and coordination of government programmes, a mandatory tactical machinery required in the workplace,” HOD Majola
Pictured above are senior government officials and representatives of public entities who attended a meeting
ETHEKWINI: The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works recently hosted a successful provincial infrastructure meeting.
A meeting convened on Tuesday, 16 April 2024 at the Archie Gumede Conference Centre in Mayville was held in close collaboration with other provincial government departments and relevant public entities. This critical engagement presented a platform for senior government officials and stakeholders to deliberate on a wide range of infrastructure related issues.
A plethora of issues were ventilated on the day’s discussion table ranging from updated reports highlighting progress on specific infrastructure projects, project status, location, expenditure, the prescribed timelines versus the initially allocated timeframes.
On the same breadth, the meeting also saw lengthy discussions around reporting, auditing, proper co-ordination of catalytic government projects with a special emphasis on infrastructure auditing and monitoring tools.
The Head of Department, Mr Sboniso Majola in his capacity as the Chairperson of the meeting, reflected on crucial points behind creation of such a critical platform for high-level engagements. He cited teamwork and coordination of government programmes as the mandatory tactical machinery required in the workplace.
“We are here to discuss infrastructure matters, share our experiences and look at what we can do better as a team to ensure we have a proper and coordinated reporting system,” said Mr. Majola. As he indicated that, it is important to have an idea of what is happening on the ground in terms of infrastructure projects, he emphasized on the importance of improving the reporting systems.
He reminded attendees that, their responsibility is also of an advisory role to their principals; “There are catalytic projects which are rendered or implemented by different government departments, private sector and public entities which should be reported on consistently. We need to clearly specify job opportunities created through these projects and come up with creative ideas on how we can shape the economy of this Province,” he said.
The meeting received highly informative updates on the eThekwini catalytic projects followed by a detailed presentation on the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone’s (RBIDZ) infrastructure projects, a public entity which plies its trade under the auspices of the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs.
Ultimately, a comprehensive presentation on infrastructure catalytic projects was made by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works as the main host of the programme. This presented an opportunity for all stakeholders to deliberate on each presentation.
The Chairperson advised that, meetings of this nature are necessary to expedite infrastructure service delivery, identify challenges and progress made while making recommendations on matters relating to the implementation of all infrastructure projects in the Province.
Lastly, he urged all public entities in attendance to start working on their presentations to be tabled during the next infrastructure meeting scheduled for May 2024.
