Various organisations recently marched to Nersa and the Union Buildings unhappy with load shedding and high electricity costs. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/African News Agency (ANA)
At various levels of government, we have lazy and stupid officials who were appointed. Getting the job and doing the job properly is, however, two different issues and some officials cost taxpayers billions with wastage.
This wastage is filed away, forgotten and the stupidity is allowed to continue.
For example, years ago I heard of a situation where someone abused illegal drugs and developed a mental disorder and needed to be medically boarded. When a person is ill and requires treatment through no fault of his/her own, it is vital we support them.
However, when you are guilty of inflicting harm upon yourself, why must taxpayers pay the financial cost of your decision to use illegal drugs?
It is easy to say such examples are rare, but in truth, we are wasting billions on state employees who are rarely available or simply just do not add value for whatever reason.
Firing a civil servant is rare, and when you have a lazy or stupid worker in play, service delivery becomes a theoretical exercise.
Since politicians are re-elected every five years, I suggest all officials should have five-year contracts.
Since service delivery is failing in 80% of municipalities, and so few government departments can/ have attained clean audits, can service delivery/corruption get worse?
When you have a lazy official and he/she has access to costly computers, that person will probably Google rubbish or play games, and the technology serves no purpose.
In truth, the government is spending billions of taxpayer money to pay staff and buy equipment that does not translate into service delivery.
This is why so many people are protesting across the nation.
For example, what is the value of paying instalments on a vehicle that does not drive? The aim of a vehicle is to transport. Equally, the purpose of officials is to add value to real service delivery.
The consequences of appointing stupidity, laziness and corruption, etc, have created a situation in which millions of people cannot access affordable electricity and clean water. It is not theoretical, it’s real.
* Cllr Yagyah Adams, Cape Muslim Congress.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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