NORTH-WEST MEC SETS SIGHTS ON CLEAN AUDIT AND STRONGER COMMUNITY IMPACT

By DSD News

• MEC Basetsana Sussana Dantjie has challenged the Department of Social Development in theNorth-West to achieve a clean audit in the upcoming financial year.
• Senior managers have been urged to take full responsibility for departmental performance and address the root causes of underperformance.
• The department’s Annual Performance Plan will be strengthened to align with the National Development Plan and the Medium-Term Development Plan to improve services to vulnerable communities.

North-West MEC for Social Development, Basetsana Sussana Dantjie, has called on the department to work towards achieving a clean audit in the upcoming financial year while strengthening the impact of its services on vulnerable communities.

The MEC made the call while addressing senior management during the Department of Social Development’s three-day strategic planning lekgotla currently underway in Klerksdorp.
Dantjie noted that the department has seen notable progress during the current financial year, highlighting “pockets of excellence” within several programmes. She further stressed the need for the department to strengthen its initiatives to ensure these advancements deliver measurable benefits to communities.

“There have been pockets of excellence, but we need to crack our mandate on the development of our communities fully,” she said. “As a department, we are duty-bound to contribute meaningfully to the betterment of those who rely on our services.”
The MEC stressed that the department must ensure its plans and programmes align with national development priorities. She highlighted the importance of aligning the Annual Performance Plan (APP) with the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Medium-Term Development Plan, which guide government’s broader development agenda.

Dantjie also urged senior managers to take full accountability for their respective units’ performance. She encouraged them to interrogate the underlying causes of underperformance thoroughly and to implement corrective measures where necessary.

“You must be accountable and take corrective measures,” she told managers. “Every post that you occupy calls on you to take full responsibility and account for what you signed up for. It cannot be acceptable for senior managers to hide behind delegation when immediate responses are required.”
The MEC further cautioned against unnecessary deviations from planned targets, emphasising that avoidable underperformance should not be tolerated.

“There should be no deviations from targets where it is unnecessary. Avoidable deviations and underperformance should find no space in our plans,” she said.
Dantjie emphasised that the resolutions emerging from the strategic planning session will be binding for all employees within the department and must be incorporated into the key performance areas of staff work plans.

The Department of Social Development’s strategic planning lekgotla is expected to conclude on Thursday.