The shocking figures of departmental vacancies for senior management positions and skilled officials in Mpumalanga were released this week in the Provincial Legislature's 2021/22 annual reports.
It seems that the ANC government would rather have Affirmative Action (AA) paralyse the province's public service than to appoint competent managers.
The large number of vacancies for senior management and support services positions is alarming.
The 2020/21 annual reports of all the departments indicate that the number of appointments for the abovementioned positions have gradually, and in some cases drastically, declined.
There are too many government departments and entities without chief executives, or where the position is filled by a temporary appointment.
The Department of Health, Community Safety, and Economic Development and Tourism have not had a Head of Department for months. It brings about underperformance in all spheres of government.
At the Department of Community Safety, 11 out of 28 management positions are currently vacant.
This also has a snowball effect on filling essential positions, like medical personnel and police officers.
According to the South African Police Service's 2020/21 annual report, Mpumalanga's police force has only 9 516 personnel, which is a mere 52,5% of what is needed.
Additionally, the Department of Health needs another 521 medical doctors.
Yesterday during a question-and-reply session in the Legislature, FF Plus in Mpumalanga expressed its concern about the large number of unfilled critical vacancies in government departments. The FF Plus demands that critical vacancies must be filled seeing as service delivery cannot take place without the required personnel.
The FF Plus maintains its stance that positions must be filled with the best candidates to turn dysfunctional departments around for the public's benefit.
It is crucial to do away with Affirmative Action (AA) and cadre deployment.
The FF Plus will continue to hold these departments accountable for maladministration and poor service delivery.
Mpumalanga deserves better than the ANC.
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