Minister presents lecture on campus

Potchefstroom - It was a huge honour for a number of post-graduate students at the North-West University’s Potchefstroom Campus when the minister of Public Service and Administration, Mr Roy Padayachie, visited the campus to present a lecture.

According to Prof André Duvenhage, director of the focus area Social Transformation, 100 post-graduate students from various curriculums in governance and Transformation, Disaster Management, Water Studies, Public Management and Corporate Social Responsibility attended the lecture.

During his lecture Mr Padayachie said about 300 ghost positions for teachers were created in the Limpopo Education Department.

He said corruption is rife in South Africa and certain core values that were strived after in the fight for freedom were lost since 1994. "You don't need to steal from the state or from your neighbour to be prosperous. We shouldn’t take advantage of each
other or support systems that do it; we have a collective responsibility to establish the correct value systems."

Padayachie reckons the next revolution that faces South Africa is to make public service delivery more effective. According to the minister, universities not only play a crucial role in training people in skills that are necessary for the country, but also in doing research that can help to establish a state that can meet the needs of a country. "We have to develop mechanisms to, amongst others, eliminate poverty and inequalities."

According to the minister there is a tendency to rather appoint people with the best skills at national government level. "It’s necessary that the levels of skill must be increased at local government levels."

The minister of Public Service and Administration,Mr Roy Padayachie, meets with the rector of the NWU's Potchefstroom Campus, Prof Herman van Schalkwyk
PHOTO: Susan Cilliers/BEELD

Published by: Pertunia Thulo