Bongi Ka Dlamini of Ermelo writes:
Please allow me to praise a woman I have come to admire greatly. She is our director general in the Mpumalanga Office of the Premier, Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize. I had not met her until recently.
I attended a meeting with the front-line officials in the public sector, arranged by the minister of the public service and administration, a continuation of the public-service month engagements the department has scheduled in all provinces.
It brought together over 600 front-line, officials across the public sector in the province. Government departments such as education, health, correctional services, social development, the municipalities and SAPS, to name but a few, were represented. Dr Mkhize was the programme director for the day.
My assumptions about her and her reputation on her brilliance and respected work ethic were proved correct. She embodies a magnificent presence which, while commanding respect, is centred on a profound passion for the improvement of the lives of the people we serve.
She is an intelligent, strategic and bold woman occupying an unusual position for women in the public sector. This alone attests that there are women of such astounding and highly prestigious calibre in our time.
We need more such engagements at which we share our best practices and also voice the concerns and challenges public servants face in the execution of their duties, especially the front-line officers who come into contact with members of the public on a daily basis.
Such meetings should be held as regularly as possible and monitoring should be a continual process. In that way, I believe we can strike a balance between the well-being of the public servants and improved service delivery.
I applaud the premier for trusting her skill and efficiency by appointing her in that position.
