The provincial government decided to impose a moratorium on the recruitment of more personnel.

The reasons sound valid. They stated that their wage bill is extremely high and they would rather channel money into service delivery, which is good.

Public servants enjoy some of the best benefits under the sun. Some are not so productive as to justify the high earnings and benefits they enjoy.

It is no hidden fact that some entered the public service through nepotism, cadre deployment and other corruptible manners.

One is left wondering where passion has evaporated to when you still come across some rude public servants, and to make matters worse, lazy ones at that.

It is also no secret that some of them cannot even operate a simple computer, while others can only play games.

It is not an unusual sight, therefore, to enter a public service institution and being met with extreme silence with most glued to their screens, playing games, while only a handful are glued to work-related matters.

A word of caution though to the powers that be. There should be a noticeable improvement in the rate of service delivery compared to the snail’s pace that communities are experiencing at the moment.

Last week we were surprised at the high attendance of community members at the EFF’s outreach programmes in different areas in the Lowveld, which concluded at Masoyi Stadium over the weekend. This is significant, politically speaking.

If the EFF has been able to attract such a high number of people to community halls and rallies, surely that says something about the support base that the ruling party still thinks it commands.

Disgruntlement reigns in communities, hence the dwindling support during rallies and community meetings.

All of this is taking place during a hectic time when parties have embarked on campaigns for the local government elections in 2016.

All should tread cautiously because the people have awoken from their deep sleep – who knows, they may sway their support at the ballot box.

Time will tell.