Pappas to cut down bloated KZN govt workforce if DA comes to power
Christopher Pappas is hoping to be the first DA premier of KwaZulu-Natal when the country holds national and provincial elections next year. He’s promising sweeping changes across key departments should he be voted into power.
DURBAN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has set its eyes on the KwaZulu-Natal government’s workforce, seeking to cut out unskilled labour should it come into power.
Its premier candidate, Christopher Pappas, during a wide-ranging sit down with Eyewitness News, described the province’s staff compliment as bloated.
Pappas is hoping to be the first DA premier of KwaZulu-Natal when the country holds national and provincial elections next year.
He’s promising sweeping changes across key departments should he be voted into power.
Pappas will lean on his experience as uMgeni mayor, should he find himself in KwaZulu-Natal’s corridors of power.
This saw him launching an audit into the skills and qualifications of the municipality’s labour force.
Pappas said that while the move was not popular, it eventually helped in turning around uMgeni, making it one of the best-run municipalities in the country.
He’s added that while good policies are crucial, they must be accompanied by competent staffers.
"So cadre deployment has really, and it's one the biggest challenges that we face in uMgeni, is to try and create the mechanisms of delivery so you can have great policy and great plans but the mechanisms of delivery is the government officials. So that's a big problem we have, an incapable state."
President Cyril Ramaphosa has also raised concerns over the country’s bloated departments, however, there’s been little to no action on attempts to see a trimmer and more optimal workforce in government.
