Sowetan

Deputy speaker puts his mouth where his degrees are

Two masters in a year no small feat for Masoga

- By Zoë Mahopo

Obtaining two masters degrees in one year brought pride for the deputy speaker of Limpopo’s legislatur­e, but his research revealed a worrying culture among his colleagues.

Lehlogonol­o Masoga, 41, spoke to Sowetan recently after being conferred with a second masters degree within two months.

Masoga graduated with a masters in developmen­tal studies at the University of Limpopo (UL) during Septem- which was followed by a masters of science in leadership from Leeds Beckett University in the UK during October.

For his second degree, Masoga researched the topic “The Effectiven­ess of Performanc­e Management Systems” using the provincial legislatur­e as a case study.

Masoga said his findings revealed that public servants felt entitled to performanc­e bonuses regardless of whether they performed well or not.

He said the performanc­e management systems were also found to be dysfunctio­nal.

“It got me very worried because employees have a perception that performanc­e management reward is more of an entitlemen­t to them irrespecti­ve of the output in performing their work,” Masoga said.

His research was done through a survey and interviews involving 106 employees at the legislatur­e in both managerial and nonmanager­ial positions.

Masoga said there was a need to change the culture [of work] among public servants.

“Until such time that you change the work ethic and the culture within the public service you will not win the battle against a sense of entitlemen­t by civil servants,” he said.

Born in Jane Furse in Sekhukhune, Masoga has held various leadership positions including being the former MEC for transport and the provincial ANCYL deputy chairman. Masoga plans on pursing a PhD degree next year. He said graduating with his first masters degree was a proud moment. “I was pretty excited about completing my master’s degree with the University of Limpopo.”

The father of four said juggling work, family and his studies was not easy as he had to travel to Swaziland to attend contact classes.

“I have over time come to appreciate that the argument that there is no time to study when you are working and when your are a parent is actually baseless,” Masoga said.

On education costs, Masoga said “free education is a desirable thing and our government has to work very hard to realise it”.

 ?? / ELIJAR MUSHIANA ?? Deputy speaker in the Limpopo legislatur­e Lehlogonol­o Masoga speaks on the importance of education after acquiring his second masters degree in one year.
/ ELIJAR MUSHIANA Deputy speaker in the Limpopo legislatur­e Lehlogonol­o Masoga speaks on the importance of education after acquiring his second masters degree in one year.

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