SA needs to follow Batho Pele principles

Taxpayers’ money is being squandered, writes Mohamed Saeed from Pietermaritzburg.

On Saturday at our educational management and leadership lectures, the lecturer discussed the Batho Pele White Paper. The aim of the paper is to transform the public service into an efficient and cost-effective, people-centred organisation.

Value for money is one of the eight Batho Pele principles. Through this principle, government departments are required to find creative ways to simplify procedures, eliminate wasteful expenditure and inefficiency and use state resources wisely and economically.

Immediately, my mind wondered to the regular news headlines we read regarding corruption or unnecessary high expenses at some government departments.

Amid the high levels of homelessness, unemployment and poverty in South Africa, corruption and tender-related fraud are absolutely obscene and go against the principles of the Batho Pele paper.

It is deeply offensive and infuriating to allow such mind-boggling sums of taxpayers’ money to be squandered in these days of austerity, when resources are limited and important services like quality education need to be accessible to all.

Unfortunately, I notice this trend of wasteful and unnecessary expenditure is not only limited to government.

Even at community level, leaders are wasting scarce public resources.

Would we sanction it, for one moment, that our money and resources be so easily wasted?