Bernard Petlane is the head of the Capex wing of the health facilities of the Gauteng department of infrastructure development
The lure of lucrative salaries by the private sector makes it a major challenge for government departments to attract and retain the much-needed engineering skills.
So says acting deputy-director general Bernard Petlane, who heads the Capex wing of the health facilities of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development.
With only three months into his acting post, Petlane, who is an electrical engineer by training, is in charge of 300 clinics as well as 40 hospitals and academic hospitals strewn across the province.
With such a large number of national assets under his control, you may wonder how he is coping, as he has a further 95 active projects under construction, which include the R2-billion Lillian Ngoyi Hospital, opposite the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto.
The health facilities of the department are divided into three distinct wings, namely the maintenance wing, Capex wing, and engineering services. It is no doubt a daunting task, but one Petlane is prepared to tackle head-on. What are engineers for if they cannot fathom solutions to our ever-increasing challenges? Armed with vast experience gained in the private sector, Petlane is not about to become a shrinking violet in his new role. After all, he has been with the department for the past three years and is now well versed on the critical demands of his department.
There are six corridors in Gauteng, he explains. These are Tshwane, Sedibeng, Ekurhuleni, Central Gauteng, Western Gauteng and Soweto. Of these, each region has its own directors and a staff of about 500. Overall, maintenance staff in the province amount to 2 000 people, while the staff complement of engineers is 60.
To ensure a seamless flow of activity, all the directors from the various regions meet every Wednesday to “make sure everything is in order, “says Petlane.
He adds that with proper systems in place, they are able to eliminate surprises and breakdowns, reduce costs, and tackle negatives that can impact on the reputation of the department. But more than anything else, it is his wish to implement maintenance practices that are proactive rather than reactive.
Of concern, however, is that it takes time to implement software systems, “sometimes two to three years. Its no overnight success,” he adds.
Given that public service has more challenges than the private sector, something Petlane has grudgingly come to accept, his department is faced with a situation where technical information and drawings are sometimes hard to come by. In some instances they have been unable to react to an emergency because of the missing information.
The advent of democracy in 1994 did not help matters as some archival materials were allegedly shredded. In one instance, a building in Pretoria housing archives was burnt down with all the material still inside. There are no easy solutions, but through Petlane’s ingenuity he’s been able to overcome some of the challenges by conferring with older people in the system.
‘’Some of these people may not be occupying senior positions, but you will be amazed at how much they know about the department’s work and where certain documents have been kept,” he says. “Just by simply asking I have been able to obtain some documents which have been wrongfully archived,” he said.
It may well be early days for Petlane, but with dogged determination he says problems are slowly fading away — this can only be a boon for the department in delivering on its constitutional imperatives.
Infrastructure maintenance is key to unlocking economic potential
It was built 79 years ago and it’s still the first point of call for primary health care for the people of Orlando East and its surrounds. But Orlando Clinic in the historic township of Soweto is faced with the challenge of old and crumbling infrastructure. Ceilings, generators, toilets and electrical wiring are in dire need of maintenance. This is the case with many public buildings in Gauteng, which have for years not been maintained adequately. The Gauteng department of infrastructure development (GDID) is championing a project to address the infrastructure maintenance backlog plaguing public facilities.
“That [maintenance] is where as government we have been lagging behind. The drive has been on new construction, new infrastructure delivery and maintenance has been compromised in the main. Some of our schools and health facilities have really deteriorated,” says GDID head of department Bethuel Netshiswinzhe.
He said the approach to maintenance has been largely reactive and conducted in piecemeal fashion, but all this is about to change.
“We need to get to a point where when it comes to maintenance we invest more energy in preventative maintenance. We don’t need to wait for things to break,” says Netshiswinzhe.
GDID MEC Jacob Mamabolo, who recently launched the Maintenance Crack Team — a pilot project at Orlando Clinic — believes maintenance will have positive spinoffs for the economy. The Maintenance Crack Team is already hard at work revitalising the clinic, which was built in 1937 and has not been changed much since, despite the significant population growth in the area over the years.
“If we could raise the bar on maintenance we could create more jobs,” says Mamobolo. Mamabolo is excited about the GDID’s Academy of Excellence, which will be completed early next year. The Johannesburg-based academy will help train artisans and prepare them for the rigours of maintaining public facilities and government property. They will also be empowered to venture out on their own as skilled entrepreneurs.
Mamabolo says Expanded Public Works Programme volunteers and those already participating in government programmes such as learnerships and internships will benefit from the academy. “We have to got to correctly balance infrastructure delivery with [its] maintenance. This is a new narrative that I want to pursue: elevating maintenance to the same strategic level as the building of infrastructure. Maintenance is not a ‘by the way’ issue, it is a strategic thing that can turn the economy around.”
Settling up with suppliers
The MEC for the Gauteng department of infrastructure development (GDID) is gunning for lazy and corrupt civil servants who frustrate the operations of companies that do business with the department by failing to pay timeously for services rendered.
“Why we don’t pay people in 30 days is that officials want to be bribed to process invoices. We need to fight corruption without fear or favour. Officials are literally sleeping on the job with people’s invoices,” Mamabolo told the Mail & Guardian in an interview.
Responding to a question on whether the recently launched Maintenance Crack Team pilot project would empower small black-owned businesses in Orlando, Soweto recently, Mamabolo reiterated his commitment to the payment within 30 days principle.
“It is not an option. It is what we must do. We need to empower and pay within 30 days,” he said.
Although Mamabolo believes that arresting and blacklisting of individuals is not the only way to fight corruption, he said the GDID will be introducing tough measures against ineffective government employees who prolong the non-payment of service providers.
Last month, in an effort to address the challenge Mamabolo launched the 30 Days Payment Query E-mail project.
Through the project, service providers are able to directly communicate their frustrations with Mamabolo.
He said the project “is part of ensuring accountability and administrative justice by providing the executive authority of the department with information on unfair treatment of suppliers.”
Mamabolo has also tasked a special team of officials, which will report directly to the chief financial officer and the head of department to deal with the queries.
Additional stories by Lucas Ledwaba