Sicelo Dladla

Sicelo Dladla

KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele yesterday expressed concern at the poor service delivery the public was receiving from the department of home affairs in Durban.

"We are going to address the matter with the managers concerned," Lumka Lubisi, the acting chief director of service delivery improvement in the office of the premier, said.

She said Ndebele was touched when he arrived at the home affairs office at Umgeni Road and found people standing in long queues for hours.

"Some offices were locked because officials had taken lunch.

"It is really unacceptable that officials would lock up their offices for an hour while people are unattended," Lubisi said.

Accompanied by KwaZulu-Natal director-general Kwazi Mbanjwa and other senior government officials, Ndebele also visited CR Swart police station.

"The premier was equally concerned that officials were not wearing their name tags," Lubisi said.

"Our policy is that government employees must always wear them all the time they are at work and this was not the case at the police station," she said.

Ndebele discussed this concern with station commissioner Bala Naidoo who promised to address it, she said.

Ndebele's inspections were part of his unannounced visits to various government departments in the province during public service week.

Lubisi said the unannounced visits formed part of ongoing efforts by the provincial government to ensure higher levels of functioning, professionalism and productivity among public servants.

"These visits also assist senior management in the province with regards to service delivery assessments, thereby enabling them to make sound administrative decisions and constructive recommendations to correct service delivery bottlenecks," she said.

Ndebele's visits followed similar visits on Tuesday by Mbanjwa and senior government officials to several state institutions in Durban, including the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, the Goble Road traffic inspectorate and the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital.