‘Batho Pele’ far behind you in any state queue

Johannesburg- There’s nothing as frustrating as going to a government department, police station, hospital or municipality – or any of the many spaces for interacting with public officials to access basic services or documents.

It is often in these spaces that we are reminded that we are not at the centre of service delivery.


Without taking away from the many public servants who do their jobs with diligence and humility, it is important that we talk about those who abuse their position of power behind public service desks.

Power here does not only refer to seniority, but the many dynamics at play when a member of the public is at the mercy of the conduct of a public official while trying to access public services.

Whether you are trying to renew a licence, certify documents, enquire about a municipal bill that is in a shambles, report a case to the police, apply or renew a passport, you are at the behest of the official who is entrusted with providing that service.

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Sometimes your fate lies in the hands of whoever is tasked with ensuring that the office is closed at 4.30pm sharp. And not all of them understand the meaning of “public service”.

It does not matter whether you have been in the queue for three hours, if a decision was taken that day that everyone from a certain point must come back tomorrow, who are you to argue? Or when the server is down on a Monday afternoon or on pay day?

Whoever came up with the idea that the first thing that the public must see when they enter a public office or building are the politicians in charge of those department is a sadist. Imagine being in a queue for hours waiting to have your number called, while the smiling portraits of the president, deputy president, the minister of that department and the deputy minister stare at you.

Meanwhile, more than half of the chairs behind the glass screens stand empty while those who are in theirs treat you like they are doing you a favour by doing their jobs.

It would be better to have those smiling portraits of politicians replaced by the “Batho Pele” principles to remind the public of the guidelines that should inform how public servants must behave in their places of work – and for public servants to be reminded who they are there to serve.

If there are portraits that we must look at, it must be of the people who have the power to speed up the queue and their contact numbers if the queue does not move as fast as it should.

Phumla Mkize.

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