Picture: North West MEC for Social Development, Sussana Dantjie

By OBAKENG MAJE

11 March 2026 – North West MEC for Social Development, Sussana Dantjie has challenged her department to achieve a clean audit at the end of the upcoming financial year. Dantjie, addressing management at the departmental strategic lekgotla in Klerksdorp has been impressed by the improvement registered in the current financial year.

“There have been pockets of excellence, but we need to fully crack our mandate on development of our communities. We are duty-bound to contribute meaningfully to the betterment of those who rely on our services.  

“We ought to be having a visible impact on the lives of the people of the province. We need to be intentional about improving the lives of the vulnerable in our communities. Therefore, we must ensure that our annual performance plan (APP) is aligned to government priorities as guided by the National Development Plan as well as the medium-term development plan,” she said.

Dantjie further appealed to senior managers to delve deep into the real reasons for any underperformance.  She added that they must be accountable and take correctional measures.  

“We urge the managers never to delegate accountability. Every post that you occupy calls on you to take full responsibility and account for what you signed up for. It cannot be acceptable for senior managers to hide under delegating, when we need immediate responses.

“The three-day lekgotla that there should be no deviations on targets that it was unnecessary to deviate on. Avoidable deviations and underperformance should find no space in our plans. The outcomes of this session are binding to all employees of the department,” said Dantjie.  

She said when they get back to their workstation, they should make sure that these are part of key performance areas in the work plans of each employee. Dantjie said her department of social development’s strategic planning lekgotla will end on Thursday.

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