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iNhouse NEWS Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Botswana Public Service College Inaugurates a Mediator By Goitseone Oaitse

As there is a Tswana proverb that goes,

“Ntwakgolo ke ya molomo’’ the Botswana

Public Service College (BPSC) saw it fit to

drive this notion and institutionalise a

mediator in the ‘’kgotla’’ for facilitation in

conflict resolution on social issues at the

College to build a stronger team ; that has a

common understanding about principles

Volume 3

July 2015

IN THIS ISSUE

Botswana at the UN Public Service Forum DPSM Restructures JICA brings more volun-teers Community Service Day Staff Movements

and values that govern the staff.

BPSC inaugurated Mr Ditshoto

Mangadi from Ratholo village as

their mediator. Mr Mangadi

joined the College as a Driver

some years ago.

His inauguration as a mediator

took place on the 12th of June

and was held in the BPSC Kgotla

which is modelled around the tra-

ditional Kgotla set up complete

with mud house, (rantafole) deco-

rated with traditional accessories

like woven baskets.

Giving the keynote address Bat-

lokwa Kgosi, Puso Gaborone ap-

plauded the College in this work,

citing that, this was an indication

that Setswana culture was still

relevant in today’s times and that

is was important to preserve it in

this manner.

Speaking about the work of the

mediator, Kgosi Gaborone high-

lighted that some disputes at the

work place could be solved at a

social level without being passed

to senior management for action.

He noted that being a mediator

is a challenging task because

one encounters people from dif-

ferent backgrounds, culture, in-

terests and attitudes hence the

necessity of wisdom in settling

disputes.

He pleaded with the staff to give

the mediator support and respect

to enable him to perform his du-

ties satisfactorily. He maintained

that conflict tends to throw a

team off of its focus, taking teams

off track in achieving their goals

and objectives.

Mediator Ditshoto Mangadi (sitting) and Kgosi Puso Gaborone ( far right) at the inauguration

ceremony at the College Kgotla.

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Inauguration of Mediator (from page 1)

The mediator was handed a chair, a walking stick and a hat to

use when mediating. This event was spiced up by choir songs

traditional dance and poems.For her part DPSM’S Director Ms

Ruth Maphorisa stressed that one of the 2016 vision pillar is to

have a united and proud nation and that this event had shown

that BPSC had embraced it.

Volume 3

July 2015

She said that BPSC as training institution has provided a founda-

tion for the eradication of social problems in the workplace and

hastening service delivery. The Director cited team work, good

communication lines and a desire for stability as agents of a strong

achieving culture.

DPSM Community Service Day

By Goitseone Oaitse

Available courses offered by the

Centre, include textile, horticul-

ture, leather works as well as

bee keeping, poultry and non-

formal education.

Thoti Traditional Troupe embracing the Mediator inauguration at the College

The Directorate of Public Ser-

vice Management donated gar-

den tools including rakes,

spades, digging forks and other

goods amounting to P3530.05 to

Thuto Boswa Rehabiltation Cen-

ter in Ramotswa, during the

community service day held on

the 26th of June 2015. Thuto

Boswa is a centre for people liv-

ing with disability. It offers a cre-

ative, stimulating learning and

development environment for

people living with various disa-

bilities over the age of 16 years.

DID YOU KNOW?

Guidelines to appointing authorities regarding authority to engage in private

business are out.

Simply log on to the DPSM Policy database and get them.

http://dpsm.gov.bw/policy

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Community Service News

DPSM staff donating tools toThuto Boswa during Community Service Day

“Blessed Is The Hand That Giveth’’ by Goitseone Oaitse

Botswana Public Service

College (BPSC) staff is not

one to turn a blind eye to

those innocent souls and

less fortunate kids. As such

in June of this year, the Col-

lege was at the Tlokweng

SOS’s Children’s Village to

warm the hearts of its

“small” inhabitants not just

with blankets, but shoes,

toys and other hampers to

make the lives of the SOS

children a little bit easier.

Volume 3

July 2015

Senior Manager, Corporate Service (BPSC) Ms. Itseng Mompati (on the right)

handing over gifts to the SOSVillage Director Ms. Fulele

When receiving the donation,

the SOS village Director Ms

Fulele stated that the village cur-

rently has 163 children of differ-

ent ages and decried shortage of

beds for the children. She how-

ever, thanked the staff for the

support and the care they have

shown to the children.

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Are You Aware of Bladder Cancer?

July is Bladder Cancer

Awareness Month

Tobacco smoking not only caus-

es lung cancer as many people

know, but also leads to other

cancerous related illness like

cancer of the bladder.

According to a health study to-

bacco smoking is the main

known contributor to urinary

bladder cancer.In most popula-

tions, smoking is associated with

over half of bladder cancer cases

in men and one-third of cases

among women.[5] Thirty per cent

of bladder tumors probably result

from occupational exposure in

the workplace to carcinogens

such as benzidine and naphthyl-

amine which are found in

cirgarette smoke.

Occupations at risk are bus driv-

ers, rubber workers, motor me-

chanics, leather shoe workers

and hair dressers. Hair dressers

are thought to be at risk because

of their frequent exposure to per-

manent hair dyes.]

SYMPTOMS

Blood in the urine

In most cases, blood in the

urine (called hematuria) is the

first warning sign of bladder

cancer. Sometimes, there is

enough blood to change the

color of the urine. Depending

on the amount of blood, the

urine may be orange, pink, or,

less often, darker red. Blood

may be present one day and

absent the next, with the urine

remaining clear for weeks or

months. If a person has blad-

der cancer, blood eventually

reappears.

Blood in the urine does not

always mean you have blad-

der cancer. More often it is

caused by other things like an

infection, benign (non-

cancerous) tumors, stones in

the kidney or bladder, or other

benign kidney diseases. But it

is important to have it checked

by a doctor so the cause can

be found.

Source: www.cancer.org

PREVENTION

A 2008 study commissioned by the World Health Organisation

concluded that "specific fruit and vegetables may act to reduce

the risk of bladder cancer." Fruit and yellow-orange vegetables,

particularly carrots and those contain-

ing selenium,[11] are probably associ-

ated with a moderately reduced risk of

bladder cancer. Citrus fruits and cru-

ciferous vegetables were also identi-

fied as having a possibly protective

effect.

Volume 3

July 2015

A marigold/ blue/ purple ribbon

symbolizes bladder cancer aware-

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Volume 3

July 2015

Public Service Day

by Goitseone Oaitse

component for service delivery in the Public Service. These

sentiments were echoed by one of the key speakers during

Public Service Day, Chief Director at the Centre for Public

Innovation from South Africa, Ms. Lydia Phalwane. Ms. Phal-

wane whose organisation was established to entrench and

drive the culture and practice of innovation in the public sec-

tor said, good service delivery was critical for the realisation

of national aspirations.

The Minister also highlighted some of the innovations that

have been embraced innovation to service delivery such as

the issuance of the e-passport and computer registration of

birth and death certificates which provides for real time regis-

tration.

For his part ,Permanent Secretary to the President Mr Carter

Morupisi added that enhanced customer service delivery is

one of Government’s top 10 priority areas for the year

2015/2016. “We must therefore be aligned in terms of what

this means and how we should apply it in our different work

areas,” he said.

The DPSM Choir was amongst those battling it out at the Rainbow School Hall for

the top position for the 2015 Public Service Choir Competitions

The University of Botswana sta-

dium was parked to capacity as

Batswana including Public Serv-

ants thronged in to celebrate

‘Public Service Day' which this

year was held on the 9th and

10th of July.

The fourth commemorations of

the Public Service Day was held

under the theme, “Innovating

the Public Service Delivery to

Implement the post 2016 De-

velopment Agenda.’’

“We found it fit to adapt the

theme by linking it to Vision

2016 as we are close to mark-

ing the end of our twenty year

national vision, Vision 2016.

Vision 2016 was embraced as

part of our development agen-

da, ” said the Minister for

Presidential Affairs and Public

Administration Honourable

Eric Mothibi Molale when giv-

ing a keynote address at the

Stadium. Mr Molale highlighted

that innovation as one of the

Vision pillars is a critical

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Volume 3

July 2015

Lydia Phalwane - Centre for Public Service Innovation (RSA) flanked by the

2015 Public Service King and Queen Lorato Force ,- Ms Public Service 2015

(right) and Percy Seema– Mr. Public Service 2015

Botswana’s Presentation at the United Nations Public Service

Forum

The Director of Public Service

Management Ms. Ruth Maph-

orisa says the Government of

Botswana has created a firm

foundation that will see the coun-

try move forward in improving

service delivery by the Botswana

Public Service. Speaking at the

United Nations Public Service

Forum Expert Group Meeting, in

Medellin Colombia, Ms. Maph-

orisa highlighted key strategies

that the Government of Botswa-

na has adopted to promote crea-

tivity, innovations and transfor-

mation in the Public Service. She

shared that Botswana has adopt-

ed a ‘whole of government ap-

proach’ to bring together depart-

ments across different sectors to

analyse emerging issues and

how to tackle them. “One of the

key areas in which we have an

advantage is, strong political will

at leadership level. This pro-

motes a vision of continuous

learning, innovation and adapta-

tion to meet the evolving needs

of society”.

She furthermore highlighted chal-

lenges faced by the Public Ser-

vice such as the technological

divide in the country, limited re-

sources in the face of competing

demands as well as high youth

unemployment. Ms. Maphorisa

however noted that there were

opportunities that would enable

Botswana to grow past the 2015

millennium development goals

such as a strong commitment to

good governance and the Public

Sector reforms that have been

adopted to modernize the Public

Sector to ensure efficient and ef-

fective service delivery to Bat-

swana.

Ms. Ruth Maphorisa (second from the right) during her presentation in Me-

dellin, Colombia at the 2015 United Nations Public Service Forum

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Volume 3

July 2015

Restructuring DPSM

Its official and the word is out! The Directorate is embarking

on the long anticipated exercise to restructure the organisa-

ton to make it more relevant, effective and efficient to the

Public Service. If you have not seen it, below is the memo

that was sent out a few weeks ago informing DPSM staff

about the intention to kickstart the restructuring of the or-

ganization.

JICA Beefs Support for

Government ICT with Volunteers

Two more volunteers from the

Japan International Coopra-

tion Agency (JICA) landed in

Botswana early this month to

join the Information and Com-

munication Technology (ICT)

sector in Botswana. This

brings to total the number of

JICA volunteers in Botswana

to twenty two (22). The two

volunteers namely, Mr. Shoji

Otomo (Tebogo) and Mr. Sho-

go Sato (Mpho) are experi-

enced ICT professionals who

will be respectively, based in

Francistown and Jwaneng to

work in the Technical Colleg-

es there, under the Depart-

ment of Technical and Voca-

tional Training and Training in

he Ministry of Education and

Skills Development . The vol-

unteers currently are undergo-

ing orientation which includes

lessons in Setswana lan-

guage before being deployed

to their base stations on the

12th of August, 2015.

When introducing the two vol-

unteers to DPSM, JICA Vol-

unteer Coordinator in Bot-

swana Mr. Kurogi Naotoshi

said , “the ICT sector is one of

their strong areas in Japan

and they would like to in-

crease this kind of assistance

especially on technical skills”,

encouraging more Depart-

ments to liase with DPSM to

get more volunteers for help.

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Volume 3

July 2015

JICA volunteers Mr. Shoji Otomo (Tebogo) Mr. Shogo Sato (Mpho) with JICA

Botswana Programme Officer Mothusi Tiyedze

College hosts Pitso to improve

service delivery The Botswana Public Service

College hosted its first Pitso on

the 19th of May under the

Strengthening Collaboration

for Improved Service Deliv-

ery”. The Pitso which was offi-

cially opened by the Minister of

Presidential Affairs and Public

Administration Honourable Eric

Molale focused on how the

Public Service College could

better its strategic contribution

to service delivery by Govern-

ment.

To this end, private sector rep-

resentatives as well as other

government agencies were in-

vited to share their views on

how this can be done. Issues

that were put up for discussion

at the Pitso included; expecta-

tions of the private sector on

service delivery by the Govern-

ment and how training and de-

velopment on it. Over and

above that, discussants at the

Pitso were asked to talk about

the role of the Public Service

College in delivering on gov-

ernment reforms.

Minister Molale said, “Training

of employees is necessary be-

cause public service is at the

centre of national develop-

ment. Public service provides

the spadework for delivery of

government mandate; there-

fore it should be well

equipped”, highlighting the sig-

nificant role the College has in

improving service delivery by

the Government.

From Left to Right: Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration (MoPAPA)

Hon. Eric Molale, MoPAPA Assistant Minister, Hon. Phillip Makgalamele, Director-

DPSM , Ms. Ruth Maphorisa during the Pitso at the College.

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iNhouse NEWS Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Public Service Day in Pictures

2015 Public Service Day King and Queen ( far left) marching along-

side the 1st and 2nd Princes and Princesses during the 2015 Public

Day Service Carnival

In the heat of the 2015 Public Service Day choral competitions that

were held at the Rainbow School Hall

Traditional Dance group at the University of Botswana Stadium

during the opening ceremony of the 2015 Public Service Day

Volume 3

July 2015

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iNhouse NEWS Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

Public Service Day in Pictures

Dancing group showing off their skill and talent at the choral and traditional

dance competitions at Rainbow Hall

2015 Public Service Day Ministry exhibitions at the Main Mall in Gaborone

Volume 3

July 2015

Its on!!! Cabinet vs. Accounting Offciers football match at the University of

Botswana Stadium during the 2015 Public Service Day celebrations

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iNhouse NEWS

Directorate of Public Service Management Internal Newsletter

iNhouse NEWS NOTICEBOARD

STAFF MOVEMENTS

Dr. Tlamelo Sekambo joined the Directorate in

June, 2015 as the Senior Assistant Director I in

the Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit.

Mr. Oduetse Mphahudi has been transferred

from the College to the Office of the President

under the Poverty Eradication Office.

2015 Consumer Fair

17th - 23rd August 2015

Place: Gaborone

Independence Day

30th September 2015

For any comments, questions or queries about the newsletter,

oslekgoko@gov.bw or ammoi@gov.bw

Ext: 2651 or 2601.

Dr. Tlamelo Sekambo

Volume 3

July 2015