Sharing information about his department for more than two hours has earned Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID), Jacob Mamabolo, brownie points and proved that he is hands-on in the running of his department.
On 7 November, Mamabolo, together with officials from his department, hosted a delegation from the office of the President of Botswana. The delegation visited GDID to see how the department is using technology to manage projects and improve service delivery.
The delegates were taken to the nerve centre of GDID, Lutsinga Infrastructure House. Lutsinga (meaning ‘nerve’ in Venda), has changed and improved how projects are managed.
Lutsinga Infrastructure House was launched in May this year and Mamabolo highlighted that its existence has assisted the department in managing a portfolio of projects and properties on behalf of the provincial government in a more efficient manner. He added the centre provides timely data and information on the status and knowledge of construction, maintenance, design and planning projects in order to enhance both strategic and operational decision-making in the organisation.
Mamabolo took the delegates through how the centre helps the department track all developments in the project delivery pipeline. “The system gives us transparency; it means now our officials do not keep important data on projects in their notebooks. We now have a single view that shows us our entire asset portfolio and our projects that are currently under construction,” Mamabolo explained.
He said the interest shown by the Botswana government, and recently by the Ugandan government as well, shows the recognition that GDID is doing something right.
Delegation leader and coordinator of Botswana’s government implementation coordination, John Phatswe commended Mamabolo for his vast knowledge about everything in his department, including the technical aspects. Phatswe also mentioned that his government is looking to GDID for a partnership and an information sharing platform to ensure lessons they learn from Lutsinga House helps their country when it comes to project delivery.
“We are excited and delighted that the MEC has taken off his politician cap and wears that of a CEO. This is not our last visit here, I hope you allow us to come with our vice president who will be excited by this approach you are taking to infrastructure delivery,” said Phatswe.
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