1. Thanks to the nominations that were received at Head Office during 2007, a Special Monthly Award (14th cheque) could be awarded each month to individuals or groups during the past year (with the exception of August 2007, for which a nomination is still awaited). Details of personnel who received awards during 2007 are attached in the accompanying Annexure VIII. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) wishes to continue making these awards during 2008 and you are, therefore, earnestly requested to nominate personnel for an award.
2. Only one award per month for the entire WCED can be granted to a person or group of persons for an outstanding achievement.
3. Each nomination must be supported by evidence of one or more of the following:
  • An improvement in, amongst others, methods, procedures, equipment, tools and/or working circumstances
  • An improvement in the quality of products and/or service
  • Outstanding services, for example, a beautiful garden and/or clean school grounds
  • A reduction in costs and/or the elimination of wastage associated with, for example, the use of stationery, stock or material
  • Improved safety and security measures and/or conduct
  • A special or complex and demanding piece of work which, in addition to the normal duties of the person(s) involved, was undertaken with extraordinary vigour and successfully completed
  • Any improvement, saving or extraordinary work or service

Examples of written motivations that were accepted for special awards are attached as Annexure IX.

4. Assessment criteria and allocation of points
4.1 Nominations will be assessed according to the following criteria and out of the following points totals:
  • Merit (10 points)
  • Practical value (10 points )
  • Proven advantages (10 points)
  • Effort and sacrifice (10 points)
4.2 A final mark is awarded out of 40, and an employee or group must score at least 80% (i.e. 32 out of 40 points) to be considered for an award. Score sheets (Appendix V for individuals and Appendix VI for groups) are attached. Note that the criteria by which a group is assessed do not differ much from those applied to an individual.
5. As mentioned in paragraph 2, an award can be made to a group of employees.
5.1 The nomination is made on the prescribed form (Appendix III), and the requirements are the same as for the nomination of an individual.
5.2 Group nominations must be accompanied by a full description of the responsibilities (per individual) that applied during the process. Appendix IV must be used for this purpose, and must include, amongst others, the following information:
  • A summary of what the task or project involved
  • An explanation of the respective responsibilities of the officials involved in the project
  • An evaluation, or allocation of marks, regarding each official's contribution to the end result
6. The following details apply to awards to both individuals and groups:
  • An award to a group is in the form of a cash amount that is determined by the head of department.
  • The basis on which the cash amount is to be divided among the members of the group must be mentioned in the written motivation by the supervisor.
  • The award to an individual in a group may not exceed the value of that individual's basic monthly pensionable salary.
  • A certificate, signed by the Superintendent-General, is awarded to an individual in recognition of his or her achievement.
7. In order to distribute awards fairly among Departmental employees, only nominations from one district or from Head Office are considered each month. As from January 2008, nominations from the individual districts and Head Office are invited in the months indicated below: 
January   2008 METRO NORTH DISTRICT      	
February  2008 HEAD OFFICE  
March     2008 EDEN & KAROO DISTRICT  
April     2008 METRO EAST DISTRICT      
May       2008 WEST COAST DISTRICT      
June      2008 METRO SOUTH DISTRICT   
July      2008 CAPE WINELANDS DISTRICT
August    2008 METRO CENTRAL DISTRICT  
September 2008 OVERBERG DISTRICT            
October   2008 METRO NORTH DISTRICT 
November  2008 HEAD OFFICE   
December  2008 EDEN & KAROO DISTRICT
8. As it is extremely important that nominations be submitted timeously. You are requested to ensure that nominations for a particular month reach Head Office by no later than the 15th day of the preceding month. For example, the nomination for March must reach this office by 15 February. To achieve this, the relevant district offices and directorates must regard the 10th of the preceding month as the due date for the receiving of nominations from staff.
9. Please note that all public service personnel attached to an office or institution within a specified district, or attached to Head Office, must be considered within the month concerned.
10. Reports on those persons or groups of persons found worthy of nomination must be submitted by institutions to their respective district offices, where the nominations will be sifted by a committee chaired by the district director. Once the preliminary sifting has been completed, the selected nominations from institutions and the district office will be submitted, with a recommendation as to the person or group who should receive the award, to the Personnel Office at Head Office for a final decision.
11. Records must be kept of deliberations during the sifting process at district office or Head Office level in case of further enquiries.
12. The following documents, which are attached, must be used in the selection process:
  • Appendix I: Nomination of an individual
  • Appendix II: Job description of an individual
  • Appendix III: Nomination of a group
  • Appendix IV: Group nomination (full description of responsibilities per individual)
  • Appendix V: Score sheet for an individual
  • Appendix VI: Score sheet for a group
  • Appendix VII: Section 37(2)(c) of the Public Service Act 1994, as amended
  • Appendix VIII: Details of personnel who received awards last year
  • Appendix IX: Examples of written motivations (ones which were accepted for special awards)
13. It cannot be over-emphasized that an achievement must be outstanding if a person or group is to be considered for an award.
14. The award is applicable to all public service personnel on post levels below management level (Salary Level 13).
15. You are kindly requested to make the contents of this circular known to all employees in your institution, component or office.


SIGNED: E. KIRSTEN
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2007:12:21

Appendix I  (size: 5 KB)
Appendix II  (size: 4 KB)
Appendix III  (size: 5 KB)
Appendix IV  (size: 4 KB)
Appendix V  (size: 6 KB)
Appendix VI  (size: 6 KB)
Appendix VII  (size: 8 KB)
Appendix VIII  (size: 6 KB)
Appendix IX  (size: 29 KB)