OBESITY and fitness are problems that beset far too many South Africans, affecting not just their health, but how they can function on a day-to-day basis.
Erstwhile head of the South African Police Services, Bheki Cele, himself a fitness fanatic, had during his tenure tried to get members to get fit, and lose weight. And as with the police, traffic officers also need to be healthy and fit to successfully perform their duties.
It is perhaps no surprise then that the Road Traffic Inspectorate felt it necessary to test the physical fitness of candidates for 90 posts they wanted to fill.
But, asking the more than 30 000 applicants to run 4km in under 30 minutes without first vetting their health, was a grave and, ultimately, fatal mistake.
Eight people have died as a result and more than 230 treated after being made to run in temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees in Pietermaritzburg last week.
The desperation of the applicants – more than 350 people applied for each post – highlights the sad reality of unemployment.
But the RTI recruiters should have realised that such desperation would mean that even unfit applicants would push themselves beyond their limits in a an attempt to get work.
Better planning was needed. First they should have weeded out the majority of applicants by comparing, for instance, their academic record, or experience.
This screening would have created a pool of applicants to be assessed by a medical team.
Those making the short list could then be asked to show their fitness, under proper monitoring, and most definitely not during hot and humid conditions that would tax even a professional athlete.
Such action borders on criminal negligence, and a thorough investigation should not just look at minions who might have ordered the applicants to run, but also at management, where there appears to have been little understanding of human resource management.
Not to mention no common sense.
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