Ngonidzashe Machino's Work Related Learning report

MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES WORK RELATED LEARNING REPORT PLACEMENT INSTITUTION VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY NAME: MACHINO NGONIDZASHE REG NO: R131165A LEVEL: 3.2 SUPERVISOR: Michael Ncube (EHT) In partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of social sciences Honors Degree in Geography and Environmental studies. 1 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS 5 CHAPTER ONE- THE ORGANISATION BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1.0 Introduction 6 1.1 Historical background of the Organization 6 1.2 Geographical location 8 1.3 Organisation’s logo and corporate identity 9 1.4 Nature of the organization 9 1.5 Strategic Objectives 10 1.6 Duties of the Authority 10 1.7 Department/Section where student work programme was undertaken 11 1.8 Services Offered 11 1.9 Main areas of responsibility 12 CHAPTER TWO- MANAGEMENT ISSUES 2.0 How the Municipality manages its affairs. 13 2.1 Organisational Structure 13 2.2 Management Structure of the organisation 13 2.3 Organogram of the Victoria Falls Municipality 14 2.4 The Divisions 15 2.5 Relationship With the outside environment 17 CHAPTER THREE-PLACEMENT TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 3.0 Observations 21 3.1 Activities and Duties 21 3.2 Applicability of theories/modules 23 2 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY CHAPTER FOUR- AVERALL WRL EXPERIENCE 4.0 Analysis and evaluation of WRL Experience 25 4.1 Lessons Learnt 26 4.3 Advantages/Disadvantages 26 CHAPTER FIVE- CONLUSION & RECOMMENDETIONS 5.0 Recommendations for the Organisation 28 5.1 Recommendations for the University GES Department 28 5.2 Conclusion 29 5.3 References 30 Approval Form 31 3 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY ACKNOWLEDGEMETS I would like to thank the Victoria Falls Municipality and particularly the Public Health Section under the Housing and Community Services Department for giving me the opportunity to do my working related learning and to explore my learning objectives. My greatest appreciation goes to all family members for the never ending support throughout my Work related learning and guidance in writing this report. It would not be just not to thank the Lord for the life, love and kindness in the study of Geography and Environmental Studies. 4 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS BAPZ Beat Aids Project Zimbabwe CSWO Community Services and Welfare Officer DHCS Director of Housing and Community Services EHT Environmental Health Technician EHO Environmental health Officer EMA Environmental Management Agency HIV/AIDs Human Immune Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome HR Human Resource HRO Human Resource Office IKS Indigenous Knowledge Systems MSU Midlands State University MDGs Millennium Development Goals MOHCC Ministry of Health and Child Care MOU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-Governmental Organisations PVO Private Voluntary Organisation SLB Service Level delivery Bench marking STI Sexually Transmitted Infections TB Tuberculosis USAID United States Agency for International Development VFM Victoria Falls Municipality WHO World Health Organisation ZINWA Zimbabwe National Water Authority ZETDC Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company 5 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND INFORMATION 3.0 Introduction This report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies program that requires hands on experience derived from the industrial attachment. The internship programme instituted by Midlands State University (MSU) during the students’ third year level of study aims at developing the skills of students through hands on experience they get from various Organisations they are attached to. The attachment period is meant to expose the students to the realities of the business operations and to impart technical skills and practical appreciation of the business world. In this report, the first chapter is an introduction of Victoria Falls Municipality where the industrial attachment was carried out. The preceding chapter seeks to explain the different departments of Victoria Falls Municipality and the activities carried out in each department. In the third chapter, the report focuses on the detailed account of the activities undertaken by the student during his attachment period; and highlights various activities where theoretical knowledge gained at the university was blended with practice and sheds light on departmental challenges and problems that were observed in the Organisation by the student. The fourth chapter is an analysis of the work done by the student, whilst the final aspect of the report gives recommendations to both VFM Municipality of Victoria Falls and the MSU GES department 1.1 Historical background of the Organization The Government of Zimbabwe introduced a policy which was concerned with local democracy and the decentralisation of designated powers and responsibilities from central government to lower rank structures. The formation of the Urban and Rural District Councils in the urban and rural areas was done with the intention of being near the people and speedily attend to the challenges and development issues in their area of jurisdiction. This was done to allow the full participation of the communities to endure maximum participation in decision making and development in the communities. The local government system dates back to as early as 1890s with the Salisbury Sanitary Board being established in 1891. The first municipal law was passed in 1897 which converted Salisbury and Bulawayo into municipalities later on municipalities were introduced to different parts of Zimbabwe. There are twenty-eight Urban Councils which have been established 6 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY throughout the country as provided for in the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15]. While these are established under the same Act, the urban councils have been accorded different status. There are ten municipal councils which occupy the third position in the hierarchy of local authorities. These include, Bindura, Chegutu, Chinhoyi, Chitungwiza, Gwanda, Kariba, Marondera, Masvingo, Redcliff and Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls Municipality is a local authority that is a non-profit making organization and its sole purpose is to provide equitable and affordable services to a heterogeneous citizenry of Victoria Falls. The main areas of responsibility for the Victoria Falls Municipality are to deliver services in housing (land administration / allocation), health services (clinical and home care), water production and distribution, waste management and sanitation, education (primary and secondary schools), fire/ambulance and rescue services, roads construction and rehabilitation and social amenities. Town Built from Thundering Smoke: “Mosi-Oa-Tunya” Victoria Falls is a small town situated in the north-west corner of Zimbabwe. A town conferred with a municipal status in January 1999 and rests comfortable in the Zambezi Valley just a few hundred meters from the south bank of one of Southern Africa’s great rivers, the Zambezi which meanders through Mozambique right into the Indian Ocean. At this point of the river are the mighty, world famous Victoria Falls, on the Zimbabwe-Zambia boarder. The Victoria Falls or Mosi-Oa-Tunya (The smoke that thunders) is where the mighty Zambezi river suddenly plunges into a narrow gorge of over 100 meters deep, forming one of the world’s largest and most beautiful waterfalls with millions of gallons of water plunging over a 1,7 km-wide cliff. This is the reason why in 1980 UNESCO declared the waterfall, the rainforest and surrounding mist vegetation created by the perpetual spray, and part of the riparian system adjacent to the Falls, a World Heritage Site, at the request of both the Zimbabwean and Zambian governments. The Falls are about twice as broad and two and half times as high as the Niagara Falls (between Canada and the United States of America). They are over a mile and the greatest waterpower in the world (25000 horse power). The town derives its name from the falls. Many who have seen them have described them as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World or the most beautiful gem of the earth’s scenery. Moreover, the town is mainly surrounded by National Parks and Wildlife areas, where assortments of wild animals are found. Man and wildlife share the routes home and to the watering hall. Life in this town has been reduced to the very word ‘coexistence’. Man respect wildlife and mutual understanding of the environment between the two has been built. 7 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY The first European to visit the Victoria Falls was David Livingstone on November 16, 1855 who named it in honor of his Queen (his statue still stands on site) but the local inhabitants, the Kololo, had already christened the Falls, Mosi-Oa-Tunya meaning ‘the smoke that thunders’. Livingstone was so fascinated by the magnificent Falls that he named them in honor of the reigning British monarch Queen Victoria and further noted that, ‘on sights as beautiful as this, Angels in their fight must have gazed’ –David Livingstone. 1.2 Geographical location Victoria Falls is a small tourist resort town situated in Matabeleland North province in the Northwest corner of Zimbabwe in Hwange district. The Victoria Falls Municipality offices are located at 41 Livingstone way in Victoria Falls with a population of about 33 710 resident locals. The town is surrounded by National Parks and wildlife areas where all assortments of wild animals and natural resources are found as shown in the Kavango Zambezi Transfontier Conservation Area map below. These natural wonders and wildlife led to the settlement of people that constitute the existence of the Victoria Falls Municipality. Figure 1 Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Kavango_Zambezi_Transfrontier_Con servation_map_de.png 8 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY 1.3Organisation’s logo and corporate identity Figure 2 1.4 Nature of the organization Corporate Vision To remain a unique, natural and competitive world class tourism destination. Corporate Mission statement To provide its community with efficient, effective, accessible and affordable services of a high quality in a sustainable manner which maintains the uniqueness, naturalness and competitiveness of Victoria Falls as a tourist destination. Corporate Values As a Council which exists for the good of the public, they uphold shared values and principles. The Municipality expects each and every employee to adhere to these shared values and promotes the resultant behavior by including the values as expectations and leadership competencies in employee performance plans, as well as within recognition and rewards programs. The core values and signatures of commitment are listed and described below:  Accountability Connecting performance with consequence.  Commitment Following an issue through to the end.  Customer Service Striving to deliver value to the customer.  Environmental Stewardship Ensuring a healthy legacy for current and future generations. 9 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY  Innovation Welcoming new ideas and opportunities for improvement.  Integrity Taking actions, not based on expediency, but because they are the right thing to do.  Leadership Moving the organization forward by anticipating, rather than reacting to changing times  Sensitivity Valuing diversity in experiences, backgrounds and points of view.  Teamwork Accomplishing more together than could be achieved alone. 1.5 Strategic Objectives  To achieve cost effective service delivery  To extend service delivery and supplementing capacity  To improve financial management  Expand revenue base/ generation  Improve on debt management- revenue collection  To promote local economic development  To practice good governance and management  To promote good environmental management 1.6 Duties of the Authority According to the Urban Councils Act (29:15) the duties of the authority are:  To handle land management and allocating of stands  To provide health services (clinical and home care)  To purify and distribute water for domestic, commercial or industrial areas.  To provide waste management for example construction and maintenance of drains and sewers  To provide fire/ ambulance and rescue services  To promote the development of tourist facilities.  To develop road networks  Provide social amenities to the community  To provide educational facilities to the community (primary and secondary level) 10 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY  Ensure recreation of grounds and open space 1.7 Place of the particular department/section in which the student work programme was undertaken I did my work related learning at Victoria Falls Municipality (VFM) Public Health Section under the Housing and Community Services Department. Housing and Community Services Department. This department is headed by the Director of Housing and Community Services with. There are five sections in this department namely:  The housing Administration section headed by the Housing and Administration section and this responsible for housing allocation, waiting list management, and cession processing.  The Community Service Section is headed by the Community Services and Welfare Officer, and the section is responsible for Parks management, Cemeteries management  Beer hall Section is headed by two beer hall supervisors one the old beer hall and the other the Tavern.  Clinic Section is headed by the Sister in Charge and reports to the DDHCS Public Health Section (where I did my work related learning/attachment programme) the Public Health Section headed by the Public Health Officer who works with the Environmental Health Technician, being responsible for Solid Waste Management, licensing, food inspection and any other public health issues within the municipal area. 1.8 Services Offered The main areas of responsibility for the Municipality are to deliver the following services:  Housing and land management  Health facilities and control  Water; production and distribution  Sewage removal and treatment  Waste management and sanitation  Education; primary and secondary, libraries services  Fire, rescue and ambulance 11 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY  Roads; construction and maintenance  Social amenities: sports facilities, beer halls and community spaces 1.9 Main areas of responsibility and current activities of the municipality The town sees its main responsibility being to: 1. Direct and control activities and development to ensure compliance with the environmental goals. 2. Support a ‘housing for all’ situation, by providing sufficient and high quality physical infrastructure within its borders. 3. Support and facilitate a ‘work for all’ situation by prompt responsible consideration of all investments applications, with special emphasis on labor intensive projects. 4. Support the tourism industry by maintaining a functional, beautiful and safe town, where tourist can enjoy their stay. 5. Closely monitor all activities and developments, and make action when necessary, to uproot any anomalies, that threaten or might threaten the environmental visionary goals. 6. Obtain and maintain a final independence, viability and liberty. 12 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY CHAPTER TWO MANAGEMENT ISSUES 2.0 How the Municipality manages its affairs In its efforts to deliver and meet the requirements of its day to day life of the town, the Municipality is run through committees that deliberate on certain issues which are beyond one man’s decision making frame work. The decisions thereof are forwarded for implementation or comments and advice from the management who foresee the daily operations of the organization. 2.1 Organisational Structure The council is the governing body of the municipal corporation and the custodian of its powers, both legislative and administrative. The Municipal Government Act provides that councils can only exercise the powers of the municipal corporation in the proper form, either by bylaw or resolution. Local governance in Zimbabwe is divided into 5 categories that are cities, municipalities, town council, local board and rural district council (RDC). Victoria Falls Municipality is a local authority under the Ministry of Local Government. Victoria Falls Municipality operates through a bureaucratic structure used to run council business on a day to day basis. The structure consists of both elected and appointed officials and elected officials are representatives of the people and they collectively constitute council. The organization currently has a staff complement of 270 people (181 males and 89 females) and is headed by a management team of 5 (1 female and 4 males). The full structure of the organisation is presented below. 2.2 Management Structure of the organisation Municipal and City Councils' are headed by Town Clerks. Different heads of departments deputise the head of administration. The executive are responsible for the implementation of Council decisions and for the day to day running of Council affairs. 13 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY 2.3 Organogram of the Victoria Falls Municipality COUNCIL (POLICY MAKERS) TOWN CLERK (COUNCIL CHIEF ADVISOR) PREDO PERSONAL ASSISTANT TREASURY DEPARTMENT INTERNAL AUDITOR CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT HOUSING and COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMERT DHCS DDHCS PERSONAL ASSISTANT Public Health Section EHT &EHO CLINIC SECTION C OMMUNITY SERVICES SECTION COMMUNITY SERVICES OFFICER community services supervisor 14 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY HOUSING SECTION 2.4 The Divisions Treasury Department The treasury department secures the effective management of the Authority’s financial administration. The department is also responsible for the compilation of the main accounting records including the provision of centralized costing and stores accounting for all heads and divisions of the authority. The division carries out audits of financial and stores transactions in all departments and divisions of the financial authority and for such purposes have access to all records. The division also is responsible for the payments of salaries and wages of employees. The Chamber’s Secretary The division’s role is to co-ordinate the activities of all departments. This department is answerable to the Town Clerk, although the department remains accountable for the standard of its performance each section strives to achieve excellence in its application. This department has other sections which have various functions and are as follows:  Committee Section which prepares agendas for meetings takes minutes for committee and council meetings. The section also distributes all agendas, minutes and writing speeches for the Executive Mayor for all functions.  Personal administration section which provides support services across the whole range of Council’s human resources function in the activities of the employment that is to ensure that the council has the right people at the right time doing the right work to meet the overall business objectives.  Land management sections update all information of people who own property in Victoria Falls Town in all densities they also are responsible for the processing of leases and land purchases.  Fire and ambulance to deal with emergences with are a threat to property and human beings. Engineering Department The department provides technical service to the whole Council for example planning and development. The division also prepares all planning issues or matters for the whole town. They are also involved in the monitoring and controlling of the developments within the towns boundaries. The division spearheads the provision the provision of infrastructural 15 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY services such as water, sewer, and road networks. The department also liaises with other stakeholders on infrastructural developments within the Municipal boundaries for example ZESA, Telone and ZINWA and giving support to sister departments within the Council. The division also services the Environmental Management and Technical Services Committee which recommends to the Council on all technical matters. There are six sections in this department namely:  Water and Sewage section which receive water and treats the water to specified potables quality to meet the WHO standards. The section also controls and monitors the quality of water supplies and sewage works.  Road Section which maintains roads and drainage networks. the section also manages road funds and does the construction of roads drainage structures  Transport and Workshop which maintains all Council vehicles and in charge of their daily operations. They also make sure that the vehicles are distributed fairly for every Council department.  Electrical and Fitter Section which maintains pumps and motors at all work stations. The section installs electrical and mechanical fittings at all Council Stations. They also maintain all streetlights in the town.  Drainage Section which is responsible for the laying of sewer reticulation network, clearing of blockages and maintaining the sewer network system.  Water Distribution Section which maintains the water distribution network, servicing water meters and installation of individual water connections. Department of Housing and Community Services This department is headed by the Director of Housing and Community Services with the deputy. There are four sections in this department namely:  Housing Administration Section headed by the Housing Administrator with the help of the Housing Administration Clerk and they are responsible for the housing allocation, waiting list management, and cession processing.  The Welfare and Community Services is another section headed by the Community Services and Social Welfare Officer, and the section is responsible for social amenities, schools, libraries, parks and garden management.  The Public Health Section headed by two Environmental Health Technicians one responsible for refuse management and the other for licensing, this includes, T.B Control and food inspection. 16 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY  The Clinic Section and is responsible for providing health services to the Victoria Falls community and is headed by the Sister in Charge and she reports to the DHCS. 2.5 How the council management relates with the outside environment. The Victoria Falls Municipality does not operate as an isolated entity. It engages various stake holders within the resort town for example with the Tourism operators, Hotel industry, schools and Non-Governmental Organisations. The authority allocates them stands from residential stands to commercial stands and at the same time benefitting from their funds they pay for the land purchase and other service charges. The local Authority relates well with other stakeholders. According to Koekemoer (1998), “publics include internal and external publics, internal publics consists of management, employees (skilled and unskilled), pensioners and external public include the general public, customers, shareholders, government, suppliers, dealers, media and the local community”. According to the councilor’s induction handbook prepared by Zimbabwe Local Government Association (ZILGA) (2009:19), publics are stakeholders and a stakeholder “is a person or organization, that has or vested interest in the operations of a council and they need to be treated with care”. The publics of Victoria Falls Municipality can be shown by means of an illustration as shown below Internal Publics Trade Unions Employee , pensioner s Managemen t Work’s Council Business communit y General public VFM Pressur e groups Suppliers Government Media Political parties NGOs External Public 17 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY VFM has strategic publics who include the general public. The general public has vested interest in council operations as it forms the revenue base through payment of rates and service charges. The public again provide council with political leadership as their part of the electorate. As shown by the arrows above, there is a two way relationship between the publics and the organization. In turn VFM provides the publics with services for instance refuse collection, street lighting among others such is important for the origin to communicate with general public and to maintain a good relationship. Central government is again an important external public of VFM. VFM is a creature of central government operating through the provision of Section 268 of the Zimbabwean Constitution; as such government provides guidelines for council operations, supervision through the relevant ministry and provides a framework for operation including rules and regulations. In turn the local authority assists government with resources human and financial and also with information of what happens at local level. Suppliers and customers are strategic VFM external publics. Supplies assist council with resources such as stationary for administration purposes, computers and accessories, credit facilities as well as transport among other things. In turn council provides supplies with business, and licenses. Customer range from service customers who are the general public to customers who buy council products such as liquor, meters among other things. Therefore it is important to meet customers as kings and to continuously communicate with them. The Media assists council with information from government and vice versa and also it forms a platform for advertising. In turn media gets news from council and it also acts as a watch in council operations for whistle blowing to undermine corruption. According to Koekemoer (1998:369), “media relations is one of the most important responsibilities of public relations practitioners and organizations should realize that practicing good media relations is an ongoing task, not a last minute effort employed only when publicity is required.” Pressure groups include resident association for example Victoria Falls combined resident Association (VFCRA), Environment Africa and ZIYEN among others. These groups lobby for better service provision in council, promote good local governance and they act as watch dog 18 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY in council in the formulation of by-laws, budgets among other key council operations. In turn council provides these pressure groups with venues for their meetings and among other things. On the other hand the business community operates as a pressure group through the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), although the business community closely works with council through smart partnerships and joint Venture Operations (JVOs) for instance the VFM, ZIMRA and Fulsham (JVO) in the truck stop where council provided land, ZIMRA offices and Fulsham equipment and staff. Political parties are again publics of VFM as they field in candidates for election as councilors. For example VFM consists of councilors elected through political parties, this therefore indicate that political parties have vested interests in the operations of council. VFM is a diverse council with both ZANU PF and MDC councilors. The political parties also assist their candidates with resources which may assist alleviate suffering in their respective wards. In turn council helps political parties with venues for their meetings and with centres for elections. Political parties are also responsible for grooming candidates to higher offices for example some councilors have graduated from council to Members of Parliament level. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are also critical stakeholders of council as they assist with resources to operate. NGOs such as Environmental Africa help to keep Victoria Falls clean buy carrying out street cleaning campaigns more regularly and also by carrying out tree planting exercise. NGOs also create employment to the locals which in turn increases the number of rate payers and they also do charity work in the council area, thus they complement council efforts. In turn council assist NGOs with technocrats, jurisdictions of operation as well as venues for meetings. Other Local Authorities assist VFM with ideas and resources ranging from human resources to other resources. For example the relationship between VFM and Hwange Rural District council where council has industry services which are in the jurisdiction of Hwange Rural District Council and they also hold joint workshops to capacitate councilors and staff. Internal publics include employees, pensioners and managers. Employees are the most fragile assets of the organization who need to be handled with care. According to Skinner etal (1995:116) “an employee communication programme should be preceded by a survey to 19 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY determine what workers know and do not know about policies problems, finances and other significant subjects”. In addition Skinner (1995:116) points out that a good two-way communication between management and employees is based on the fact that “management must be genuinely willing to share information with employees, communication must function as a complete system between management and workers, written messages should be used to avoid the distortion of meaning that may occur in oral communication….”.VFM managers represent the employer and they communicate with employees through internal memorandums, reports and meetings among other things. In turn employees earn a living from council through salaries and other fringe benefits. 20 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY CHAPTER THREE WORK PLACEMENT TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 3.0 Observations During my tenure at Victoria Falls Municipality, I worked closely with the Public Health Section under the Housing and the Community Services department. Working under these people taught me a lot about the organization and the kind of work that is expected of me. I had an opportunity of taking part in the following trainings/activities: 3.1 Activities and Duties ACTIVITIES & DUTIES  Solid Waste Management DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY -Making a follow-up on the Refuse Truck to ascertain that it services all corners of the town. Requesting the tractor from the Workshop to service those areas that cannot be reached by the refuse truck as well as collecting litter on illegal dumping hotspots. -Liaising with our Purchasing Department i.e. making follow up on purchase requisitions of cleaning materials to make sure that there will be adequate cleaning materials during clean-ups.  Property Field Survey (data collection) -Making an assessment on households in Victoria Falls residential and commercial areas to appreciate if there is correlation between the number of properties and the sanitary facilities as well as other services that are serviced by the municipality  Food Quality Monitoring (FQM) -Inspecting food items to see if there are fit for human consumption. FQM world include checking on food items expiry dates, shape, color as well as checking for contaminated items.  Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) -Testing for parameters like Turbidity, PH, residual chlorine, combined chlorine as well as total chlorine 21 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY levels to see if the levels are as per Public Health Requirements.  Stakeholder Engagement -Leasing with other stakeholders when planning for cleanup and awareness campaigns in the municipal area. -Partnering with other stakeholders like Environment Africa, Ministry of Health and Child Care, local churches as well as other arms of the government in preparation of national events like the 21st February movement celebrations at environment Africa.  Premises Inspection -Inspection of business/trading and non-trading premises to see if the premises mate minimum Public Health Requirements prior to issuing shop licences and occupational certificates to uphold public health standards in the resort town.  Compiling Health Inspection Reports -Giving feedback of inspections by means of a Health Inspection Reports with relevant recommendations where one will be advised correct the defects that would have been noted during inspections.  Meat Inspection -Inspecting whole bovine carcasses after slaughtering before the meat can be sold to people to ascertain that the bovine carcasses will be fit for human consumption. - When doing meat inspection I will be putting on protective clothing that is a White Dust Coat in line with the Statutory Instrument 50 of 1995 (Abattoir, Animal and Bird Slaughter and Meat Hygiene Regulations, 1995) 22 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY  Typing memos / correspondences / monthly reports  Filing / File management -Typing of these improved the students written communication skills. -Management of files made it easy to access and retrieve files as and when required.  Shop License Invoicing & Shop licensing.  Receiving -Calculating license fees and issuing business licence disks after one had completed the payment. Public Health -Receiving solid waste management complaints Section phone calls (solid pertaining to non-collection of refuse and making waste management arrangements with the refuse driver to make sure that complaints) all corners of the town are service to maintain cleanliness in the resort town. 3.2 Applicability of theories/modules learnt at University in the Organisation  GES211 Safety Health and the Environment This module was applicable in Premises Inspection where the student will be looking for potential occupational safety and public health hazards at business premises. Unsafe acts and unsafe conditions at business premises where identified and relevant recommendations were given prior to licencing.  GES201 Environmental Assessment and Management The student had an opportunity to organise and plan for clean ups and awareness campaigns in the municipal area. Cleanup and awareness campaigns are an important aspect of the module Environmental Management and Assessment.  GES101 Quantitative and Qualitative Techniques The knowledge of qualitative and quantitative techniques gave the student the opportunity to use such techniques as sampling techniques during the property field survey which was done in the months of June and July.  GES206 Research Methods 23 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY This module was applicable when the student was doing the field survey where data collection techniques like interviews, questionnaires as well as observations where used in data collection.  ENT205 Entrepreneurship The student managed to appreciate how entrepreneurship is done since he was working in the licencing office where he advised clients/entrepreneurs on requirements that are needed for one to be issued a business licence by the municipality as required by the Shop Licences Act. The student also had the opportunity to process shop licence application forms for business people.  HCS115 Information Technology The knowledge of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Power-point came in handy during the student’s placement period as all documentation and research entailed knowledge of these. Microsoft word was used when typing monthly reports, health inspection reports as well as memos/correspondences.  CS101 Basics of Communication Skills Communication skills played a great role in confidence building, thus the student improved his verbal and non-verbal communication skills. The knowledge he acquired effectively demonstrated his verbal and written skills through attending to clients and also initiating of memorandums/reports. The student learnt that communication skills were required especially when working at the Public Health Section. One of the duties in this sections was to talk to clients almost on a daily basis. The student learnt to be polite, patient and tolerant with different characters in such situations. Another lesson learnt is that VFM emphasises on time management in all its operations for one to achieve their set goals. It is of paramount importance to meet set deadlines and to be punctual. 24 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY CHAPTER FOUR AVERALL WRL EXPERIENCE 4.0 Analysis and evaluation of WRL Experience In this chapter the student will be analyzing the overall WRL Experience and organisation at large. The student realised that there is a clear difference between University and the working environment. At the University the student is only focused on being equipped academically and learning theoretical concepts such as planning and writing assignments for Geography and Environmental Studies. On the other hand attachment is when the student is introduced to the corporate world. Basically attachment involves the translation of the theoretical knowledge into practical or technical work. There is a similarity between the University and the work place. The major similarity was in relation to the importance of meeting deadlines for completing certain tasks because in the workplace, time is precious. All work was timed and the student had to stick to working within the provided time frame and meet the set deadlines in both school and working environment. The consequences of failure to meet deadlines would be losing marks at school or failure of meeting the expected goals at work would mean the student would be incompetent. The student observed the importance of maintaining good working relations with all colleagues. He noted that creating strong rapport between the industrial supervisors and work colleagues, practising the positive attitude and behaviour was very important in the workplace. The student took into consideration that negligence and disrespect on the part of the student can destroy a good working environment and relationship with other colleagues. Furthermore, the student noticed that less supervision was done because of the good performance portrayed by the student from previous tasks given to him at work. At University, all students are given the same tasks for performance rating and marks, but on attachment, different tasks were given to the same student. Those different tasks gave him a platform to learn how to enhance his personal skills. Such training permitted the student to know how to become an effective intern and it enabled him to assess his own effectiveness, and identify the skills needed to further improve his own effectiveness, and enhance personal development. The student observed that there is regular report writing and regular meetings in the organisation. Section reports which are written every month and submitted to Council for information, communication and resolutions to problems faced. Reports kept for future reference and record keeping and therefore they are an important aspect in GES. 25 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY 4.1 Lessons Learnt  Time management is a vital issue in development work; hence the student learnt that he has to be time conscious at every instance. He also learnt that being punctual at work helped in accomplishing more work with less effort, because by taking control of his time, he was able to stay focused on the task at hand. Time management leaded to higher efficiency since the student never lost momentum.  The student learnt how to present a section reports using the theoretical structures he learnt at University and managed to present a well written report after supervision on how to consolidate it.  The student learnt that team work was very important in an Organisation because it made work much easier to complete. On the other hand combined efforts with other organisations helped in successful completion of projects. Collaboration and partnership greatly stimulated development in cleanups, solid waste management etc.  The necessity of being innovative and hardworking was another lesson learnt by the student. Internship gave the student an opportunity to identify his skills, nurture and value them and use them to assist the Organisation.  The minor but important improvement the student managed to do was to put the files in order in the office. This was driven by the way in which he struggled to retrieve files in the office before clients because there was a lot of misfiling in the files. The student managed to put all files in their sequential order for easy and fast retrieval.  Another lesson learnt was that Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are critical stakeholders of council as they assisted with resources to operate. NGOs such as Environmental Africa helped to keep Victoria Falls clean, by carrying out street cleaning campaigns more regularly. 4.3 Advantages/Disadvantages to the Organisation brought about by the student’s WRL experience.  The minor but important improvement I managed to do was to put the files in order in the office. This was driven by the way in which I struggled to retrieve files in the office before clients because there was a lot of misfiling in the files. The student managed to put all files in their sequential order for easy and fast retrieval.  Being responsible of the office while my work related learning supervisor was on leave. 26 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY  Completing tasks as and when requested. 27 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY CHAPTER FIVE RECOMMENDETIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 5.0 Recommendations for the Organisation  I feel that the organization should outline to students what they expect from them and not make assumptions that students are aware of their expectations.  There is a greater need for VFM to build recreational facilities for young children to be occupied because residents have attributed immorality and the high rate of criminal acts and prostitution perpetrated by youths to lack of recreational facilities where youths can be kept busy. The state of affairs in the VFM councils is that social facilities are inadequate and in a poor state of repair. Local authorities should engage partnerships with private developers to put up such facilities in Victoria Falls Township.  During my attachment period I noticed that there was there was missing of files at the Housing office. The reason being that the employees are not aware of document security which is the safe keeping of sensitive documents. Every file is treated as a sensitive document since it has information concerning individuals and their properties. There is need to restrict everyone access to the files, be able trace these files once they are collected and build a secured store room to keep these files.  The system of recording, review and analysis of lease and agreement of sale forms validity and payment is manual instead of being electronically managed in the Department of Housing and Community Services, they rely on information from the Chamber Secretary and it causes information distortion. VFM must work on electronically managing such documents and all section of the VFM must be linked electronically.  Victoria Falls Municipality should come up with a gender policy to address the issue of empowering women as observed that only one woman is at management level, with an employee ratio of 181 males and 89 females and also in the case of councillors, only 2 councillors are women against 9 men.  There is a greater need for Victoria Falls employees to be educated and geared towards achieving the mission and vision of the organization as this seems to be understood by management only. There is need to educate all other employees about the organization’s corporate goals, missions and values. 5.1 Recommendations for the University GES Department  Students are expected to pay full fees regardless of the fact that they would not be at the university for two semesters yet are still required to pay full fees which is financially 28 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY straining to the parents. Therefore the university should consider adjusting fees for students on work related learning.  There is need for well laid out preference of areas to be covered by the student .This helps both the organization and the student to fully utilize the attachment period.  The university and the student can benefit a lot if it communicates with the organization on weaknesses of students and try to correct them. This can be done by introducing courses related to the problem.  Subjects like Public Relations need to be covered before students go on attachment to assist the student to easily adapt to the business environment.  MSU should also consider having students attached in their departments as Teaching Assistants. It should be noted that there are students who wish to venture into academia and research and not necessarily into the corporate industry. The University should harness such students and groom them for possible future employment as they have a sense of attachment to the institution 5.2 Conclusion This industrial attachment report was compiled by the student in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the BSc Honours Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies attachment evaluation. The attachment period provided an essential opportunity to get a comprehensive insight into the experiences of an organisation. The student was transformed from a myopic minded individual to a broad minded individual who is now able to speak the language understood by the people in the business world. The experience gained from the attachment period is the foundation that bridges the gap between the university and the industry. The learning experience was profound, insightful and worth experiencing. This will aid as a support base to the knowledge gained from academic learning. The exposure to the work environment also enabled the trainee to evaluate his own contribution to VFM. Innovative skills and arising ideas could be tested and recommendations on methodologies applied put forward for consideration. It is also worthy to note that the BSc Honours Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies is a valuable degree whose theories and concepts are highly applicable in any industry. The experience gained from the attachment period is vital to the personal career development of the trainee. 29 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY 5.3 REFERENCES COPAC Constitution (2013) Golding and Murchoch (1973) Communication for Development,London: Sage. Koekemer M. (1998)Communication Theory: an Introduction. New York:Harper. Local government participation published by ACPD with ABDT June 2002 printed by Finger print co-operative Ltd in South Africa Skinner, C.M, Watson and Michaels.(1999) Effective Communication in Organisation. New Delhi: Pearson The Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15, 1996 Victoria Falls Municipality Client Service Charter (2015) Victoria Falls Municipality Code of Conduct (2012) Victoria Falls Municipality Job Evaluation Report (2015) Victoria Falls Municipality Profile (2009) Victoria Falls Municipality Turn around Plan (undated) Victoria Falls Municipality Strategic Plan (2012-2016) Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation blueprint (2013) 30 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY APPROVAL FORM The undersigned certify that they have read and recommended to Midlands State University for acceptance of the Industrial Attachment Report submitted by MACHINO NGONIDZASHE in partial fulfilment of the requirements of BSc Geography and Environmental Studies. MACHINO NGONIDZASHE……………... DATE…../……/……. INTERN NCUBE MICHAEL..................... . DATE…./........./…… WRL SUPERVISOR ANOTHER WORLD WONDER VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALTY 31 VICTORIA FALLS MUNICIPALITY