KwaZakhele-born author, Dr Temba Gola, holds a doctorate in Social Sciences from the Atlantic International University, and has been working for the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) as a District Grant Administration Manager for the past eight years, in the Sarah Baartman district.
With 40 years’ experience working for different government departments, and his first job being a security officer, Gola has vast knowledge in the industry, and has seen different systems come and go.
His first book, New Ways of Paying Social Grants, came from his research for his thesis, where he wanted to research the new ways of paying social grants.
“In my current work I manage the administration of grants, which includes the payment of social grants, and I wanted to propose the most effective and efficient methods of paying social grants to eliminate the long queues at post office branches, where beneficiaries could be given multiple choices to get their grants,” he explained.
Gola’s latest offering, Poverty and Inequality Resolutions, is based on his observation on the increasing poverty and inequality resulting from different factors, including unemployment.
“My writings are influenced by the socio-economic problems which need to be attended to by different stakeholders, including government departments, society, and private companies, to reduce poverty and unemployment.
“To restore human dignity, develop strategies to alleviate poverty over-and-above the dependence on social assistance. I provoke the thinking, influence, and request the inter-graded intervention to reduce poverty which is causing the increase in crime and the destruction of the economic infrastructure,” the author said.
Gola said that his target groups are universities, society, managers and political leaders, because both books are educational. Some key lessons he would like his readers to walk away with include understanding the current socio-economic problems that South Africans are experiencing, such as increasing poverty, an the rate of unemployment.
“The book also explains the impact of COVID-19 on the economic development of the country; it explains strategies to alleviate poverty other than depending on social grants, and it educates society on the management of the economic infrastructure, rather than to destroy it,” he said.
Poverty and Inequality Resolutions is available for purchase via www.tembagola.co.za or www.mmstore.co.za for R300.
For more information, contact Gola on 083 943 5844.