South African Management Development Institute Reposition; Promoting Equity in Public Service: briefing

Meeting report

PUBLIC SERVICE & ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
10 September 2003
SOUTH AFRICAN MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE REPOSITION; PROMOTING EQUITY IN PUBLIC SERVICE: BRIEFING

Chairperson: Mr R J B Mohlala (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Repositioning of SAMDI Powerpoint Presentation: Part 1 Part 2
Promoting Equity in the Public Services Powerpoint Presentation

SUMMARY
South African Management Development Institute briefed the Committee on aims and objectives, challenges and short-comings. It was noted with unhappiness that a number of government departments continued to make use of private institutions to train their staff.

The Department presented on employment equity discussing the national audit of management plans, new affirmative action targets, as well as recruitment rates of disabled people in the public service, which were not good. However it was noted with satisfaction that out of 23 375 public servants sent on training programmes last year, 11 000 were women. The Committee had the power to look at various government departments and agencies to examine employment equity targets.

MINUTES
SAMDI Presentation
Mr D Malekele, Chief Executive Manager, Business Unit of the South African Management Institute (SAMDI) briefed the Committee on SAMDI's goals and the challenges faced.
It was noted that achievements so far were considerable and the present strategic plan intended to consolidate and extend these achievements. There would be a stronger articulation with government priorities with a focus on demand driven programme offerings A comprehensive service would be offered with emphasis on results and impact An increasing role in public sector capacity development in the continent was envisaged.

Please refer to 'Repositioning of SAMDI' (Parts 1 & 2) powerpoint presentation.

Discussion
Ms. M P Mentor (ANC) was pleased to hear in writing that SAMDI's core business was not to make money. While stressing the importance of accountability at all times, she stated that some activities and services such as developing human resources could not be measured in monetary terms.

Dr. U Roopnarian (IFP) asked what SAMDI had done to market itself to government departments. Was this institution in competition with other educational institutions?

Mr. L M Kgwele commented that while the institution gave a detailed presentation on its priorities and challenges, little was said about situational analysis. He asked how the institution would help in enforcing some resolutions of the Growth and Development Summit, and how it would avoid duplication in terms of its service provision.

Mr Malekele maintained that SAMDI was not in competition with local government training institutions nor private ones, but that it played a complementary role to existing programs and institutions. He explained that SAMDI's approach was a little different, using application of theoretical knowledge.

Mr R Mmutlana (Chief Executive Manager: Training, Development, & Quality Assurance) noted that many people continue to regard qualifications attained from other institutions that were not technikons or university as lower. Universities and technikons were theory based. With SAMDI, the dynamics of government issues and problems were taken into account and the best theory which proved to be successful. The bulk of government training continued to be done by private firms.

Ms. Mentor interjected, bemoaning SAMDI for not having women in its management. The senior management level was not satisfactory, there was no gender balance.

The chair stated that there was a need to monitor the effectiveness of internships in future, and SAMDI's capacity to recover costs.

Department on Employment Equity
Mr Kgwele commented that the under-representation of certain races, and gender group was at the centre of the ANC's efforts. The latest census results indicated women were in the majority, and that there was therefore a need to upgrade women in terms of training for higher portfolios. Women had to be involved in real decision making.

Ms. Mentor said government had failed in reaching targets it set to recruit more disabled people in the civil force.

The chair asked whether the department had statistics on employment equity rates in the provinces. He made particular mention of the Western Cape and the Free State, which he said had been lowly rated in an earlier audit.

Mr A Rapea said his department was still awaiting the report on the status of provinces in respect of employment equity. The audit came to an end on September 12 2003. He noted with shock that there was a particular state department which had appointed one women, and several white males. An intervention had to be made there.

Women's empowerment was high on his department's agenda, and had fallen short of reaching targets. The low-level of recruitment of people with disabilities was particularly worrying. It was envisaged that the department would be partnered with a disability organization to get more physically-challenged people on board.

Ms. Mentor said that women who were said to have advanced in the department's presentation, may not necessarily be Africans. She said that in her study, she found that the situation with African women was similar to that of disabled people.

The chair reminded the department that it should not be driven by the quest to meet targets, without looking at the product.

The meeting was adjourned