Public Service Management Development Programme: briefing

PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
21 June 2000
PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Documents handed out:
Comprehensive Status Report on Public Service Management Development Programme PSMDP - Jan 1998-May 2000 (See Appendix 1)

SUMMARY
SAMDI presented a performance report on capacity-building programmes funded by the European Union. Despite ongoing restructuring of the Department SAMDI has trained a substantial number of persons, approximately 18 000 persons. SAMDI is excited that they have been able to improve their performance and move R5 million in less than a month. Their estimation is that by the end of 2000 they would have spent R20 million. They are asking the EU to consider an extension of the project (ends in December 2000) and to roll over the underspent funds, taking into account their improved performance.

MINUTES
Mr Mokgoro, Director General: South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI), was accompanied by Mr Charles Erasmus, European Union Programme Manager at SAMDI.

SAMDI presented a report on performance in respect of EU funding of programmes designed to develop capacity. Mr Mokgoro apologised for the lateness of the report.
Mr Mokgoro noted from the outset that while SAMDI was not the kind of department favoured by government, its interventions such as the rescheduling of SAMDI, appointing a Director General and moving towards a cost covering intervention were notable. SAMDI’s recent activity has focussed on turnaround and delivery: increasingly they are emerging as a demand-driven department. He cited the role they have played in the Departments of Home Affairs and Agriculture. Home Affairs has been the subject of intense discussion by Cabinet and the media. SAMDI is now working with the Department of Public Service and Administration on turning the Home Affairs Department around. In every other department there is also a development effort to improve each Ministry’s performance.

From an historic perspective SAMDI is not happy with the spending of EU funds. In 1997 government signed a financing agreement with the EU which made R48 million available over three years. To date SAMDI has regrettably only spent R7 million. As the accounting officer, Mr Mokgoro said his task was to see what has been done and what is still being done to rectify this situation.

It had been brought to his attention by his staff that the EU rules and modalities are too stringent and inflexible. He took the view that the treasury is not popular anywhere and he was not inclined to fight the EU on behalf of his staff. Instead he sought to get the facts. After subsequent investigation he found that the Programme Management Unit (PMU) is set up by the EU to manage programmes. He had met with the PMU and an EU delegation to discuss the grievances over the rules. He found that there were some inconsistencies in the way the PMU was handling matters. Some staff were not doing the required paperwork or performance reports were not submitted and he highlighted this to them. The EU monitors performance but SAMDI also has their own way of monitoring programmes.

A series of meetings with various roleplayers, including the Minister, has taken place recently. Many issues were raised including the clarification of how modalities are interpreted and the question of what the responsibility of the Director General is in respect of EU funds. Currently PMU management can overturn the Director General’s decisions.

With the paperwork being exchanged between SAMDI and the PMU there is an inordinate delay in the process and great opportunities are lost to provide training in provinces. These issues have had to be brought to the EU’s attention. However, Mr Mokgoro emphasised that SAMDI accepts that a PMU is essential for good management of funds and modalities will always follow an EU project. He feels that both parties are beginning to find each other.

The current programme ends in December this year. It is likely that millions of rands will go back to Brussels. How can R30 million be spent in seven months? SAMDI has taken a hard look at structures and systems to identify the problems in this regard.
Some of the problems identified include the following:
-PMU are technically well-equipped to manage modalities including procurement. But highly skilled contract managers are having to perform an oversight task over staff. Mr Mokgoro feels that PMU has to play a greater role in procurement to free up staff to do training and oversight over staff. This did not go down well but PMU agreed to talks on this issue. A suggestion put on the table was that contract management, as a function of trainers, should fall away. People who are equipped as trainers should not have to perform contract management for which they do not have the skills.
–In the first two weeks of their work the Contract Management Team have turned out approved bidding contracts to the value of R1,093,000. They are also expecting to finalise contracts valued at R3,948,000 by the 26 June 2000. Mr Mokgoro is excited that they have been able to move R5 million in less than a month. Their estimation is that by the end of 2000 they would have spent R20 million. They are also looking to the future. SAMDI has begun negotiating with the EU and selling the fact that with the new management interventions they are hoping to spend R20 million by the end of the year. They were asking the EU to consider an extension of the project and to roll over the underspent funds, taking into account their improved performance. The EU have not responded in a definitive way. While historically there has been under-spending of funds this must be understood against a background of poor management. Just twelve weeks ago a contract manager was appointed and a contract management team has also been set up. They have new projected expenditures. It is important for SAMDI to be looking at the way forward.

Discussion
Mr Sikakane (ANC) asked what has SAMDI done in respect of the transformation of the public service since Mr Mokgoro has been appointed Director General? He expressed the view that the issue of why things have not been done must be avoided because Mr Mokgoro was not the head of SAMDI at that time.

An ANC member asked whether the revision of targets is being done together with the EU. Are they working towards establishing worker friendly rules and what impact do these stringent rules have? Did staff know exactly what is expected of them? He commented that the way forward was dependent on the EU position and that it is critical to get a final position from the EU.

The Chair, Mr Nhleko (ANC), said that it must be borne in mind that the EU’s stringent rules was not only applicable to SAMDI but also to Parliament and all organisations that receive funding from the EU.

Mr Mokgoro’s response was that while they have been reminded that the EU rules are strict all over in some instances they have reached agreement on flexibility of rules.

Mr Erasmus, head of EU Programmes at SAMDI, said that on 25 May the EU Ambassador had met with the Minister of Public Service and Administration and agreed that there were no policy differences between the two. However, there were problems in respect of the administration of programmes. Notwithstanding their recognition of the stringent application of EU modalities worldwide SAMDI were looking to change approved activities to meet current needs. There was a hesitant agreement by the Ambassador to extend the project time if there was substantial improvement in performance by SAMDI. Although his term of office is ending shortly he undertook to speak to Brussels himself. Mr Erasmus concluded that their present focus is not so much on the extension but rather on service delivery.

Mr Baloyi (ANC) asked whether SAMDI was doing anything to determine which departments required training for their officials or were they waiting to be approached by the departments?
Mr Mokgoro said that this would be a reasonable observation but the situation is changing due to increased marketing. SAMDI often receive reports from departments they have worked for who recommend their service to other departments.

Mr Grobler (DP) asked what the possibility is of channelling more funds to joint university programmes, which would ensure that in future the country could benefit from having more trainers.

Mr Mokgoro replied that on the 4 July the Minister will meet with universities involved in public policy training and personally he was very concerned to set up meaningful partnerships in this area. The management of SAMDI has started a process to set up meaningful partnerships and shift funds to different programmes, especially leadership development projects. Mr Erasmus added to this, saying that the Joint Universities Public Management Education Trust (JUBMET), is strategically placed for such a programme. The stringent modalities applicable to SAMDI are not applicable to JUBMET who are then better able to deliver the programme. Through the New Police Management Programme implemented through JUBMET the numbers of trained police have increased by 600 this year. He belives the increased partnership with JUBMET will increase productivity. Mr Mogoro emphasised that SAMDI must be careful to push quality and not quantity in their delivery of services.

Mr De Beer (UDM) said that although he was glad the Minister was giving attention to this he hoped she was giving enough attention. The presentation had left him with serious doubts in his mind and he got the impression that a breakthrough in the training of officials has not been made. He referred to a previous visit to France, a leading country in public service training. Have any of the ideas that emerged from that visit been taken up? What were the results of this trip? The Minister is unable to say how much is being spent on training and how training is taking place. The Committee will not be doing their duty if they do not discuss with the Minister what is being done.

Mr Sikakane (ANC) said he had two problems with Mr De Beer’s comments. Firstly, the fact that he had arrived at the meeting late and secondly, nothing constructive had been done in the past and it won’t help to speak to the Minister about this. Rather, it was more important to look at what was happening since the turnaround in SAMDI.

Mr Mokgoro responded to the Member’s questions in a general way. He reiterated the fact that the new management of SAMDI had moved R5 million in one month and was prepared to say, with bold confidence, that SAMDI would spend R8 million by July. The report they submitted suggested that action is taking place. On 23 July the President is launching a training programme for Directors General, which indicates that SAMDI has political support. He highlighted some of the other training programmes SAMDI were involved in. Since 1994 a provincial Director General capacity development programme has been in place and the programme is advanced in developing the capacity of Directors General. In their work with the Department of Home Affairs they realised that one of the problems they were experiencing was the long queues and the programme has also begun to focus on streamlining Home Affairs processes. Recently, Groote Schuur was highlighted as one of the leading service facilities and he thought it could be coincidental that SAMDI have done a lot of work for them. SAMDI has also played a role in training frontline-workers during the recent launch of the new coat of arms. They receive reports from the police on their progress. They have received a request from the Department of Correctional Services to fund training and it was just a matter of processing the request. His sense is that there is movement within SAMDI. He feels that the Department’s history is unfortunate but someone needs to turn that around.

Mr Erasmus supported the Director General’s comments. He added that SAMDI had been given a clear brief by the Minister, namely to restructure SAMDI to become a sustainable public service trainer, to involve JUBNET and other bodies and to link all resources to strengthen the effectiveness of SAMDI. Even while SAMDI is undergoing the restructuring, transitional process they should deliver. So far a substantial number of persons, 18 000 persons, have been trained even through the restructuring process.

Mr Grobler (DP) asked what the possibility is of extending the project. What happens if it is not extended and what are their views on outsourcing?

Mr Erasmus said that when they had decided on outsourcing they had to consider the political impact it would have, given that is largely perceived to be the same as privatisation. The question was whether SAMDI would act as consultant or become a competitive training provider. They had decided on a mixture of the two to meet training needs. They decided that 80% of their work would be outsourced through JUBNET, which is a way of avoiding administrative problems, or some programmes would use SAMDI’s trainers in partnership with trainers from other organisations. Even if they outsource services SAMDI will retain ownership of products and manage all processes they undertake.

Mr Scott (ANC) said the figures show that it takes under three days to train a person in an EU programme but in a government programme eight days. What is the reason for these discrepancies?

Mr Erasmus responded that the EU measures the days by the physical presence of the trainee. Within SAMDI an average per person day is used because the average programme runs between 3-7 days. They also take the extra time put in by the trainers for pre-and post programme preparation into account.

What is being done to encourage information technology training as part of new management styles?

Mr Mokgoro’s response was that the committed budget for training senior managers in the provinces is R2.3 million. The DPSA did a needs analysis in provinces. JUPMET is launching programmes to gear people to begin understanding the importance of IT training.

The Chair, Mr Nhleko, thanked SAMDI for their comprehensive report and commended them on taking sound steps to turn the Department around. The meeting was concluded.

Appendix 1
SAMDI
PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
(PSMDP)
COMPREHENSIVE STATUS REPORT
(Jan 1998 – May 2000)
To the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration
From TJ Mokgoro (DG: SAMDI)

OBJECTIVES OF THIS REPORT
To provide the Portfolio Committee for Public Service and administration with a Comprehensive Status Report on the EU-Funded Public Service Management Development Programme. (PSMDP)

The information will enable the Portfolio Committee to:

1. Understand SAMDI’s obligations to the EU Funded Programme.
2. Understand some of the legacies that the DG: SAMDI inherited and how this has impeded progress.
3. Be informed of SAMDI’s performance and achievements under the PSMDP Programme.
4. Understand the critical risk factors in terms of under performance and under expenditure for SAMDI over the next few months.
5. Be informed of the decisions and choices made by SAMDI to reverse the situation to performance and success.

BACKGROUND
Contract No.SA/B7-3200-96/003 Public Service Management Development Programme (PSMDP) was executed between the Commission of the European Communities and the Government of South Africa on 15^th September 1997.

The total EU contribution to SAMDI is R 60,352.500.00 million to the financing of the PSMDP as part of its 1996 European Programme for Reconstruction and Development. The commitment by government is R 17.6 million per annum over a period of three years. The contract is to be performed within 36 months, and is scheduled for completion by 31 October 2000. The Programme was officially launched on the 7 November 1997.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE
The Public Service Management Development Programme (PSMDP) is intended to improve the performance, management and productivity of the Public Service. This aim is achieved through the support given by the European Union to the development of SAMDI and Joint Universities Public Management Education Trust (JUPMET). The Programme activities are determined in accordance with the Finance Agreement requirements and the priorities and policies of government.

PROJECT PURPOSE
The essence of government training policy is the development of a public service that is people – centred, efficient and productive. A public service that is staffed by public servants whose potential is developed appropriately and adequately. Although the immediate beneficiaries of the PSMDP Programme are SAMDI and JUPMET, the ultimate beneficiaries are the broader public as "customers" of public services. This is emphasized in all the activities of the SAMDI workplans.

The White Paper on Transformation of the Public Service identified the core problem in the Public Service as a lack of capacity in management training and development to achieve a people-centered, efficient and productive Public Service. The White Paper states, "The need for training currently outstrips the existing capacity to deliver at national and provincial levels". The PSMDP Programme was established to respond to this need.

This report will address itself to two critical challenges facing SAMDI on the PSMDP Programme:
The Finance Agreement identified a number of risk factors for SAMDI in 1997. The two factors that are of importance for this report are under expenditure and under performance. The contribution by the European Union is substantial and would effectively double the expenditure and work rate required of SAMDI. Early on in the programme it was recognized that unless there was a radical change in SAMDI’s delivery and marketing strategy, strengthened management, appropriate leadership, internal training capacity building and repositioning of itself in the training market, it was not going to deliver against set targets and expenditure.

UNDER EXPENDITURE
The first SAMDI Annual Work Plan (AWP), which covered the last quarter of 1997, was approved by the Programme Steering Committee (PSC) but did not meet all the required EU criteria. The previous head of SAMDI who insisted on the acceptance of the 1997 workplan, even though Brussels on sound grounds rejected it, further aggravated the problem. SAMDI could have prepared a workplan for the first half of 1998 but chose to expend its energies on disputing the 1997 plan with the EU despite the fact that 1997 had passed.

According to the elapsed-time requirement, SAMDI would have needed to submit its 1998 AWP by mid-September 1997 to be sure of approval by start-up date.

A new workplan was eventually prepared with the help of the Programme Management Unit (PMU) who became operational in January 1998.

The SAMDI AWP 1998 was approved by the Programme Steering committee (PSC) on 15 May, dispatched to Brussels on 22 May, and approved by Brussels on the 5 June. The SAMDI 1998 Workplan was meant to commence on 1 July 1998, but was also delayed because funds from Brussels were not released in time. The 1998 AWP was scarcely implemented despite the PMU effort that went into its drafting and easing through Brussels. This was because the money from Brussels was sent in July 1998 to the Government’s RDP account, despite clear instructions to send it to the SAMDI Training Fund Account, and was not recovered until February 1999. This was a disaster of major proportions. These delays effectively put back the delivery of the SAMDI 1998 workplan by 5 months and blew SAMDI off course from which it never recovered.

The real problem here was the time-lapse between the funding application and the receipt of money into the SAMDI training fund. The financing plan process is based on a sequence of events designed to ensure that funds are made available at the right time for service delivery to commence in accordance with the activities set out in the annual workplans. This is especially important in the case of JUPMET because its programmes must be fitted into the timetables of the six participating Universities.

Although, SAMDI may be able to react more quickly to changes in course schedules, nevertheless start-up delays are disruptive, since courses must be advertised well in advance, and changes at short notice may adversely affect SAMDI’s standing and credibility with its clients, as well as creating resource scheduling difficulties.

The PSC suggested to the EU in Brussels, that authority to approve AWP should rest with the EU Delegation in Pretoria since the Delegation has complete familiarity with local circumstances and is represented on the PSC. The Delegation would retain the over-riding authority to determine funding applications.

The second suggestion came from the mid-term evaluators who identified this delay as the primary reason for the under expenditure of the 1998 Workplan. They recommended a "framework work plan " approach, which is used in other parts of the world. Where SAMDI develops framework workplans and the EU Delegation in South Africa approves them. A "framework workplan" approach would also enable the beneficiaries of funds to reallocate unspent funds from previous workplans to meet new priorities of government, without delaying delivery and fear of under spending when a financial year comes to an end.

SAMDI found itself in yet another tight squeeze when the EU in Brussels approved the AWP 1999 on 12 October 1998, the same time when the 1998 AWP funds came through. Fortunately, approval for the AWP 1999 was well within the timescale described in the Finance Agreement and the EU Guidelines. However, SAMDI was now confronted with having to deliver two approved workplans in one year, totaling 57 730 person-training days and R 26,700,000. SAMDI’s expenditure for both workplans by November 1999 was
R 6,961,068. Together with satisfying EU expectations, SAMDI had to deliver on its own government-funded workplan for 1998- 1999 as well which totaled R 15,289,000. The table (Annexure A) illustrates the SAMDI - EU rate of spend for 1998/1999. Expenditure for 1998 was slow due to the late start and receipt of funds, as expected expenditure increased for November but dramatically declined in December. December – February are considered as fallow training periods when significant parts of the public service operate a de facto "shut-down" policy. The expenditure pattern for AWP 1999 shows a slow rate of spend that increased dramatically by the sixth month in the implementation of the Programme and declined by November and December. If we use this pattern of expenditure as a yardstick, expenditure on AWP 2000 will fluctuate from now to August but will peak in August and even higher in September 2000. Since most contracts should have been let at this stage. Once contracts are let/outsourced, 20% of each contract expenditure would have been committed. The completion of the letting of contracts is envisaged around middle July. This implies that expenditure will rise steeply by end of July and peak by late October and stabilize by the end of November.

We are confident that the financial forecast for 2000 will be very different from the previous years since a new SAMDI structure will be in place and funds committed to service providers.

SAMDI’s workload and rate of expenditure by February 1999 were doubled and left SAMDI in a precarious situation. SAMDI did not have a problem of lack of funds but spending it wisely, appropriately and within the given timeframes became a real concern to SAMDI management. SAMDI was bound to under perform and deliver to the expectation of the Finance agreement. The loss of momentum that this created should not be minimized, inasmuch as strategy is concerned. Having to reformulate the pace, targets and reallocation of funds and the direction of SAMDI programmers is energy snatching, with an attendant loss of momentum for both service provider, and client. It also creates an "alarm disorder" among managers who have to satisfy funders with reports of activities, even where these have perhaps been few, while others have not really made the impression expected by funders. The loss of momentum are in itself not an issue, except to say that the time spent on planning and articulating the detailed SAMDI workplans, implementation plans and the preparatory work with provinces and departments were largely lost, since few of the plans saw implementation.

UNDER PERFORMANCE
The Finance Agreement identifies as a risk the ability of SAMDI staff to absorb and deliver the large proposed programme and the associated risk of under performance unless the staff resource is increased. SAMDI’s management capability was increased by the appointment of 22 EU Funded contract staff. The unit was mainly responsible for preparing annual workplans and monitoring, reviewing and evaluating all training programmes: developing and implementing effective marketing and public relations programmes in order to enhance SAMDI’s corporate image and penetration of the training market. They gave particular importance to communication, customer care, productivity and quality management, policy management, human resource management and managing the EU-funded project finance system within SAMDI.

All the role players, in particular the beneficiaries of the EU grant, SAMDI and JUPMET were aware that the PSMDP programme involved the investment of a very large total sum and the delivery of a training programme of considerable magnitude. Delivering the large programme would be made more difficult if the effectiveness and capacity of the two beneficiaries (SAMDI and JUPMET) were inadequate. The Terms of Reference recognised this by making substantial provision for investment in SAMDI directly and through the mechanism of the International European Link Programme.

1. SAMDI REORGANISING AND RESTRUCTURING PROCESESSES (1998/9)
The descheduling of SAMDI, 1 April 1998, into a branch in DPSA contributed to the confusion, uncertainty and insecurity within SAMDI. This decision went against the spirit of the Finance Agreement for SAMDI to be autonomous. The reason for the absorption into DPSA was because SAMDI was perceived by its principals and clients not to be delivering and because it was not responding to the priorities set by government. This, together with the subsequent restructuring of SAMDI into project management teams, considerably delayed the implementation of the EU-Funded 1999 workplan.

Reports written during this period by SAMDI and the PMU indicate that SAMDI staff went through a traumatic time through being reorganized, restructured, and repositioned. All having a negative effect upon morale.

There is evidence from the documentation on Strategic Planning held during September 1998 that SAMDI employees have concluded that they do not matter as persons, and that their ideas will never see the light of day. On a personal level they are frustrated in that they are not accorded the chance to understand or internalize what they are capable of doing.

The previous Director General of DPSA, Dr. P. Ncholo aligned SAMDI’s activities to the priorities of DPSA and integrated SAMDI staff into the life of DPSA. All training activity was suspended by the D-G at the end of 1998 to enable SAMDI to redesign all its courses to fit Government priorities and customer demand.

This process effectively halted all training.

Between January and August 1999 SAMDI project teams had to develop new curricula, course materials, establish an interim structure and realign AWP 1998/9 activities. At the end of May 1999 SAMDI had also vacated the Fedsure Building to move to Transvaal House. These changes affected progress adversely. Real training activity only began to gather momentum in mid-1999. SAMDI launched a series of road shows aimed at publicizing and marketing its national training programme to national and provincial departments as well as regional offices. The road shows were marketed through high impact presentations and discussions and were reasonably well received by SAMDI’s clients. The road shows restored some confidence in SAMDI’s products and range of services with the clients but could not deal with the concerns of provinces and departments about SAMDI’s ability to deliver training that is demand driven and customer focused and not just generic.

The Marketing Strategy of SAMDI appears to have been unable to grasp the "market" forces within which our clients operate. Being allied to the Government and providing training is not sufficient to bring developmental processes to public servants. Nor does the creation of generic courses in response to government’s policy initiatives meet the training needs of public servants. Despite, these constraining factors SAMDI was able to train in 1999 18 150 public servants, which amounts to 77 305 person training days (These statistics include government and EU - Funded training). These outputs are significant considering the odds stacked against SAMDI in 1998/9.

2. Reporting
The roll out of 1998/9 workplans became a number crunching exercise. The problem is that the outputs and results demanded in the Financing Agreement are largely ‘number crunching’. SAMDI management found themselves on the back foot having to deliver on targets, which they knew they would not be able to meet.

Quoting training statistics are indeed impressive on the surface, and seemingly there is an impact being made. However, as the Mid-Term Review rightfully reports, "… Neither attendance nor even participants’ performance on courses are sufficient, alone, to determine whether a particular course provides value for money, in terms of its impact on public service performance and management." This became the challenge for the new incumbent TJ Mokgoro as DG: SAMDI.

The rescheduling of SAMDI as a Schedule I department, with effect 1 October 1999,was a step in the right direction. However, much of the work of the DG: SAMDI was coming to terms with the legacy of the past 4 years in SAMDI and understanding and working through the baggage inherited from that past. The DG: SAMDI embarked on a process to transform SAMDI into " …a self sustaining organization transformation center of excellence for public service delivery"

3. Technical Assistance Link Programme
The Technical Assistance Link Programme is a component of the Public Service Management Development Programme initiative. This programme was established to strengthen SAMDI’s management and institutional capacity. It was anticipated that SAMDI’s financial resources would double and that capacity and human resource needs would need to increase quite substantially. The Programme Steering Committee (PSC) selected the Civil Service College consortium from 11 tenders. The consortium consisted of Civil Service College in the UK, Maastricht in the Netherlands and Institute for Public Management in Dublin. The three institutes brought extensive public sector experience to SAMDI and each of the Link Training Institutes (LTI’s) placed a Training and Development Advisor with management experience within SAMDI (6 consultants), between January and December 1999.

The link programme consisted of the following components:
- Organizational Development Support
- Policy Analysis and Project Management
- Human Resources, Management and special programmes
- Productivity and Quality Management and customer care.

The link programme is continuing until the end of 2000.
HSRC have been approached to do an impact study of the Technical Assistance Link Programme (TALP) for 1999. This report will be available by the end of August 2000. Suffice to say the Link Programme was poorly conceptualized by the previous management of SAMDI and not strategically directed to support the changes within SAMDI. The programme was too activity specific and did not make the organizational impact that was expected. The Link programme for 2000 is under review to ensure the same mistakes of 1999 are not made again.

Three European study visits were undertaken by SAMDI to inter alia set up the continuation of the next link:

- The study visit took place from 5 – 17 September 1999. The ten participants (9 from provinces and 1 from SAMDI) visited Civil Service College, IPA in Dublin and Maastricht School of Management. Participants began the implementation of their project plans soon after their return from Europe. Provincial projects were based upon the priorities of provinces and linked to the projects of SAMDI. Projects include: Fraud control; gender sensitization; Employment relations; Information Technology and Information Management. SAMDI committed itself to provide financial, mentoring and project management support to the participants. SAMDI continues their support for the implementation of provincial projects and to integrate the work of these provincial representatives into the new business of SAMDI.
- The Finance director of SAMDI visited the institutes in January 2000, to do a study on the cost recovery models used by the three management colleges.
The DG: SAMDI and two staff members visited the same schools in March 2000 to set up the continuation of the link programme for 2000. The visit also included researching training methodologies, course design and management programmes.

4. Performance Monitoring:
The PMU in conjunction with SAMDI devised and implemented a detailed performance monitoring strategy that forms the basis for performance monitoring measures. These have now come into effect. Physical spot checks by PMU staff are a key part of the strategy, but an important measure is the rates of spend against the cost estimates and financing plan. The significance of this is that whilst overspending on programmes must be contained to ensure that the totality of project funds is not exceeded, under-spending is under-performance. The rate of spend is, therefore, an important performance monitoring device.

This strategy has only been partially implemented. PMU continues to monitor performance through: -
- Supply by service provider to PMU of attendance registers, detailed activity reports, and course materials for each activity
- PMU spot attendance at training sessions to monitor training methods, content and delivery
- Completion of evaluation forms by participants
- Tracer studies to determine training impact.

The monitoring of expenditure against outputs is also important besides the spot-checking done by the PMU and will be done by the new Contract Management Team.

5. CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
All the SAMDI project teams felt frustrated by the EU modalities and PMU procedures. The DG: SAMDI resolved to streamline the functions performed by the PMU with that of SAMDI to prevent duplication, delays and unnecessary blockages. Two workshops were held in January 2000 by the PMU to explain EU and PMU procedures and modalities, however there was still confusion amongst project teams.


PMU relationships with the principal beneficiaries SAMDI and JUPMET weakened in the middle of last year. Some of the differences relate to how PMU view project performance on the basis of training outputs while ignoring the value and impact of in house training and quality support to departments that cannot be quantified.
The problems between the PMU and SAMDI were made worse by the perception that PMU acted as an agent for the donors and not necessarily as a technical resource to the beneficiaries of the PSMDP Programme.

All the project teams were unhappy about the stringent application of the EU procedures and modalities. This has led to confusion, frustration and low morale amongst staff. SAMDI managers would rather access SAMDI funds than attempting to request funds from the EU Budget. The "opportunity costs" lost, due to delays in implementation cannot be measured in Rands and cents. The expectation of SAMDI staff in what could have been achieved with EU Funds seems to have been destroyed.

The DG: SAMDI established a Contract Management Team (CMT), in May 2000 to address some of the frustrations felt by the SAMDI project managers. The team consist of 4 SAMDI staff members who are dedicated to manage the delivery and outsourcing of annual workplan 2000. The contract management process has been agreed with the PMU and all parties concerned. The CMT perform a function previously carried out by project managers, despite the fact that they did not have contract management skills. Project managers are now freed to manage the implementation of training and OD interventions and are not burdened with the details of procurement contracts.

In the first two weeks of their work the CMT have turned out approved bidding contracts to the tune of
R 1,093,000. They are expecting to finalize contracts valued at R 3,948,000 by the 26 June 2000. The CMT report to the DG: SAMDI and are directly accountable to him. The CMT will report on the status and contract progress of each activity to the DG on a weekly basis. SAMDI and DPSA will be regularly informed of blockages and steps taken to resolve these. This is a critical performance measure, which will enable the DG SAMDI to detect under-expenditure before it occurs. (See Annexure B AWP 2000 Activity Status)

TIMEFRAMES:
The time frames set for the CMT are tight and complacency is not tolerated.

The Ministry
The Minister for Public Service and Administration is very committed and involved in the PSMDP Programme. The Minister has met with the EU Ambassador and with the key players of the programme to inform herself first hand of developments. Policy and activity direction has also been provided. The Ministry remains involved through attending PSMDP meetings or reports submitted to the Minister’s office on a regular basis.

Ministerial Meeting: An urgent meeting was held between the Minister for Public Service and Administration and the EU Ambassador on the 19 May 2000.

The Minister’s letter to the EU Ambassador emphasized the following:

- The main source of difficulty on the PSMDP Programme was neither policy nor principle but administrative
- Clearance from the Delegation to implement the DPSA/SAMDI IIP Plan
- Development of a comprehensive Implementation Plan by SAMDI/DPSA
- A task team to resolve outstanding administrative blockages

In response to the Minister’s meeting a Special Task Team Meeting was held on 25 MAY 2000 to discuss the performance of the PSMDP Programme and any outstanding administrative blockages. Representatives of all the stakeholders were present including the Department of Finance. Major administrative issues were resolved including outstanding payments of 1999. The work of the contract management team was confirmed and the programme is back on track. However, the risk of not completing the programme by the end of December 2000 remains a problem. The training statistics for the AWP 2000 illustrates this dilemma.

PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME PERFORMANCE RESULTS (EU- FUNDED)

SUMMARY OF OUTPUTS ACHIEVED
JAN - 1998 – APRIL 2000

( ) All figures in brackets indicate targets not met against projected outputs. (See the full performance results Annexure C)

TRAINING DELIVERED BY SAMDI UNDER THE EU-FUNDED PROGRAMME JAN 1998 – APRIL 2000

Total Training Days required by Finance Agreement by December 2000 is 90 000

If SAMDI achieves AWP 2000 projected targets by December 2000 then the targets set out in the Finance Agreement (revised 90 000 Person Training days) would be exceeded by 21 554 Person Training days.

AWP 2000 REQUIRED OUTPUTS

The status on each of AWP 2000 activities and the progress made during Jan- 13 June 2000 is captured in (See ANNEXURE B).

In the light of the above figures and outputs, SAMDI is likely to under-spend by December 2000, partly because SAMDI will not have delivered the volume of training expected under AWP 2000. (See Annexure D)

Based on these results the DG: SAMDI had to consider some critical issues:

- The training targets set by the Finance Agreement (FA) cannot be met within the given time frame of the Public Service Management Development Programme (31 December 2000). This has been communicated to the EU Delegation at a number of occasions. However, to meet the training demands from our clients and comply with the FA requirements, SAMDI proposed a strategy to substantially outsource (80%) of the PSMDP Programme. This was discussed with the Minister for Public Service and Administration. With the support and guidance of the Minister we refined the outsourcing policy and located it within the function of the newly established Contract Management Team.
- Outsourcing (80%) of training by SAMDI could so easily be misunderstood to mean relinquishing of its training function. We envisage the following broad approach to outsourcing:

- SAMDI staff in the case of CORE, Provisioning Administration Training, Batho Pele, Performance Management, HR Planning, Customer and quality management, policy implementation and project management will provide training directly and entirely.
- Some are provided by JUPMET as a service provider to SAMDI as in the case of the Introductory HRM course by the University of Pretoria. The training will be provided as joint ventures with JUPMET. This partnership is well established and seems to have the support from the EU in Brussels. Such ventures include the IT/IM Provincial capacity Building programme, Police Station Management Programme, and the Leadership Development Programme for middle and senior managers.
- JUPMET is a consortium of the Universities of Durban Westville, Fort Hare, Western Cape, Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Witwatersrand. Purpose of the PSMDP Programme. The SAMDI and JUPMET EU-Funded workplans are based on government priorities identified by the PSC. Secondly, the two beneficiaries have been providing joint training interventions to the Public service. The two providers are also discussing a joint future partnership that could involve fund raising for appropriate training activities. A major partnership with JUPMET will benefit SAMDI and the overall PSMDP Programme.
- Training will also be provided by other non JUPMET schools
- A substantial training contribution will be made by the Civil Service College (CSC) Link Institution
- Some training will be delivered by external providers assisted by SAMDI trainers
- Some training will be delivered by external providers in its entirety

- Irrespective, of the mixture of outsourcing and partnerships, SAMDI will retain ownership of its programmes and products. For SAMDI to be a viable, relevant and competitive training and organisation development agency, it has to position itself as the key provider in respect of key government policies, and as internal consultant to government departments. SAMDI will also serve as a coordinator/broker of other services to empower departments. This forms part of the overall cost recovery strategy which will drive SAMDI’s vision towards " The creation of a self-sustaining organisation transformation centre of excellence for public sector service delivery"
- The Contract Management Team within SAMDI assisted by the PMU will manage this complex outsourcing process.

MID TERM REVIEW REPORT
The Mid Term Review Report (April 1999) on the progress of the Public Service Management Development Programme (PSMDP (completed during 22 April 1999) concluded that the original objective and purpose of the PSMDP Programme remained valid. It also made a number of recommendations. The review encouraged greater cooperation between all the role players on the programme. SAMDI expressed its support particularly to two of these.

a Extending the project until 2001, to support the roll out of the SAMDI IIP Programme, the special programmes and the SAMDI organizational development (OD) programmes such as the Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme. The extension would not require any additional funds but will enable SAMDI to make best use of these funds. We would also be able to guarantee full delivery of existing workplans.

At a recent meeting with the EU Delegation SAMDI was assured of flexibility in the EU Funded Programme and the possibility of an extension was discussed if SAMDI can show substantial delivery over the next six months.

CONCLUSION
SAMDI continued to undergo some dramatic and difficult changes over the past four months. It was difficult for project teams to respond to the demands for quality training by provinces and departments and at the same time working toward the realization of the new vision, mission and interactive structure of SAMDI. Balancing the two tensions required enormous commitment from SAMDI project teams. The SAMDI competency profiling and job evaluation process is almost completed.

Relationships, project teams and general initiatives in the organization will further stabilize when the new posts in the new structure are filled. Despite all the difficulties, departments and provinces continue to work closely with SAMDI to deliver training and organization development interventions.