State of Public Service Report: Public Service Commission briefing; Community Development Workers Progress Report: Department br

Meeting report

PUBLIC SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
22 June 2005
STATE OF PUBLIC SERVICE REPORT: PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION BRIEFING; COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORKERS PROGRESS REPORT: DEPARTMENT BRIEFING; COMMITTEE PROVINCIAL VISIT PLANNING

Chairperson: Mr P Gomomo (ANC)

Documents handed out:
State of the Public Service Reports 2004/2005: Public Service Commission PowerPoint presentation
State of the Public Service Report 2005: Public Service Commission document
Community Development Workers: Progress Report PowerPoint presentation
Community Development Workers: Provincial Allocations
Committee Report on studytour toNorth West, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo (see Appendix)

SUMMARY
The Public Service Commission (PSC) provided an overview of the 2004 and 2005 State of the Public Service Reports. The 2004 Report had found that progress had been made in the transformation of the public service. The PSC then discussed the 2005 Report that had examined the nine Constitutional principles that related to the performance of the public service. These included professional ethics; efficiency, effectiveness and economy; development orientation; impartial, fair and equitable service delivery; public participation; accountability; transparency; human resource management and development; and representivity.

The following findings were made in the 2005 Report. Some departments had experienced problems with accountability; some departments had experienced problems with transparency; 11 departments had received qualified audit reports; service delivery implementation needed to be entrenched; developmental initiatives needed to link the two economies; and departments needed to implement HIV/AIDS strategies. In the ensuing discussion, Members enquired why the 11 departments had received qualified audit reports; whether capacity was a problem in the public service; what percentage of public service employees were disabled; how participatory governance could be improved, whether the Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs) were providing effective training for prospective public service employees; and whether the performance frameworks for the public service had been effective.

The Department had been scheduled to provide a briefing on the unified public service. However, the Department was still awaiting certain decisions on the unified public service from Cabinet. This meant that the briefing would not have differed dramatically from the last briefing that the Committee had received on the unified public service. As a result, the Department had decided to rather brief the Committee on the Community Development Workers (CDWs) programme. CDW learnerships were being implemented in all nine provinces. It was planned that 2 840 CDWs would be deployed in the first phase of the project. The Department had entered into relationships with non-governmental organisations, other departments, municipalities, and youth organisations around the CDW programme. The CDW programme had successfully implemented a branding and communications programme. In the discussion that followed, Members enquired about the criteria used to select CDW learners; which youth organisations were involved in the CDW programme; whether there was proper synergies within the CDW programme, which disabled people’s organisations were involved; and why the Western Cape had not recruited any new CDW learners.

An update on the proposed Committee provincial fact-finding mission was then presented. The visit would be focusing on service delivery from 1 August to 12 August. The fact-finding mission would be divided into two groups. Group A would be visiting KwaZulu-Natal and the Limpopo, while Group B would be visiting the North West and the Eastern Cape provinces. The focus areas would include school construction, housing development, water supply, social grants, and electricity provision. Members then requested clarification around the visits that the Minister expected them to conduct to public service sites from 23 June until July. These visits should be part of the Members constituency work.

MINUTES

Public Service Commission briefing
Professor S Sangweni (PSC Chairperson) began by noting that the 2005 Report examined whether the public service had met its Constitutional requirements. Mr I Naidoo (PSC Chief Director: Governance Monitoring) added that the 2005 Report provided an overview of the public service’s progress but also included information on the challenges it faced.

Mr Naidoo briefly discussed the 2004 Report, which had examined the transformation of the public service since 1994. It had been found that progress had been made in transforming the public service. Certain recommendations had been made in the 2004 Report, which included that departments needed to clearly define outcomes and outputs; to use Medium-term Strategic Frameworks (MTSF) to define objectives in order to make performance more explicit, to integrate service delivery systems to promote efficiency; to use simple and practical innovations to enhance service delivery; and to implement monitoring and evaluation systems.

Mr Naidoo then outlined the methodology that underpinned the 2005 Report. The PSC had conducted research into the nine Constitutional principles that were relevant to the public service in order to promote democratic ideals such as transparency, accountability and public participation. The nine Constitutional principles of the public service that the 2005 Report had examined were as follows:

- Professional Ethics. The PSC had found that although basic infrastructure had been established, implementation needed to be entrenched. The public service’s Code of Conduct also required refinement. The PSC’s anti-corruption hotline was widely used but people’s understanding of the whistle-blowing guidelines was poor. In the future, the public service needed to be corruption resistant and needed to inculcate solid ethics amongst its employees.

- Efficiency, Effectiveness and Economy. It had been found that many departments were overcoming their difficulties in spending funds but some departments were still not achieving their strategic objectives. Some departments were also not relating their annual reports to their budgets. Departments’ performance indicators also needed to be properly defined. The PSC recommended that training and support programmes should be strengthened to ensure that officials were capable of performing efficiently and effectively.

- Development Orientation. The PSC found that departments needed to use participatory processes in order to achieve poverty alleviation. This would require long term solutions. Going forward, developmental initiatives needed to bridge the gap between the two economies.

- Impartial, Fair and Equitable Service Delivery. The PSC had discovered that the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act had been poorly implemented. The PSC suggested that historical circumstances needed to be considered in order to achieve equitable service delivery. In the future, departments needed to report on service delivery plans in their annual reports.

- Public Participation. The PSC had found that public participation was important as it improved service delivery. However, participatory governance required clear procedures and policies, which were lacking in certain departments.

- Accountability. The PSC was concerned that the number of departments that had received qualified reports had increased. It also found that compliance with the Head of Department (HoD) evaluation process varied from Department to Department. Overall 34% of HoDs were given an outstanding rating. In the future, the public service needed to improve its accountability regarding delivery and financial management issues.

- Transparency. It was noted that the quality of departments' annual reports had improved since 1994, although there were still areas of weakness. The PSC recommended that in the future departments’ annual reports needed to be further improved and public servants needed to become ‘visible’.

- Human Resource Management and Development. The PSC noted that departments needed to ensure that human resource policies were in place and that the high vacancy levels in the public service were addressed. Departments also needed to consider the impact of HIV/AIDS and successfully deal with HIV/AIDS in the workplace. The vision was for the public service to become the employer of choice.

- Representivity. The PSC commented that although progress had been made in terms of affirmative action, women and disabled people were still under represented in management positions. In the future, the public service needed to strengthen its diversity and link human resource planning with employment equity.

Discussion
Mr M Baloyi (ANC) asked why 11 departments had received qualified audit reports. Professor Sangweni replied that some of the 11 departments had received a qualified report because they were not managing their assets properly. This mainly related to that fact that departments were required to maintain an assets register but the departments in question had failed to do so. Other departments had also received qualified reports because they had failed to fully use their budgets. This was often due to departments lacking capacity. Fortunately, no department had received a qualified report for failing to account for funds.

Professor Sangweni added that various statutes had been implemented to assist departments in complying with the principle of accountability. For example, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act required departments to offer redress to members of the public that were dissatisfied with service delivery. However, the public service was not implementing this Act properly. Added to this, the Promotion of Access to Information Act had been introduced in order to enhance transparency. The Human Rights Commission (HRC) was responsible for monitoring the implementation of this Act. It had found that most departments had failed to implement the Act. Indeed, last year only 11 departments even submitted information to the HRC regarding the steps they had taken to implement the Act. The principles of transparency and accountability could not be taken in isolation but they were rather interconnected. Dr N Maharaj (PSC Western Cape Commissioner) added that all the nine principles were interrelated and a holistic approach was needed. As such, it was not acceptable if a Department only complied with a few of the principles.

Mr S Simmons (NNP) agreed that a holistic approach was needed. In the light of this, he enquired whether the PSC was co-operating with the Auditor-General, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the HRC and the Department of Public Service and Administration in order to assist the 11 departments with their problems.

Professor Sangweni responded that the PSC would follow up on this suggestion. The PSC had, however, already entered into memorandums of understanding with the Auditor-General and the Public Protector. Indeed, the PSC and the Auditor-General were undertaking a joint study on the management of conflict of interests in departments. The PSC was also working on implementing a memorandum of understanding with the HRC.

Mr Baloyi stated that the reasons why departments repeatedly received qualified reports should be investigated. Departments should not be continuously receiving qualified reports because they should have addressed their problems. Departments experiencing problems needed to have turnaround strategies. It should be Parliament’s responsibility to monitor these turnaround strategies.

Mr Baloyi noted the 2005 Report stated that departments lacked capacity. However, the 2005 Report had also stated that public service employees were highly qualified and professional. He commented that there seemed to be a contradiction between these two statements. He asked why public service employees, who had excellent qualifications, were failing to deliver properly. Was a lack of capacity being used as an excuse or was it a reality? Comparative studies between South Africa’s public service and the public services of other countries should be undertaken. This would allow one to establish whether the problems with service delivery were due to employees' attitudes or a lack of motivation. If there was a lack of motivation this needed to be addressed. Similarly, if civil servants had a negative attitude, measures needed to be taken to alter their attitudes.

Professor Sangweni answered that capacity was a problem for the public service. Nonetheless, the PSC had conducted a study, which had found that the level of qualifications amongst public service employees was high. There was, however, no form of training that prepared one for work in the public service. Added to this, some people who had excellent qualifications were sometimes unable to translate their theoretical knowledge into practical service delivery. This situation could only be improved through on the job training programmes and experience.

Mr Baloyi stated that the Committee and the PSC needed to develop an action plan based on the recommendations of the 2004 and 2005 Reports. One could then begin to address the problems in the public service.

Professor Sangweni stated that the Committee should summon the departments that had problems to Parliament in order for them to provide explanations. This would allow the Committee to execute its political oversight role. The PSC would also be prepared to provide a briefing to a Joint Meeting of the relevant Committees on the problems that departments experienced.

Mr N Gcwabaza (ANC) commented that the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Education’s Annual Report had included disclaimers for the last four or five years. He asked whether the PSC was attending to this problem.

Mr M Diphofa (Deputy Director General: Monitoring and Evaluation) replied that a plan was being introduced by the PSC, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the KZN Premier’s Office to deal with the problems of the KZN Department of Education.

Dr U Roopnarain (IFP) enquired why there were so few women in senior management positions in the government departments.

Dr Maharaj responded that the gender ratio in government departments had improved significantly since 1994. However, sometimes, unnecessary obstacles were placed in the way of women in the work environment. The work environment into which women were recruited needed to be managed more effectively. He added that sufficient women were graduating from universities and these women should be given an opportunity to enter into management positions. However, having the correct work experience was also vital. The public service needed to manage potential properly in order to recognise future managers. Mr Diphofa added that departments needed to empower women, through induction and training programmes.

Dr Roopnarain asked what percentage of public service employees were disabled people.

Dr Maharaj answered that a target had been set whereby two percent of public service employees should be disabled people. However, the public service was not reaching this target and too few disabled people were being employed.

Dr Roopnarain commented that the public service was constantly losing skilled employees to the private sector. She asked whether the PSC had plans to address this problem.

Mr R Ntuli (DA) enquired whether the PSC could provide concrete suggestions on how participatory governance could become better structured and more effective.

Mr Diphofa responded that there were a number of mechanisms that were being used in order to ensure public participation, which included Imbizos and social audits. Citizen satisfaction surveys were being conducted in order to establish the public’s perceptions of service delivery. However, these mechanisms needed to be regularised. A formal system was also needed to incorporate public input into service delivery programmes. If people’s concerns were not incorporated into service delivery programmes they would lose confidence in the public participatory process.

Mr Gcwabaza asked whether the SETAs were effectively training young unemployed people for employment in the public sector. If they were, this would address the high vacancy levels in the public service.

Mr Diphofa replied that departments needed to undertake strategic planning in order to identify where there were human resource gaps. In many departments the strategic plans and human resource development plans did not overlap, which meant that the skills needed to fill the gaps were not being properly identified. The departments needed to inform the SETAs regarding the skills that they required in order for the training programmes to be successful.

Mr B Mthembu (ANC) asked how many departments had been unable to realise their strategic objectives.

Professor Sangweni responded that when it was reported that "many" departments had not realised their strategic objectives, the term "many" was a relative term. It was an issue of being rigorous in terms of reporting inputs and outputs as against the outcomes.

Mr Mthembu asked whether the frameworks that set the standards for good governance and performance in the public service were effective. If the frameworks were working then what had caused the problems in the public service? The Committee needed to examine whether the frameworks were being implemented. It needed to consider the root causes of the problems in the public service.

Professor Sangweni stated that there was no crisis in the public service. The Reports had simply pointed out certain problems. Indeed, only 11 departments out of approximately 90 departments had received qualified reports.

The Chairperson noted that the Committee needed to act on the information provided by the PSC. The public service was not in a crisis but there needed to be better inter and intra departmental communication and co-ordination. The Chairperson added that perhaps there needed to be a workshop with the relevant Committees, departments and the PSC to discuss the problems in the public service.

Department briefing
Mr Richard Levin (Department Director-General) noted that they had prepared a presentation on the unified public service. However, when the Minister and Department reviewed the presentation it was found it did not differ significantly from the last presentation that the Committee had received on the unified public service. This was because the Department was still awaiting a number of decisions from Cabinet and these decisions could not be included in the presentation. Mr Levin noted that the Minister had contacted the Committee and proposed that instead of having a presentation on the unified public service, the Department should rather brief the Committee on the progress of the Community Development Worker (CDW) programme.

The Chairperson did not object to the proposal, but expected the Department to return to brief the Committee on the unified public service at a later stage.

Mr Levin noted that the CDW programme had been in existence since 2003. A National Unit in the Ministry, along with the Department of Provincial and Local Government, was responsible for the implementation of the programme. Provincial units were also being established to aid with implementation. The National Unit had been involved in monitoring the implementation of CDW learnerships. It had also consulted with other departments in an attempt to explore joint programmes. The National Unit had established a learning network, which was based on the successful Indian model.

Mr Levin stated that at a provincial level, most of the provinces had achieved progress in implementing the CDW programme. However, there were three provinces where the implementation of the CDW programme had been unstable. Nonetheless, learnerships were in place in all the provinces. Indeed, 571 CDW learners had completed their learnerships, which included 199 in Gauteng, 180 in the Eastern Cape and 192 in the Northern Cape. The provinces were in the process of finalising the selection of the remaining 1 579 learners. Mr Levin noted that 53% of the present CDW learners were women. Added to this, 78% of the CDWs learners were African, 20% were ‘coloured’ and 2% were Asian or white. Some provinces had experienced difficulties in recruiting disabled people. Mr Levin noted that further training was being provided to CDW learners on e-Government, Information and Communication Technology, Batho Pele, entrepreneurial and life skills. The CDWs were also using the Multipurpose Community Centres (MPCCs) and the mobile units. Progress had been made in terms of institutional arrangements at the provincial level and budgets had been secured in some of the provinces.

Mr Levin commented that most of the municipalities, where the CDWs would be deployed, had been brought on board. It was planned that 2 840 CDWs would be deployed in municipalities throughout the country in the first phase of the programme. The Department had relationships with various community-based organisations, trade union federations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) around the CDW programme. Similarly, the Department was in the process of implementing a joint programme around CDWs with the National Youth Service, the SA Young Ministers Project, and other departments.

Mr Levin highlighted that the CDW programme had established a communications and branding development strategy. Added to this, a website and handbook were being developed. A policy development strategy had also been initiated, which included the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework. A workshop had been planned, which would include all relevant departments in order create synergy in the implementation of the CDW programme. Some of the key challenges that the CDW programme faced were inter-departmental co-ordination, funding, provincial strategic planning and political buy-in.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked what criteria were used in selecting people for the CDW programme. Mr B Sizani (CDW Unit) replied that the process of selecting the CDWs was transparent. The applicants that were selected as CDWs needed to live in the ward where they would work. They also needed to be respected by the community. As such, the CDW programme was looking for people that had experience in undertaking voluntary work in their communities. Applicants needed to have references from community organisations such as NGOs, local churches or local councillors.

Mr Ntuli enquired which youth bodies were involved in the CDW programme. Added to this, he asked how youth bodies were defined: were they political formations or cultural groups or sports groups?

Mr Sizani responded that in all communities there were youth forums. The CDW programme was engaged with these forums, which were non-political entities. The CDW was not limiting its co-operation to youths that supported a certain political party. As long as a young person had an interest in the development of their communities, then the CDW programme would engage with them.

Mr Ntuli asked what steps had been taken to address the situation in the three provinces where the implementation of CDW programme was unstable.

Mr Sizani answered that the provinces that were experiencing problems with the implementation of the CDW programme were the Free State, Eastern Cape and the North West. The Cabinet reshuffle in the Free State had adversely affected the implementation of the CDW programme. This was because the new MECs needed to be introduced to the concept of the programme, which had led to a delay. In the Eastern Cape, there had been difficulties with the management of the CDW programme. The CDW programme could not operate on an ad hoc basis. The Department, however, was engaging the MECs and the Premiers’ offices in these provinces in order to correct the weaknesses that they had experienced in implementing the CDW programme.

Mr Ntuli asked whether the roles of the various departments, wards and organisations in the CDW programme had been defined. In order to avoid conflict between the various stakeholders, proper synergy was needed.

Mr Sizani replied that the Department had visited various ward committee conferences in order to explain the role of the CDWs in the programme. If provinces, ward committees, councillors and CDWs did not co-operate properly then the whole programme would collapse. In some cases, the Department had conducted meetings with mayors, city managers and municipal managers to explain the role of the CDWs. The Department would also be holding workshops to introduce the CDWs to city, municipal and ward officials in order to ensure that there were no misunderstandings or possible conflicts.

A Member asked whether there was a report on the CDW programme’s visit to India. Mr Sizani responded that 30 CDWs had been sent to India on a study tour. This had been extremely beneficial in terms of skills and experience acquisition. The Department was formulating a report on the visit and this would be circulated to the Committee.

A Member enquired whether there was a good relationship between the CDWs and the traditional leaders.

Mr Sizani noted that the interaction between the CDWs and traditional leaders differed from province to province. Nonetheless, there had not been any conflict between CDWs and traditional leaders. The CDWs were being encouraged to respect the authority and traditions of the traditional leaders. Indeed, the CDWs were instructed to respect the traditions of all people.

Mr E Saloojee (ANC) stated that he had been attempting to find the CDW for central Johannesburg. He had also attempted to visit one of the training programmes but had been unable to find where it was located. Similarly, he had found it difficult to find literature or documentation on how the CDWs were being trained. He asked where he could go to see CDWs in action and whether there was literature available regarding the training methods that were used to train CDWs.

Mr Sizani replied that there was a very competent CDW in central Johannesburg, who had been undertaking excellent work around HIV/AIDS issues. He would send the details of every CDW throughout the country to the Members. The constituency offices could then be involved in monitoring the performance of CDWs. The Department was also in the process of formulating brochures that contained the details of the CDWs. He would send a curriculum and timetable of the CDW training programmes to the Committee. This would allow Members to visit the training programmes.

Mr M Mzondeki asked whether the CDW programme was working with organisations that represented disabled peoples. Mr Sizani responded that he would forward the details of the disabled people’s organisations that the CDW programme was co-operating with.

Mr Mzondeki noted that it was possible that few disabled people had been recruited into the CDW programme in Mpumulanga because disabled person’s organisations in that province were already running an initiative that was similar to the CDW programme.

Mr Sizani acknowledged that he knew about this initiative in Mpumulanga. The CDW programme would be contacting the disabled people’s organisations in Mpumulanga.

Ms P Mashangoane (ANC) asked whether the CDW programme had special support systems for disabled employees. Mr Sizani replied that people with disabilities should not be treated as if they were helpless. Many of the disabled CDWs were able to move around the communities without any special aid. The Department also understood that some of the CDWs, who were in wheelchairs, needed support. For this reason, some of the CDWs who were in wheelchairs had been paired with other CDWs. The aim, however, was not to treat disabled CDWs differently.

Mr Simmons enquired why the Western Cape had not recruited any new CDW learners.

Mr Sizani replied that the Western Cape had recruited all its 400 CDWs in one stage. Other provinces had staggered their recruitment. The reason why the Western Cape had recruited all its CDWs in one stage was because it had started the CDW programme later than the other provinces. Nonetheless, the Western Cape had made great strides and had finished its recruitment. It therefore no longer needed to recruit any CDW learners at this stage.

Committee provincial visits
Mr Baloyi provided an update on the proposed factfinding mission that the Committee would be undertaking in the Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Eastern Cape provinces. The mission would focus on how a lack of communication within and between government entities affected service delivery. The mission would take place between 1 August and 12 August.

The mission would be split into two groups. Group A would visit KwaZulu-Natal and the Limpopo Province. Group A would consist of the Chairperson, Mr Gcwabaza, Ms Mgadabeli, Ms Mashangoane, Dr Roopnarain, Mr Ntuli, a PSC representative, a representative from the Ministry and a parliamentary researcher. Group B would visit the North West and the Eastern Cape. This Group would consist of Mr Mthembu, Ms Maloney, Mr Baloyi, Mr Mzondeki, Mr Saloojee, Mr Minnie, Mr Skhosana, Mr Simmons, a PSC representative, a representative of the Ministry, and the researcher, Mr Ngaleka. Furthermore, the Members from the applicable Select Committees would be participating in the mission.

The focus areas that the mission would be concentrating on would be classroom construction, housing development, water supply, social grants, and electricity provision. The mission would be visiting entities that were involved in these focus areas, which included relevant government departments; developers; contractors; municipalities; MPCCs; and electricity providers. The groups would be conducting both announced and unannounced visits to these entities. The Members would be contacted at a later stage regarding the travel and accommodation logistics. A workshop would be held prior to the factfinding mission’ s departure where a manual would be formulated to assist the mission regarding what issues to raise whilst on the visit.

Committee site visits
Mr Ntuli raised an issue that Members had received a request from the Minister to undertake visits to public service sites from 23 June. The findings would be tabled at a Cabinet meeting in July. He asked whether these site visits would be undertaken individually or as a Committee. He also asked when the findings should be submitted to the Minister.

Mr L Radkin (Representative of the Office of the Ministry) responded that the Committee could decide how it undertook the site visits. The visits could also be incorporated into Members’ constituency work. Indeed, it had been suggested that these visits should be undertaken during the constituency work period. Questionnaires that Members could use whilst visiting sites were attached to the letters that Members had received from the Minister.

The Chairperson noted that the site visits should be undertaken as part of constituency work.

The meeting was adjourned.


Appendix:
STUDY TOUR TO PROVINCES: NORTH WEST, EASTERN CAPE, KWAZULU-NATAL AND LIMPOMPO

Purpose:
It is to investigate issues raised in the Public Protector’s Report on an Investigation into the Causes of Delays in Communication in the Public Administration (Report No.19). Furthermore, it is to assess the impact of delays in communication on service delivery.

Stakeholders:
The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration will meet stakeholders involved in the provision of the identified services. The visit will entail meeting the Standing Committees of the Legislatures in the identified provinces, National and Provincial Department, Municipalities, implementing agencies and other stakeholders.

Focus Areas:
Classroom construction

Housing development

Provision of water supply

MPCC/Social grant

Provision of electricity

Provinces and areas to be visited:

Limpompo:
Capricorn Region: Classroom construction

Vembe Region: Housing development

Mobane region: Provision of water supply

Waterberg region: MPCC/Social

Sikukuni region: Provision of electricity

Eastern Cape:
Bisho: Provision of classrooms

Butterworth: Provision of Water

Port Elizabeth: Housing development

Uitenhage: Provision of electricity

KwaZulu-Natal:
Khanyakude district: MPCC as one stop service
Eshowe/Msinga: Provision of water

Inanda: Provision of social grants

Emalahleni: Provision of electricity

North West: