Vulindlela Project Briefing

Meeting report

PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
6 June 2001
VULINDLELA PROJECT BRIEFING

Chairperson: Mr N P Nhleko

Documents handed out:
Vulindlela and HR Information
National Minimum Information Requirements by Director General - Circular 4 of 2001
Oversight Report

SUMMARY
A briefing follows on the Vulindlela Project. The Committee, however expressed the need for more information and clarity on the project.

MINUTES
Vulindlela Project
Mr Patel, Senior Manager of the Public Service Information Unit presented the Vulindlela Project. He outlined the history of the project as a brainchild of the National Treasury dating back to 1997. The rationale for the project was to gather statistics on the cost of employment of civil servants and to establish a central repository for government financial statistics, management information and personnel profiles.

The Project was an operational one with functions to enable effective planning, management and policy development across government departments. It will encompass and transform other systems that have been used across the country and assimilate them into one system for the entire country. The project was very complex and in the hand of highly technically trained experts. It has evolved successfully. [Refer to Vulindlela and HR Information Document for more details.]

PERSAL was the computer database system used previously for the civil servants payroll. However, some of the disadvantages were missing data, duplication and the inability of the system to manipulate the raw data into meaningful information or patterns. The Vulindlela Project will not be limited to Human Resource practitioners but will be used by government officials across Departments and will also be presented in the Department's annual report.

Mr Patel emphasised that not all information about employees will be made available. There will be what is termed National Minimum Information to be kept on each employee. He handed out a draft copy showing the minimum information that will be required from employees. The rationale for the Vulindlela Project was to empower government departments through access to information. [Refer to detailed report on National Minimum Information Requirements]

Discussion
The Chairperson asked Mr Patel to list other components of the project and to explain how it will co-ordinate with annual reports.

Mr Patel said that he had no idea of its other components because he was only working within the Human Resource component of the project.

Mr Kgwele asked how duplication would be avoided between the Department's annual report and other Departments. Why is the Department's annual report not retrospective?

Mr Patel said that the project was focusing primarily on financial information and it is self-contained. The Department's present way of annual reporting is inherited from the previous government and it would change from next year.

Mr Sithole asked why there was a discrepancy between what the law determines the Minister to do and the actual practice in terms of the structure of the annual report.

Mr Patel said that often at practical level there is a need to be flexible and respond to practical issues with the consent of the Minister of course.

Mr Adams asked how Statistics South Africa differs from the Vulindlela project.

Mr Patel said that it was part of the Vulindlela project but it a survey based establishment whereas Vulindlela was an operational system.

Mr Kgwele asked if the project would be a secure and reliable system of communication.

Mr Patel said that the project was not about communication but a source of information to guide policy in order to use government resources effectively.

One member asked how the project would be able to trace and identify false identity documents (IDs).

Mr Patel stated that this was difficult but for three months now they have been trying to devise means to detect false IDs. One way to do that was to match the Home Affairs database against PERSAL's one, but that this has some legal implications, which the Department should attend to first.

Mr Baloyi commented that the Committee needs a full briefing on the project and the house unanimously agreed in accord. How accessible would the information on the Vulindlela project be?

Mr Patel said that the system would be centralised and information would be given on request. There will not be straightforward access by anyone.

The meeting was adjourned.