Public Service Commission 2006 Annual Report
Meeting Summary
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Meeting report
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION SELECT COMMITTEE
31 October 2006
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION 2006 ANNUAL REPORT
Chairperson: Mr S Shiceka [ANC,Gauteng]
Documents Handed Out:
Public Service Commission Annual Report 2005/2006 [ available later at www.psc.gov.za]
Presentation to
the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration
SUMMARY
The Committee was briefed by the Public Service Commission on its 2006 annual
report. The discussion centered on the issue of non-compliance by government
departments with public service regulations, performance bonuses, performance
contracts, vacancies in the Commission, use of consultants and skills transfer
and development.
MINUTES
Introductory remarks by Professor S Sangweni, Public
Service Commission (PSC) Chairperson
Brief introductory remarks providing an overview and background to the Public
Service Commission were made by Prof Sangweni. The
commission was created through a constitutional provision and it was vested
with a custodial oversight responsibility for the public service. It is expected
to be impartial and independent in executing its mandate. One of the PSC’s
functions is to promote the values and principles that govern public
administration. It seeks to play a developmental role by ensuring that its programmes support government initiatives to strengthen
service delivery. The PSC sees its
strategic obligation as the generation of evidence to enable Parliament to
exercise its oversight role and to advice the executive on good administrative
practice. The PSC has continued to roll out its Monitoring and Evaluation
System and has also put mechanisms in place to facilitate citizen participation
in governance. Some interventions have been made in order to undo the tendency
of maladministration in the public service sector. Some of those interventions
were directed at the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Administration.
Presentations on Administration, Investigations and Human Resource Reviews
and Monitoring and Evaluation
Mr M Diphofa (Deputy
Director General: Monitoring and Evaluation) gave a brief overview of the
Monitoring and Evaluation programme performance. Mr D Maphumulo (Deputy Director
General: Administration) gave a brief
overview on the performance of the administration program and Mr A Simpson provided a briefing on the Investigations and
Human Resource Reviews program. The presentations highlighted the aims,
measurable objectives and outputs of each program. Important projects that have
been successfully completed like the Citizen Satisfaction Survey, spending
shortfalls and challenges were cogently illustrated in all three programmes. The PSC received an unqualified audit report
and out of 486 grievances received, 406 were finalised.
It was also mentioned that the State of the Public Service Reports released in
2006 had achieved good coverage and continued to inform discussions on Public
Service delivery. It was submitted that, looking at the demands being placed on
the PSC and its resources, it was clear that the strategic role the PSC played
in our democracy was increasingly being recognised
and the value it added was appreciated.
The PSC would continue to assist the Select Committee in exercising its
oversight responsibility and looked forward to further frequent engagements on
its work.
Discussion
The Chairperson commented that the report was not time specific; it
indicated outputs without stating, for instance, what had been done in six
months’ time.
Mr JW Le Roux [DA, Eastern Cape] asked about the
growth in the public service in the last few years.
Mr A Worth [DA, Free State] asked whether the PSC set
guidelines for performance contracts. What are the penalties if managers did
not perform?
Mr Z Ntuli [ANC, KwaZulu-Natal] wanted to know to whom the PSC reported
after its investigations; to the Scorpions or to departments? Last year, the
PSC indicated it did not have enough funds. Was this because unfunded programmes were introduced?
Kgosi LM Mokoena [ANC, Limpopo] asked that the vacancy rate of 12.13% be
translated into numbers. How often are the investigators trained because at
times the people who are investigators are also investigated? The Public
Service sector still needs to do more when it comes to ethics; staff at the
front desks of government departments is supposed to be mirrors of those
departments but their dress code at times is unethical. How long does it take the PSC to investigate
a particular case? How did the PSC view officials who insisted that workshops
be certificated? Input was requested from the commission on the issue of
officials who get performance bonuses when their departments had consecutive
qualified audit reports.
Prof Sangweni said that the issue of non-compliance
is very difficult and challenging but the PSC is trying to deal with it. The
incidences of non-compliance have declined in the past few years. There are
guidelines set out by the National Treasury with regard to performance
contracts. The issue of performance management and bonuses when not performing
has been investigated and a report has been submitted to the Standing Committee
on Public Accounts (SCOPA). Performance management is really an instrument that
can be used to tell whether there is service delivery. The interventions that
the PSC have made have been at the request either of the Minister concerned or
the President.
Mr N Maharaj (PSC
Commissioner) said that one of the things that the committee was supposed to do
is to hold the departments accountable for their strategic plans, but that is
lacking so far. The PSC can do much more if it had additional resources.
Ms K Mokgalong (PSC Commissioner) said that there is
a policy which governs the issue of non-compliance within the public service
sector. The PSC usually do audits after six months to check whether there is
compliance or not. The entity also has memoranda of understanding with the
Public Protector. She also said that she is not aware of any investigations
that have been handed to the Scorpions: the PSC report to Parliament, Portfolio
Committees and Select Committees as it is constitutionally required to do.
Mr M Diphofa said that there are public servants who are very
dedicated and on the flip side of the coin there are those who are not. That
related to the issue of ethics that needed to be strongly enforced in
government departments.
Mr Maphumulo responded that
the compensation of public servants was in the form of salaries and performance
bonuses as required by the Public Service Act. The vacancy rate can be
translated into 29 vacant posts at the PSC.
Mr Simpson said that their investigators had been
trained and have received some University training in conducting
investigations. The PSC always try to finalise
investigations within a period of two months but at times there are certain
issues that make this impossible. The PSC did not agree that workshops should
be certificated.
The Chairperson said that there was a tendency in South Africa for the
executive to instruct people what to do. Parliament is supposed to play a role
in the format of the annual reports but that was not the case and Parliament
has been reduced to a “consuming institution”.
Prof Sangweni said that their role was to do
technical oversight and that of the Select Committee was to do political
oversight.
Mr A Moseki (ANC, Mpumalanga) welcomed the input by the PSC and asked why
they differentiated between customers as “actual and potential”. What personnel
challenges did the PSC face? How was it faring the provinces?
The Chair said that the National Assembly is different from the National
Council of Provinces [NCOP], so the reports should not shy away from reporting
about provinces. How has the use of consultants contributed to skills
development and what were the financial implications?
Ms F Nyanda (ANC, Mpumalanga)
said that the PSC must monitor the issue of claimed qualifications in the provinces.
Kgosi Mokoena asked the PSC
how they monitored conflicts of interest and how they aimed to control the
exodus of personnel after the department has trained them.
Prof Sangweni admitted that the fact that PSC’s recommendations did not have to implemented
created problems. Promoting a high standard of ethical conduct was one of the PSC’s recommendations. The reason why some HODs are not being evaluated is due to their high mobility
and at times this coincides with new ministers or premiers being appointed.
Mr Maharaj said that their
interaction with the provinces could be better. If there had been better
interaction between the PSC and Provincial Legislatures, better reports would
have been possible on the provinces.
Ms Mokgalong said that disclosure of interests is
more applicable to senior managers. Senior managers must fill in the disclosure
forms and asset registers so that conflicts of interest could be monitored.
Mr Diphofa said that
potential customers are the ones that the PSC is provisionally required to
serve and actual customers are those the PSC actually serve, although not in
its strategic plans. There is always room for transfer of skills when the PSC
used consultants.
Prof Sangweni said that the level of expertise of
public service staff, especially the Directors General, contributes to the
exodus of personnel. In his concluding remarks, Prof Sangweni
said that hopefully the PSC would have an opportunity to engage with the
committee on the issue of priorities and non-compliance. There is also a need
to engage further on the envisaged strategic planning session.
In concluding, the Chairperson said that the PSC needed to give the committee
more reports so that they can be empowered and also be as well-informed as
their counterparts in the National Assembly. It was agreed that another meeting
would be arranged to discuss further the issue of non-compliance, priorities
and the envisaged strategic planning session.
The meeting was adjourned.
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