Question NW3552 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
30 November 2015 - NW3552
Rabotapi, Mr MW to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)Whether his department approved the revised organisational organogram of the Northern Cape Department of Education that was submitted to his department for approval; if so, when; if not, (2) did the head of department at the specified education department have the necessary authority based on the revised organogram to (a) appoint an official at a deputy director-general level in 2013 and only advertise the position in 2014 and (b) make several further appointments; (3) what is the current national benchmark for the appointment of a secretary general in a provincial education department?
Reply:
(1) The Minister for Public Service and Administration (MPSA) does not approve organisational structures of departments. The role of the MPSA during the consultation process is to monitor compliance by departments to the relevant organisational design prescripts. The relevant Executive Authorities (EAs) have the authority to approve the organisational structures of their departments after consultation with the MPSA.
The Northern Cape Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education, submitted a consultation request on the proposed organisational structure to the MPSA on 21 February 2013. The MPSA, on 24 April 2014, concurred with the proposed organizational structure and requested the Department to correctly grade all newly created posts using the Equate Job Evaluation System and to ensure that sufficient funds are available over the medium term prior to commencing with the recruitment process.
(2) The Head of Department derives the necessary authority to approve appointments in his or her department in terms of the approved Delegations from the relevant Executive Authority (EA) to the Head of Department. The Delegations are issued in terms of the Public Service Act and Regulations.
The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) supports departments in the development of their respective Delegations. However, for the period 2013 there was no obligation for departments to submit their approved set of Delegations to the DPSA, which maintain a register of departments’ Delegations.
(3) The Department of Public Service and Administration is not aware of the existence of the post of secretary general refer to in this question.