Question NW955 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
25 April 2022 - NW955
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)What measures and/or interventions has her department put in place to ensure that appointments within the Public Service are based purely on merit and competency; (2) Whether the specified measures and/or interventions apply to the appointments of senior managers within the Public Service; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) & (2) The Public Service Act, 1994 and Public Service Regulations, 2016 requires that persons who are appointed in the Public Service must be fit and proper and further indicates that any person who is appointed must meet the inherent requirement of the job. In the making of any appointment in terms of section 9 of the Public Service Act, 1994, in the public service- (a) all persons who applied and qualify for the appointment concerned shall be considered; and (b) the evaluation of persons shall be based on training, skills, competence, knowledge and the need to redress, in accordance with the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act 55 of 1998), the imbalances of the past to achieve a public service broadly representative of the South African people, including representation according to race, gender and disability.
These legislative prescripts apply to all appointments in the Public Service which must be open, transparent and fair to all of those who apply. The intention is to seek the best person for the post within the context of the regulatory framework.