Question NW1101 to the Minister in the Presidency

Reply:

The Guidelines for the Heads of Department (HoDs) Performance Management and Development System (PMDS), were developed by the Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DPME) and were linked to the HoD PMDS Directive which was developed by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). The Directive requires all Directors-General (DGs) in national departments and HoDs in provincial departments to enter into Performance Agreements with their Executive Authorities. The HoD PMDS processes align individual performance (40%) with organisational performance (40%) which are Annual Performance Plans, Auditor-General findings, and Key Government Focus Areas (KGFAs). The KGFAs address areas of Supply Chain, Diversity and Transformation, Integrated Governance, Regional and International Integration as well as Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS). Furthermore, a department's performance accounts for 60% of the assessments of the accounting officers, with the objective of ensuring alignment between individual performance and that of a department.

The DPME has completed the assessment of departments through various reports such as the Biannual Reports, but has not yet conducted an exercise to establish a direct link between the performance of DGs to that of departments. The department has identified the need to review the current HoD PMDS, to amongst others, ensure alignment between the PDMS of Ministers and that of DGs. The review will also need to focus on a significant shift towards outcomes based approach to planning, monitoting and evaluation. It is once we have aligned the approach to Annual Persformance Plans (APPs) and PMDS to enable an all round outcomes based performance that we will also evaluate the relationship and interplay between the performance of heads of department and the relevant departments.

Thank You.