Hansard: NA: Mini-Plenary (Debate on Vote 11, 7 & 12)
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 16 May 2023
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 16 MAY 2023
VOTE NO 11 - PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION, VOTE 7 -
NATIONAL SCHOOL OF GOV AND VOTE 12 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
PROCEEDINGS OF HYBRID MINIPLENARY – GOOD HOPE CHAMBER
Watch: Mini-Plenary (Debate on Vote 11, 7 & 12)
Members of the mini-plenary session met at Good Hope Chamber at 14:05.
The Acting Chairperson Mr F D Xasa took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation
APPROPRIATION BILL
Debate on Vote No 11 – Public Service and Administration, including Vote No 7 – National School of Government and Vote No 12 – Public Service Commission:
The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Let me acknowledge; the hon Acting Chair, Deputy Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Dr Chana Pilane-Majake;
Ministers and Deputy Ministers; hon Members of Parliament, in particular the Chairperson and members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration; Chairpersons of the Public Service Commission and Government Employees Medical Scheme, GEMS; Public Sector Education and Training Authority, that is the PSETA and the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, National Governing Council; the directors- general and all executives of the Management Performance Assessment Tool, MPSA, extended portfolio; our esteemed guests; ladies and gentlemen; fellow South Africans; Dumelang! Molweni! good afternoon, Sanibonani [greetings].
Hon Acting Chair, the Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic states that: “We, the People of South Africa adopts this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person”.
It is our collective and individual duty as public servants and public representatives to do all in our power to free the potential of each person and improve the quality of life of South Africans in line with Batho Pele Principles.
IsiZulu:
Abantu kuqala!
English:
As we pursue this noble duty, we feel honoured to deliver the 2023-24 budgets for the following votes: The Vote 11, which is
the Department of Public Service and Administration. Vote 07, National School of Government, NSG, and Vote 12, the Public Service Commission. And I am honoured to note that the Chair of the Public Service Commission, Prof Somadoda Fikeni, is with us in the House together with Prof Mgcaweni, the
Principal of the National School of Government.
It is important to highlight that the Public Service Commission is an independent institution, established in terms
of Chapter 10 of the Constitution.
It should also be noted that the budget for the Centre for Public Service Innovation, as led by the Director, Ms Lydia Sebokedi falls within the vote of the department and will be tabled by hon Deputy Minister, Dr Pilane-Majake.
The approval of the professionalisation framework for the public sector has been a game changer for government’s pursuit of priority 1 of the 6th Administration, namely the Building of a Capable, Ethical and Developmental State. The collaborative manner ably led by the NSG delivered a ground- breaking framework that requires the full implementation by all sectors including the 10 legislatures, local governments, national and provincial departments and all state-owned entities.
We are well on course for full implementation of the framework, and this will include the issuing of directives that will cover, among others, the following: The tenure of Heads of Department. The abolishment of experience requirements for entry level posts in level 1 to level 5 as per the hon President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pronouncements in this year’s Sona. The extension of pre-entry tests including competency assessments to the whole of the Public Service and the revised the Performance Management and Development System, PMDS, for heads of departments.
Hon Chair and members, the department is leading the national and provincial departments to appoint professionalisation champions as we integrate deliverables in the performance agreements; Annual Performance Plans and Annual Operational Plans to ensure that there is ownership and accountability which is accompanied by the appropriate allocation of resources for the full implementation of the framework.
Hon Chairperson, the department’s budget allocation for the 2023-24 financial year is R553,460 million which is an increase of 1% from the allocation for the 2022-23 financial year.
Compensation of employees constitutes R300 million or 54% of the total budget allocation. Goods and Services is R194 million and the capital budget is R6 million. Transfer payments is R52 million of which R45,8 million will be transferred to the Centre for Public Service Innovation as budget allocation for their activities for the current 2023-24 financial year.
The Department of Public Service and Administration consists of five programmes which collectively are expected to lead the Public Service through norms and standards on: Human resource planning and development. Performance management and development. Employee health and wellness. Transformation. Wage Bill management. Negotiations and labour relations management. Discipline, integrity and ethics management.
Rolling out e-government, e-services and cyber security infrastructure. Service access, revitalising the infusion of
Batho Pele Principles in the public service, improving the functionality of government and accessibility as well as
innovation, public participation and knowledge management.
We are committed to lead the integration of government plans, and functionality in the delivery of public goods and services
as we pursue the constitutional mandate of improving the
quality of life of citizens and freeing the potential of each person.
In the state of the nation address, the hon President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted that, and I quote: “A professional public service, staffed by skilled, committed and ethical
people, is critical to an effective state and ending corruption, patronage and wastage”.
One of the fundamental objectives of the professionalisation
framework is to ensure that only qualified and competent individuals are appointed into positions of authority. In
pursuit of a transformed, professional, ethical, capable, and
developmental public administration, the Department of Public Service and Administration is championing the effective
implementation of the professionalisation framework.
The Public Service Commission’s role is to promote good governance through investigations and research as well as
reports. It does reports directly to Parliament. The Public Service Commission, PSC, is a critical partner in the
implementation of professionalisation framework as it plays an
oversight and guiding role in ensuring that the Public Service is ethical in recruitment, employment and governance
management, amongst others.
The Public Service Commission Amendment Bill was presented this morning to the Cabinet committee for publication and
public comments. We aim to secure the enactment of the Bill into law within the current financial year. This will reposition the PSC as a bulwark of good governance in our country.
Once enacted into law, the PSC Bill will enable the conversion
of the Office of the Public Service Commission from a
government department in terms of the Public Service Act of 1994, into an independent Public Service Commission
Secretariat that is established in terms of the Public Service Commission Act. This is to ensure that the Public Service
Commission executes its mandate fully as an independent and impartial constitutional oversight entity. The mandate of the
PSC will be reinforced and extended to local government and public entities in line with section 196(2) of the
Constitution.
Hon members, the Public Service Commission budget allocation
for the 2023-24 financial year is R292,1 million, which equates to 1,2% reduction when compared to the adjusted appropriation allocated during the 2022-23 financial year.
Through its four programmes the PSC will prioritise the following: Leading the restructuring process and the management of the Amendment Bill. Reviewing the employment management practices found in the Public Service to promote
accountability and efficient leadership management practices in line with the President’s response plan to the
recommendations of the Zondo Commission. Improving the
monitoring and evaluation of practices across the Public Service through research and assessments of the Public Service
adherence to the norms and standards set by the department. Elevate the fight against corruption by improving the whistle
blower protection, the discipline management as well as entrenching integrity and ethical conduct. And lastly,
embarking on a national advocacy campaign on the constitutional values and principles in collaboration with key
civil society and faith-based organisations such as the Moral
Regeneration Movement, that is MRM, and the Ethics Institute.
The PSC will also assess various human resource management practices that are central to the professionalisation of the Public Service. It will strengthen its engagements with executive authorities, the legislatures, the senior
management, the human resources and labour relations practitioners to improve state capacity capabilities.
The critical deliverable for the PSC is to ensure that the
Public Service lives up to the constitutional mandate of improving the quality of life of all citizens and freeing the
potential of each person.
During this 10-year period of existence, the National School
of Government has been on a growth path towards making public sector education, training and development more accessible and
relevant to the challenges of service delivery. The Education, Training and Development interventions have focused across the
public sector spectrum – from training unemployed youth graduates, the Public Service interns, to serving public
servants, and senior managers. The training programmes
provided by the NSG, now target members of boards of state- owned entities, the public representatives, the members of the
executive and the traditional leaders to undertake the much- required capacity building.
The reach of the school has also grown throughout the African continent, and beyond, with many management development institutes benefiting from bilateral agreements with the school.
The NSG has solidified its footprint with the partnerships
that include the World Economic Forum, the European Union, the
Civil Service College in Singapore, China Africa Institute, and the National School of Public Administration in Brazil.
Since the launch of the Economic Governance School for members
of the executive as approved by Cabinet in 2020, the National School of Government has successfully facilitated three
iterations of the annual programme, in collaboration with the Wits School of Governance. Each annual programme is aimed at
broadening the perspectives of elected and appointed public
leaders, through analysis and critical reflection on the nature of challenges confronting society today. In particular,
the programme serves as a learning engagement platform through which senior officials collaboratively reconsider policy imperatives in a turbulent global economy. The 2022 cohort
comprised local participants together with counterparts from eight African states.
This year, the National School of Government is collaborating
with the Kenya School of Government to bring together participants from these two countries. The first leg of the
2023 programme took place on 16 to 21 April this year in South
Africa and the second leg will take place on 21 to 27 May 2023 in Kenya. The collaboration marks the initial implementation
of the co-operation of the NSG together with the KSG, in the context of building stronger Kenya – South Africa bilateral
relations based on common values and development pursuits. For the 2023-24 financial year, the NSG has been allocated a
budget of R229 million of which R115 million is transferred to the training trading account.
Hon members, the NSG raises almost half of its operating costs, and is targeting to raise revenue to the amount of
R101,3 million from course fees.
This means that the NSG has over the past 10 years of its establishment, and development raised over a billion Rands to
fund training and development. Whilst this must be commended, there is a need to reflect on the funding model in the context of its mandate, and the critical role it plays in the professionalisation of the Public Service.
The NSG will be implementing the following key priorities:
Targeted education, training and development of more than
46 000 learners. The rollout of compulsory programmes and focus on the niche programme offerings Economic Governance
School, the executive education, the SOE board induction and traditional leaders.
The school has made the notable achievements since its
establishment in 2013, and these include: Training more than
526 000 learners through all forms of training interventions
and delivery modes such as eLearning. Receiving unqualified
and clean audit outcomes on both the vote and the training trading account – which points to efficient corporate
governance and compliance. Designing and delivering courses such as Nyukela, Compulsory Induction Programme, the Project Khaedu, the Ethics in the Public Service, Economic Governance School and other executive education courses. And over the
last three years alone, there has been eLearning enrolments of more than 194 000 learners.
To sustain this performance, in the coming months we will
table a position paper to Cabinet which will consider the following: Teaching and learning philosophy underpinning the
courses, programmes and qualifications of the National School
of Government. The positioning of the National School of Government for strategic international partnerships and
collaboration. Leading in the professionalisation of the public sector. The Digital learning opportunities for public
servants and reviewing the funding model for the National School of Government.
The year 2024 marks 30 years of democracy. In this regard, we
are reflecting on the transformation role and agenda of the
Public Service since 1994. Through this work we will ascertain the current transformational capacity of the public
administration, areas for intervention as well as determine the most appropriate. South Africa is not the same when compared to 1994.
Today, the Director-Generals in the Presidency, the Department of Public Service and Administration, the PSC and the acting director in the centre for Public Service Innovation, CPSI, are capable women that are leading the core of government. The
apartheid public administration machinery has been dismantled. Malibongwe! Malibongwe! [Praise! Praise!]
Given that we are reaching the end of implementing the current Medium Term Strategic Framework in this current year: We are
conducting a full skills audit throughout the Public Service, which will include qualifications, skills, competencies and
the correct location of these. The establishment of a single register for disciplinary cases and processes across all
spheres of government as part of entrenching accountability and streamlining discipline as per the hon President’s
response to the Zondo Commission reports. And thirdly,
completing the lifestyle audits for members of senior management service across the Public Service. These three
areas are critical to Priority 1 and the professionalisation of the Public Service.
In the National Development Plan, NDP, diagnostic report; the report of the Zondo Commission; the reports of the Auditor- General; the Public Service Commission reports, the portfolio and select committees’ reports; and our own reports as the
department and the PSETA reports, we identified common challenges such as lack of integration, poor governance and
performance weaknesses.
We are therefore, working with the Presidency, the Ministers
of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Finance to fasttrack the digitisation, the rolling out of the future of
work project, the e-government and e-services to address some of these weaknesses. Additionally, we are putting measures to
address the aging Public Service by increasing youth representation through strengthening the graduate recruitment
programme and enabling the specialist skills recruitment.
We have resolved on an integrated and partnership approach to
collectively address these challenges that are largely due to a major trust deficit with the public due to ethical lapses, alleged maladministration and strained relations with organised labour. And therefore ...
IsiXhosa:
... egameni likarhulumente mandithathe elithuba ndixolise kubantu nakubemi beli lizwe.
English:
For the inconvenience and the pain inflicted during the public
sector wage related strike action, government working with
organised labour remains committed to collective bargaining to manage labour relations in the Public Service. We are
currently working together on the Minimum Service Level Agreements for essential services to ensure that South
Africans are able to access the critical services at all times.
The budgets we are tabling today are intended to ensure that
we deliver on our mandates. As President Mandela said in the
Long Walk to Freedom, “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”. These hills or
milestones will include the following for the financial year 2023-24: The Public Service Commission Amendment Act.
Releasing an Integrated Public Service Handbook. Reviewing the Public Service Regulations of 2016 and all associated
directives and circulars. Promoting efficiency by improving the politico-admin dichotomy. Development of standard operating procedures across government. Introducing competency assessment and psychometric integrity test. Ensuring that Sona
priority for the measures to protect whistleblowers are fully implemented; and therefore, also ensure that that the Public
Service Amendment Bill as well as the Public Administration
Management Amendment Bills are indeed followed through.
In closing, let me appeal to the members of the House to accept this budget. I thank you.
Ms T MGWEBA: House Chair, the Minister of Public Service Administration hon Noxolo Kiviet, the Deputy Minister for Public Service and Administration Dr Chana Pilane-Majake, hon members, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission Dr Somadoda Fekini, the directors-general of the departments, the National School of Government, NSG, principal, the Centre for Public Service Innovation, CPSI, good day.
A call to serve the people is a noble call of national duty. It is a call to transform our society and build the national
democratic society. The state is thus an instrument that should be directed for the socio-economic empowerment of the people.
Hon Chair. There is no higher calling in terms of a career than the public service. The public service is an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives and improve their wellbeing. Our government employees have chosen a noble career, they have made the choice to serve the public, and they continue serving the people. No public service will be accepted unless the public servants are polite and pleasant to the people.
Hon members, the Department of Public Service and Administration is at the core centre of government services in ensuring that a foundation is laid down at building an ethical, capable, and developmental state, whilst the National School of Government is charged with leading responsibility within the ecosystem of the public sector to provide education, training, and development.
The Public Service Commission playing an oversight role as mandated by the Constitution. Hon House Chair, His Excellency President Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address said:
“We are rebuilding the state and restoring trust and pride in public institutions.”
Part of rebuilding the state capability is incapsulated in the Public Service Amendment Bill and Public Administration Management Amendment Bill which are tabled before Parliament.
House Chair, in restoring trust and pride in the public institution, the National School of Government has developed the regulatory framework towards professionalising the public sector to assist government in ensuring merit-based appointments in the public administration. These are some of the changes introduced by the ANC government in rebuilding the state towards delivering quality, efficient and effective services which will directly contribute to the socio-economic transformation.
During the 2023 State of the Nation Address, the President mentioned that:
“In line with the framework for the professionalisation of the public sector, integrate assessment will become a mandatory requirement to the public service and entry exams will be introduced.”
The ANC is pleased that the department has commenced with the development of guidelines on the psychometric integrated testing tools in the public service as per the framework on the professionalisation. House Chair, this assists the state to assess the capabilities of applicants which assists with identifying developmental areas.
Hon Chair and hon members, for government to achieve the objectives of rebuilding the state capability, there is a need to assess the current skills forced to understand the capacity shortfalls in the public sector.
The department working jointly with the National School of Government need to provide guidance to all government
departments in conducting skills audit. This is critical to ensure the state capacity and that the capability is fit for purpose.
Hon members The ANC welcomes the developments relating to the key deliverables in amending the public service regulations and all associated directives and circulars aimed at reducing red tape experienced in the public service.
We further recognise the engagements on the devolution of operational matters from the executive authority to the heads of departments to promote administrative efficiency and to improve the political administrative interphase in the current legislative amendments.
Hon members, we further commend the department together with the departments that were tasked to represent the employer during the wage negotiations. We are pleased that a multi-year agreement has been reached. The multi-term wage for 2023/24 and 2024/25 is critical to improve the living conditions of workers who are confronted by the increasing cost of living.
Government should continue to explore benefits such as housing and other benefits for workers.
Hon members, technology is bringing innovative opportunities into the public sector, and it has the potential to improve interactions between government and citizens through the simplification of procedures. Government’s digital transformation means further modernisation of public administration.
Hon Chair, an increasing number of governments across the world are moving away from paper to digital tools. Government services need to adapt to technology and rapidly respond to the ever-changing world.
Technology and digitisation open new avenues to improve the capability of the state. We also need to invest in cyber security as information within the state. As the ANC, we commend the partnership between the Centre for Public Service Innovation and the Northern Cape province in developing online Thusong Service Centre in the province.
Once this model been piloted, must be replicated across the country which will serve as a solution towards resolving funding and infrastructure challenges confronting all the Thusong Service Centres in the country.
Hon Chair, the introduction of Nyukela Programme intake to middle management is a noble intervention to attract the most aspiring individuals in both public and private sectors learning about the public administration. We hope this intervention will improve the employees’ performance and further boost NSG’s revenue fund and assist in developing fully fledged funding model to maintain income through the training trading account.
Hon Chair, the Public Service Commission as an independent institution remains our beacon of hope in assisting legislatures with conducting effective oversight through investigation, monitoring, and evaluation over the executive authority actions.
The legislative amendment of the Public Service Commission must be fast-tracked and tabled in Parliament to strengthen
and give more powers to the commission to exercise its mandate with authority.
Hon House Chair, the Public Service Commission and the office on compliance have reflected on high levels of non-compliance. As the committee, we are unequivocal on the urgent need of consequence management and efficient management of disciplinary cases.
Hon Chair and hon members, we thank all public servants whom everyday of their lives are in the service of common good of the people. We need to shy away from generalisation on the capacity and capability of the state. Many public servants serve South Africans with diligence and commitment, and we salute them.
Hon Chair, let me take this opportunity to thank the Minister, the Deputy Minister, the chairperson of the commission, and the management of the department, the NSG as well as Centre of Public Service Innovation and the entire staff members in forging ahead with the task of building public services that
are professional, capable, ethical, and developmentally orientated.
To the fellow members of the portfolio committee, thank you very much for your commitment in ensuring oversight accountability over the Budget Votes. The ANC welcomes all the Budget Votes tabled to respond to the department’s mandate. I thank you House Chair.
Dr L A SCHREIBER: Hon Chairperson, the Department of Public Service and Administration bears a special responsibility in our constitutional dispensation. As the custodian of South Africa’s Public Service it sets the tone for civil servants who interface with the people of this country every day.
Whether it is at the Home Affairs offices, in classrooms or at police stations it is this department that is mandated to ensure, and I quote from the Constitution: “A high standard of professional ethics.”
The public servants across national and provincial government take their cue from this department when delivering services. So, let’s ask today what message is this department sending to
public servants? The first message is that it is acceptable to not be serious about your work because it took President Cyril Ramaphosa a full year to appoint a permanent Minister to head this department. For a whole year the department with only an acting Minister had to undertake the important work of wage negotiations, of managing disciplinary matters, of capacitating institutions like the Public Service Commission.
When the President finally did appoint a new Minister earlier this year, he sent a second message to the Public Service that it is fine to appoint alleged fraudsters to positions of power. Here we have a department tasked with, and I quote again: promoting and maintaining a high standard of professional ethics being led by a new Minister who allegedly faked her way to an Honours and Masters’ Degree. Less than a week after she was appointed it emerged that Minister Kiviet was under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit because the University of Fort Hare had implicated her in degree fraud.
In a sworn affidavit, the university detailed how the Minister in charge of professional ethics registered for Honours and
Masters Degrees despite not having a bachelor. With a little help from inside the university that has become sadly mired in corruption and assassinations, Minister Kiviet allegedly defrauded all her way into the National Cabinet. And, herein lay the third lesson that a government controlled by the ANC is one where dishonesty is not punished but it is rewarded even though the Minister is under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit, SIU.
As we sit in this Chamber today, President Ramaphosa has not lifted a finger to hold her accountable. In fact, the President rewarded her with a promotion which gave her access to the same luxurious lifestyle that all ANC Ministers and Deputy Ministers enjoy at the expense of the people. The DA has over the past year methodically exposed how the Ministerial Handbook enables ANC cadres to feed at the trough even as they run this country into the ground ...
The CHAIRPERSON (Mr F D Xasa): ... hon members, you are drowning the speaker ...
Dr L A SCHREIBER: ... the President in conjunction with this Department of Public Service and Administration, has dictatorial powers to abuse this handbook ... [Inaudible.] ... to force taxpayers ... [Inaudible.] ... increasing purse.
The CHAIRPERSON (Mr F D Xasa): Hon Paulsen, you are too much, we can’t hear the speaker ...
Dr L A SCHREIBER: ... that is why the DA has already introduced the Cut-Cabinet Perks Bill to Parliament to empower this House to exercise proper oversight over the handbook and rein in spending on perks.
However, chairman let’s remind the people of South Africa for a moment exactly what their money is being used for through the Ministerial Handbook; R512 million per year for VIP security, R387 million per year for salaries of over 600 support staff who cater to Ministers’ every whim, R20 million for luxury international travel, R15 million per year for generators, free water and electricity to the same Cabinet that brought us stage 6 load shedding. That is nearly
R1 billion per year on luxury perks for ANC Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
Nevertheless, Chair, it still does not end there. The DA has exposed that these ANC caters currently occupy 97 mansions in Cape Town and Pretoria valued at nearly R1 billion. Then, we have to come to this Parliament and hear how departmental budgets are being cut. It is clear that the ANC government will cut the lights, cut the water and cut the social grants long before they touch their corrupt perks. There is the next lesson that productivity simply does not matter. The same Ministers who caused load shedding through decades of neglect and corruption are now using taxpayers’ money to insulate themselves from the consequences of load shedding.
In the real South Africa created by the ANC 30 million people live in poverty. Seven out of 10 young people cannot find work. The rates of murder and violent crime are at an all-time high and millions of people can no longer afford to feed their families. In the ANC’s Cabinet world - the people who caused this crisis - are sipping taxpayer-funded champagne, next to the taxpayer-funded swimming pool, filled with taxpayer-funded
water at their taxpayer-funded mansions behind the taxpayers- funded electric fences that are exempted from load shedding by taxpayer-funded generators.
Herein lies the final message that this government and this department is sending to 1,2 million public servants that it is not necessary to be serious about your work. That you can appoint fraudsters, that you can reward dishonesty and that you don’t have to care about productivity because ultimately this ANC government has no shame. Then next time at Home Affairs is offline. The next time you hear that eight out of
10 South African children cannot read for meaning and the next time that the police fails to keep you safe. Remember, that all of those failures by the Public Service are directly caused by the message that the ANC sends to public servants.
Nevertheless, thanks to our democracy the people of South Africa can turn the tables next year by voting out the ANC in favour of a DA-led national government in the 2024 election. We can finally send a message to the Public Service that it is time to fire the fraudsters, that we demand productivity and proper service delivery and that the days of wasting billions
on politicians at the expense of the people are over. Thank you.
Ms C C S MOTSEPE: Greetings to the president and commander-in- chief of the EFF, president Julius Malema; officials and commissars; Members of Parliament and fighters. The year 2023 marks 10 years since the formation of the EFF. The only weapon in the hands of the poor and the only organisation that is fighting for the better service delivery.
This year signifies a decade of advocating for the building of state capacity in order to abolish tenders. It marks 10 years of striving for improved working conditions and salaries for all public servants. As we celebrate this unwavering commitment, we call upon all public servants to donate to the revolution. We are aware that the salaries of public servants have not increased in line with inflation. We know that our nurses, teachers, clerks and numerous other government employees are under immense pressure and risk losing their homes.
This is why we urge all public servants to contribute as little as R10, R20 or R30 just by sending an SMS to EFF donation to 3017 ... [Interjections.] ...
The CHAIRPERSON (Mr F D Xasa): ... hon members, we can’t hear
...
Ms C C S MOTSEPE: ... you can send this message as many times as you like. We must finance our own revolution and public servants are at the forefront of this movement. Chairperson, the EFF reject the proposed Budget allocation for Public Service and Administration, as well as the proposed Budget for National School of Governance and the Public Service Commission.
We do not reject the proposed budget because we don’t want the Department of Public Service and Administration or its entities to receive funding for their administration, we are objecting to ongoing budget cuts that continue to destabilise Public Service in many governments buildings despite the legislation. Over the years, attempting to bring uniformity to Public Service we still lack a cohesive public service in
South Africa. Entering many of the national or provincial departments one finds public servants working in dismal conditions, promotion and inconsistency with clear progression or succession plan are nonexistent.
Everyone in government seems preoccupied with tenders. We have a Public Service that focuses on administering tenders. This will end when the EFF’s Insourcing Bill is signed into law. We must insource securities, cleaners, gardeners, artisans and many of administration position currently handled by a consultant on an ad hoc basis. A capable and well equipped Public Service is central to the state ability to deliver basic service and grow the economy. Insourcing is a step towards building this service.
House chairperson, the National School of government was supposed to play a strategic role in ensuring that we recruit the best among us to deliver service to our people from entry level to middle and senior management. To the moment, the role of the National School of Government is constrained by the limited resource it has been allocated throughout its various formation. We should implement Public Service entrance exams,
conduct regular assessment of current Public Service employees and setting clear targets and deliverables to guide promotions. However, none of this is happening, instead, the National School of Government is occupied with a mandate defined by inadequate funding.
The Public Service Commission is entrusted with a clear mandate to ensure that all our public servants conduct their affairs in an appropriate manner, however, this will not happen when the head of state is reportedly hiding US dollars in his sofas and mattresses. The reality is that the rank and file of the public servants are demoralised by this alleged corrupt behaviour. They are grappling with serious financial difficulties while the President is accused of possible involvement in money laundering yet publicly calls for ethical conduct.
The EFF reject the proposed Budget of the Department of Public Service and Administration, the National School of government and the Public Service Commission. This decision is not made lightly but in light of the current circumstances and the
pressing needs for a transformation in how we administer and support our public service. I thank you.
Prof C T MSIMANG: House Chair and hon members, the Department of Public Service and Administration is an important institution that gives effect to our constitutional vision for a professional and an accountable Public Service. Professional Public Service is a key component for South Africans to reach their development goals. With the huge demands of social and economical ... [Inaudible.] ... needs of South Africa, our public service cannot afford unprofessional, unethical and unreliable employees within our system.
South Africa is a state capable of great success, but only with a government and Public Service that have the will to see as a collective reach their achievements. With this in mind, it is unfortunate that some sections of our public sector have not yet reached a professional standard that the citizens of this country deserve. As a nation we have been left stunt by the lengths people have gone to in order to defraud, misuse and blatantly steal public funds in the State Capture Commission of Inquiry.
Under the Department of Public Service and Administration’s care, the National School of Government is tasked with providing education regarding public sector competency requirements and its professionalisation. One of the recommendations for Vote No 7 is that the National School of Government should conduct more training through e-learning. Online learning will have to better reach all employees, while also keeping them up to date with latest educational development within the field. Why should we not further train and capacitate our state employees to have a full understanding of government theory, practicality, and ethics?
State employees who are developed under state educational programmes can significantly reduce the reliance on consultants which costs the state far more, in terms of cost and the transferred skills. We need committed employees to realise the state development goals. Those who chose to act in unacceptable ways must be brought to book. There are a number of disciplinary cases of government employees that are outstanding, whilst the salaries being paid to them during their lengthy suspension. These matters must be conducted in the shortest timeframe in order for the state to reduce its
wasteful expenditure on these employees. With these comments in consideration, the IFP supports this Budget Vote. I thank you, hon Chair.
Mrs H DENNER: Hon Chair, the purpose of this department is to ensure a capable, professional, ethical and development- orientated Public Service across all departments, both nationally and at provincial level.
If we all stood up now and walked just down the block to ask members of the public what their opinion is on the professionalism, ethics and capable functionality of government departments in general, what would we hear? We would hear about the gogos who have to get up at 03h00 am to go sit in the sun for an entire day, waiting for their SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, grants, only to hear that they have to come back tomorrow. We would hear about a single mother who has to wait for two years for her Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF, maternity benefits after she has been asked by the UIF to resubmit the same documentation nine times. We would hear about a disabled man who was left outside a public hospital, exposed to the elements for two days after
being discharged, because no one bothered to call his family to come and fetch him. And, we would hear from public servants as well, those who can’t do their work because they have no resources at their disposal — of doctors who have to buy their own gloves and syringes, of nurses who have to buy food and take it to their patients in public hospitals because the hospitals can’t give them food. And, we would hear about police stations that have to close entirely during load shedding because there is no diesel for their generators, which isn’t a problem which our Ministers are faced with.
That is the picture that the public will sketch of the Public Service of South Africa. Does that sound like a capable, professional, ethical and development-orientated Public Service? Can we then in good conscience say that this department is succeeding in its mandate? No, we absolutely cannot.
Let me just state this. There are many public servants across all departments who go above and beyond, despite immense challenges, to deliver services to the public according to the Batho Pele Principles of putting people first, and for that we
thank them and we acknowledge their hard work. That includes whistle-blowers who refuse to allow the continuous looting of state funds that has become synonymous with this ANC government. We would therefore like to see not only progress but the finalisation of the witness protection programme for Public Service whistle-blowers who expose corruption and maladministration in state departments.
Afrikaans:
Die dood van Babita Deokaran byvoorbeeld is ‘n skandvlek op die ganse Staatsdiens en die regering, en dit mag nooit weer gebeur nie.
Vakbonde het ‘n sekere rol te speel in die arbeidsmark, veral met betrekking tot die beskerming teen uitbuiting van en diskriminasie teen hul lede. Maar wanneer die stert die hond tot so ‘n mate begin swaai dat onredelike salarisverwagtinge die Staatsdiens deur middel van gewelddadige stakings en uiteindelik ‘n onbekostigbare salarisrekening begin lamlê, moet die spreekwoordelike streep getrek word.
English:
The Public Service wage bill has grown by 40% over the past
14 years. That’s nearly R700 billion. That is the largest component of public spending and causes government to increase its borrowing to sustain its salary payments. That means that money is mostly borrowed and spent, not on health care services or crime prevention or infrastructure development or quality education but on salaries, because this government, in its inability to stimulate economic growth and employment creation, has opted to overemploy, resulting in personal assistants, PAs, for personal assistants, PAs and directors and deputy directors at any and all levels, earning exorbitant salaries while essential service employees like police officers, nurses, teachers and health care workers on the other hand are paid less than their worth, resulting in violent strikes such as the health care workers strike we saw at the start of this year, which in itself was a disgrace, because if you have sworn an oath to uphold and protect human life and dignity and you took part in the violence of the health care workers strike, then you and your trade union should be ashamed of yourself and disciplinary steps should be taken against you.
What does it say about the Department of Public Service and Administration and the ANC government at large that so-called integrity assessments for recruitment to the Public Service have become mandatory in response to the findings of the state capture commission?
Afrikaans:
Is dit waar ons nou is? So in effek, met ander woorde, is die bestaande Staatsdiens so korrup dat nuwe inkomelinge se integriteit eers getoets moet word voordat hulle in die Staatsdiens aangestel kan word. Tot watter vlak van powere diens, korrupsie, oneerlikheid en bedrog het die regering van die dag gedaal dat so iets nodig is? Dit is onaanvaarbaar. U, die regerende party, is onaanvaarbaar en die mense van Suid- Afrika sal dit nie langer duld nie. Julle sal sien. Ek dank u.
The DEPUTY MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION:
House Chairperson, Minister of Public Service and Administration, PSA, hon Noxolo Kiviet, the Chief Whip of the Majority Party in Parliament, Deputy Chief Whip, Doris Dlakude, Acting Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Mme [Ms] hon Deliswa Mgweba, hon
Members of Parliament, senior management in public service and all public servants present here today, heads of government institutions present here today, fellow South Africans.
... [Inaudible.] ... saddens me to actually be listening to this debate that actually tells that to some extend it feels like the opposition is not debating the same thing that we trying to debate this afternoon. Bringing about the contents of the Ministerial Handbook and really distorting the facts about what is in the Ministerial Handbook.
I think, hon House Chairperson, we will need to have a debate at some point, just on the Ministerial Handbook. [Interjections.]
You are talking about generators and whatever. I live in a house and it’s an official residence that does not have a generator. Where are you getting your information from? Let’s stop misinforming the public.
Hon House Chairperson, we are bringing for consideration to Parliament Budget Vote 11 for Public Service and
Administration, under the guidance of our Chief Financial Officer, CFO, Ntate [Mr] Masilo Makhura, who is here today with us.
House Chairperson, the mandate of the Public Service and Administration, vote 11, as the corporate arm of government, is already, clearly, articulated and outlined by Minister Kiviet, is building an effective and efficient and sustainable developmental and capable state. This is the threat that binds and mainstreams all the various projects and the resources allocated to help realise the needs of South Africans.
It is important to create a conducive environment for public servants to thrive, leading to maximum productivity that revolves around the following programmes:
Access to housing and home ownership by public servants through the Government Employee Housing Scheme, GEHS, that is led by Deputy Director-General, DDG, Dumisani Hlophe, who is here with us today.
Access to healthcare services through the Government Employee Medical Scheme, GEMS, led by the board and the Chairperson of the board, Dr Hlatshwayo, is here with us and the Deputy Chairperson, Ntate [Mr] Phophi.
Building an innovative technological and non-technological solutions responsive to the needs of the citizens through the Centre for Public Service Innovation, CPSI, that’s led by the Acting Executive Director, Mme [Ms] Lydia Sebokedi.
The Government Employee Housing Scheme was established in terms of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Chamber, PSCBC, Resolution 7 of 2015. The purpose of the scheme is to assist government employees to access affordable housing through various interventions that include administration of housing allowance, provisioning of housing stock, production of employee enrolment scheme for aggregation of demand and providing advice, education, counselling to employees to improve their chances of accessing housing loans.
Currently, out of 1,3 million public servants, more than 1,1 million have access housing allowance. To date, home
ownership has increased to 774 235; that is 70,4% in total. A further 189 856, that is 17% of the public servants, received the housing allowance for rental accommodation.
Approximately R300 million is being saved in the Individual- Linked Savings Facility, ILSF, for public servants on a monthly basis. As at 31 March 2023, over R19 billion has been saved by government employees in the ILSF.
House Chairperson, through SA Home Loans, Risima and Ithala bank, public servants who would not ordinarily have qualified to access home loans finance from mainstream institutions have managed to do so successfully towards building homes in urban and rural areas, especially in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, changing the landscape of rural South Africa, disrupting the housing status quo in ... if you go around these rural areas in the two provinces that I’ve actually just mentioned, you’ll actually, if you want to notice, see the change. No more apartheid poverty in rural areas that hit you in the face, is now in the past.
Palatable delivery of services is what you get if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. Let us not allow ourselves to be detracted by the sideshows for political mileage gain and I’m sure we’ve actually just seen that now through the debate.
Forward we move!
The budget allocated for this programme is R14,6 million.
House Chairperson, the mandate of the Government Employee Medical Scheme is to improve affordability and access to quality healthcare for public servants, resulting in healthy workforce and increased state capacity to deliver services.
GEMS has grown to be the second largest medical aid scheme in South Africa. Notable achievements include over 1 million of GEMS beneficiaries had access to a medical aid for the first time in their lives as a result of broaden beneficiary definition.
The scheme has a track record of unqualified audit since its inception. Even if you want to keep on promoting corruption, corruption, corruption, you need to also be in the position to
manage to realise the good things that this government has actually done. And this that I’m actually talking about, these qualified and clean audits is, but, part of it. Because we have a tendency of wanting to paint the government black and actually keeping on bringing allegations, not facts, about what is happening out there, in order to try and actually weaken this government.
GEMS has the largest diabetes, HIV, hypertension disease management programme among medical schemes, with more than
148 037 active participants receiving R2,3 billion worth of HIV care per annum.
The scheme has also adopted the United Nations, UN, Aids 90-90-90 targets to ultimately end the Aids epidemic.
GEMS was able to cover the unpredictable COVID-19-related cause for its beneficiaries in full. They didn’t know covid was coming and they have managed to respond to covid so efficiently.
Chairperson, the Centre for Public Service Innovations’ mandate promotes state capacity building through innovation as a catalyst for improved and sustained service delivery. It is tasked with building and entrenching the culture and practice of innovation in the public service.
Setswana:
Re tsamaya le dinako.
Re rata go itsise Maaforika Borwa gore puso eno e ntse e tswelela go tlhabolola naga. Puso eno ya lo rata e bile ke yone fela e e tla tokafatsang matshelo a lona.
English:
Some of the other CPSI’s innovations are emergency medical services to efficiently manage planned patient transfers, an
e-hailing to deal with shortage of ambulances, partnering with youth innovators and youth organizations, CPSI couldn’t place digital inclusion and participation of youth in service delivery innovations through hackathons.
Hackathons are teams of system developers that progressively hack changes through digital revolution. In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP SA, CPSI piloted citizen engagement App named Let’s Talk in two District Development Model sites, the OR Tambo and Waterberg Districts, that allows for reporting of service delivery problems in two-way communication between citizens, councillors and officials.
Also, as something to note, in the previous financial year CPSI hosted six living labs [Time expired.] where learners from nine schools were introduced to the 4th Industrial Revolution skillsets inclusive of artificial intelligence.
I wish to present this budget for consideration, hon Chairperson.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Chairperson, allow me to start off by saying the NFP will support the budget vote tabled here today.
Let me also draw the attention of this House that 13 500 Palestinians were forcefully removed from their homes; 13 500 Palestinian families.
But also allow me to extend our condolences to the family and friends and the EFF on the loss of their hon member, Thembinkosi Apleni. May his soul rest in peace.
I think having heard some of the presentations, particularly by the Minister and her team, I want to raise some concerns.
First of all, before I go there allow me to condemn with the contempt it deserves, these racial quotas for employees that we are embarking on, the employment equity, where Indians, coloureds and others would be marginalized. Indeed, it’s not a good sign that we might be going back to the days of apartheid.
But also, let me say something. We have a very high unemployment rate in the country, Minister, and I’ve raised this before.
Given the fact that we have such a high unemployment rate, why should any one person enjoy two salaries? We have those that are teachers and are councillors. So, when you in school you are neglecting the community, when you in the community you neglecting the children. And I know of cases of principals and teachers that are attending political meetings, so, what happens to the children at school? It should not be acceptable at all! There needs to be a policy put in place: you can only enjoy one salary; you can only be employed by one state department.
We talk about the issue of ethics, Minister, through you, Chairperson. Remember, many of the public servants have been found wanting with the R350 grant. It clearly indicates that there’s a weakness in the system if you are not able to pick up through the same database that somebody is working for the state and yet they are also getting another grant. So, I think it’s something that we need to also address.
The other thing I want to talk about is this, and I know there’s been a lot of attacks, Minister and Deputy Minister, on the public service. I want to commend the Public Service
Commission, though, because this Public Service Commission made presentation to the Standing Committee on Appropriations. And one good example is that they identified why service providers were not being paid within the 30 days, because officials were demanding kickbacks and things from them. The problem is this, while the Public Service Commission has identified and reported, what we don’t have is the will to be able to deal with that. Now, you can’t blame the Public Service and Administration for that or the Public Service Commission. But we need to take responsibility to ensure that [Time expired.] the NFP will support this. Thank you very much.
Ms M T KIBI: House Chairperson, hon Minister, meKiviet, Deputy Minister mamuChana ...
IsiXhosa:
... zindwendwe zethu ezibekekileyo, malungu ahloniphekileyo ale Ndlu nabemi bonke boMzantsi Afrika. Ndiyanibulisa. Uyazi, akukho nto imnandi njengale yokuba silapha nje namhlanje, abantu namaqela aphikisayo banento yokuthetha ngenxa yemigaqo- nkqubo ebekwe yi-ANC ukutshintsha ubomi babantu bakutho. Loo
nto abayithandi, namhlanje benza ngokungathi bona bangayenza ngcono loo nto, kanti abayazi
Sihlalo ohloniphekileleyo, i-ANC iyayixhasa le ...
English:
... Budget Vote. House Chairperson, House Chairperson, hon Minister, Me Kiviet, Deputy Minister mamuChana ...
The Capability of the state to implement the National Development Plan and the five-year Medium Term Strategic Framework is central in the success of policy implementation. Without adequate capabilities, policy implementation is rather slow, and at times the goals set are not attained. It is therefore critical that the organs of the state need to continuously adapt the way they function to meet the needs of the people with agility and consistency.
The people of South Africa want a government that is responsive to their needs. The public services is an important state capacity to advance the objective of our constitutional democracy. Public servants are expected to function in
accordance with the Batho Phele principles which are fundamental to serve the people. The quality of services provided by the government is dependent on the people who manage and implement systems and processes to respond to various services required by the people.
We must note that our people have complained about delayed services due to inefficiencies in the public service. Despite the challenges the government has significantly improved multiple services through cutting red tapes, which slow processes to complete various tasks. Government has set various policies such as the payment of service providers within 30 days. This problem of payments has largely been resolved in all state organs, where challenges exist their largely related to the sustainability of some state institutions particularly municipalities which are in financial distress.
We welcome the improvements in the state on this policy because small and medium-sized businesses are negatively impacted by delayed payment of services. In order to attain this target, the government had to cut the red tape by
introducing processes which enable faster payment of service provider.
We welcome the fact that other state institutions pay service providers within two weeks. Red tape is a critical area we should continue to address for an efficient government. It is for this reason the President has appointed Sipho Nkosi to focus on red tape, to accelerate the provision of services and transform processes and systems. The red tape intervention should also focus on the problems affecting various public service processes and systems.
We live in times of rapid technological developments and digital technology. As the ANC, we have prioritised
e-government as another critical area to strengthen the capability of the state. We today live in times wherein most of our citizens have access to mobile cell phones and access to internet. This creates new opportunities for government to improve its services and how it functions. The improved technological use in Home Affairs as an example has improved several services which result in efficiencies, and the people
do not have to wait for long hours to be served and people receive their documents at a faster rate.
Hon House Chairperson, other local government municipalities have introduced various applications to pay for services online, while others have developed applications to report various service delivery challenges online through their phones. Government should also introduce automation in its systems to ensure that certain processes are done through technological platforms which shortens the period of service provision. Government turnaround for service provision and its own governance systems can be greatly improved through automation and digitisation.
We call on the youth and South Africans in research and development to also focus on innovating various solutions for government to adopt technology to improve how it functions.
The Public Sector Innovation entity should harvest innovation from our national science and innovation system and global innovation. This is critical for agility.
The Public Service Commission is an important component of the work of the department, it assists the department to respond to various challenges in the public service with an independent perspective. The Constitution empowers the Public Service Commission with various recommending powers. The work that the commission does has assisted government to respond to weaknesses impacting on the capability of the public service.
Compliance with legislation and regulations is an important aspect of good governance. The levels of noncompliance in the public service are an aspect which concerns us, noncompliance leads to irregularities and in other instances it leads to corrupt practices. The Public Service Commission and the Auditor General have made several recommendations related to compliance and we call on the ministry to ensure that compliance is enforced.
Where public servants do not comply with legislation or regulations, government should speedily institute consequence management actions. Consequence management is important to develop a compliance culture and practice.
We welcome the work of the department in ensuring that planning and budgeting take the interest of the youth, women, and people with disabilities in the public service. Through the professionalisation of the public service, we must ensure that entry level job requirements are removed to create use of entry to the public service. The internship programmes of government should be streamlined to entry jobs in the public service as part of career progression in the public service.
The state should be an employer of choice, because this will help the state to attract skilled professionals who will contribute in strengthening the capability of the state to transform our society for a better life for all.
Hon House Chairperson, working with various social partners of the public service and administration, we shall strengthen the state and we welcome the budget votes as they respond to the challenges impacting the state and strengthening areas of progress. The ANC supports this budget.
Hon House Chairperson, I just want to look at the year-old youth league of the DA. Each and every time when the DA says,
we don’t support, they also don’t support, forgetting that what we are standing for is what they also think that they can do it better. Thank you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon members, let me remind you as I don’t see hon Jafta in the House. There was an agreement that the only people who will speak from the virtual platform are those that shall have requested permission from the Speaker. And, if you have not requested permission, you will not be allowed. So, the next speaker is hon Hendricks.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Hon House Chairperson, in His state of the nation address President Ramaphosa and I quote:
Professional public service staffed by skills committed and ethical people is critical for an effective state and ending corruption, patronage and wastage.
Al Jama-ah has seen this being implemented. However, there is still work to be done. So, the President not only mentioned this in His state of the nation address, but it is being
implemented. We would like to congratulate the administration for becoming more and more professional.
Al Jama-ah holds a view that government must encourage and implement alternative approaches for objective government administration comprising of representatives of various political parties, NGOs, and the churches. For an example, we will not have a quarrel if the administration is joined by some of the experts in an NGO such as the Gift of the Givers. There are also NGOs that are run by Jewish communities. They can give us the best to serving government and take it to the next level.
We can work together on finding solutions and improve policy presentation which can lead to improving people’s lives.
Al Jama-ah supports this budget and congratulate the administration from rising to the next level and implement the promise that President Cyril Ramaphosa made during His state of the nation address. Thank you very much, hon House Chairperson.
Dr M M GONDWE: Hon House Chairperson the Department of Public Service Commission is ineffective and in a crisis. As the primary and sole custodian of norms and standards within the public service, the Department of Public Service is mandated to establish norms and standards in the public service, as well as ensuring that those norms and standards are adhered to.
However, notwithstanding this crucial mandate, of the Public Service Commission, the plethora of challenges beleaguering the public service most of which I must emphasize centre on the adherence to norms and standards just keep going from bad to worse. So much so that corruption become an integral part of the public service.
This was confirmed in a report tabled in Parliament, late last month by the Public Service Commission, PSC. The report which provides an overview of financial misconduct in the public service for the 2021-22 financial year revealed that the 520 disciplinary cases relating to financial misconduct reported across the public service resulted in a staggering
R1,2 billion loss to the state. Further according to the
report, national departments accounted for R1 billion of this loss, while provincial departments accounted for R238 million of this loss.
House Chairperson, what is even more unsettling is that only a meagre calottery R6 million out of this R1,2 million loss was recovered by the affected departments. This appalling recovery rate, is an indicative of the fact that norms and standards in the public service are largely ignored and barely enforced.
What is also evident from this damning report, is that there is a grave consequence management deficit in the public service. As very few departments’ instituted criminal proceedings in respect of the reported acts of fraud, misappropriation and the abuse of public funds.
Despite our public service being plagued by a plethora of challenges, the annual performance plan, APP, of the Department of Public Service and Administration, for the year under review, spoke very vaguely, hon House Chairperson, to only a few of these challenges. One of those challenges is the drawn out precautionary suspensions in the public service.
According to the Department of Public Service and Administration and these are facts, Deputy Minister, facts, there are a total of 607 drawn out precautionary suspensions in the public service, costing the public purse an amount of approximately R265 million and per anum in salaries.
Although we agree that this particular challenge is a long- standing one we totally disagree with the planned interventions proposed by the Department of Public Service and Administration to address this challenge.
Hon House Chairperson, solely policy directions and the establishment of an independent panel are not the best and the only way to address this challenge, however the Department of Public Service and Administration seems to think so.
Hon House Chairperson the Department of Public Service and Administration needs to start thinking out of the box, than laterally come up with more stringent interventions to address this challenge and other challenges plaguing our public service. Such as proposing that discipline management be
included as the key performance area for director-generals, DGs and head of the departments, HODs.
The time for issuing policy directions departmental circulars in order to address challenges within the public service is so over. We need to start holding senior managers within the public service, financially and administratively accountable for the backlog of disciplinary cases in their respective departments.
If disciplined management is included as a heavily weighted key performance area for senior managers, then I guarantee you hon House Chairperson, that no accounting officer will regard this essential function of management as an option, but rather a normative key performance area.
Hon House Chairperson, should we fail to do this in our public service will continue hammeraging millions and millions and even billions and billions which could have been used to build schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure.
Given the Department of Public Service and Administration’s inefficiency and ineffectiveness, the Public Service Commission, PSC, has literally become the loan beacon of hope for our country’s public service and administration. In as much as we price the role of the PSC within the public service, we are extremely concerned that the independence and impartiality of the PSC runs the risk of being salid by the appointment of ANC cadres to senior positions within the commission.
Just the other day hon House Chairperson, ANC members in the committee used their majority to adopt the report recommending to this august House that an ANC cadre with no relevant experience and qualifications be appointed as the National Commissioner at the PSC. I would like to remind this House that the PSC is a knowledge-based institution and not a political institution. The framework towards the professionalisation of the public service envisions and demands PSC staff that are competent and qualified persons who can actively contribute towards its existing knowledge base.
Hon House Chairperson the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill and the Public Service Amendment Bill were recently tabled in Parliament to the exclusion of the Public Service Commission Bill which has been sitting with the department since 2018. This Bill has a potential to insulate the independence and the impartiality of the PSC even further. We therefore call on you, Minister, to ensure that this priority Bill finds its way to Parliament. We also call on you Minister to ensure that when the Bill eventually does get to Parliament, it contains a provision on the minimum qualifications and work experience of commissions. So that only qualified and deserving persons are recommended for this senior position within the commission.
Hon House Chairperson, it is simply cannot suffice anymore to require that persons be only fit and proper to become commissioners at the PSC
The National School of Government, NSG, in terms of its mandate is required to recover all costs associated with the training it provides. Unfortunately the current funding model of the NSG robs it of being more sustainable in relation to
revenue generation capacity. It therefore follows that since the Fifth Parliament the committee has been at pains to recommend that NSG revise its current funding model and develop a more sustainable funding model that looks for alternative and broader sources of revenue outside of our already burdened fiscus. However, the committee’s recommendations in this regard, appear to have fallen on totally deaf ears. As this year the NSG suddenly ... Thank you. [Time expired.]
Ms M M NTULI: House Chairperson, Minister Kiviet ... [Inaudible.] ... Deputy Minister Mojaki and the Department of Public Service and Administration team, Chair of Public Service Commission, PSC, Professor Fikeni and the team, Principal of National School of Government, NSG, Ngcaweni, Department of Public Service and Administration led by Ms Lydia, distinguished guests, hon members and the House at large.
IsiZulu:
Ngaphambi kokuba ngiqhubeke Sihlalo weNdlu ...
English:
... may I correct the hon Schreiber not to mislead the people of South Africa saying that it was good for the apartheid masters to stay in this residence and now because it’s black people they must be street kids. He’s mentioning billions and millions that are wasted which were not wasted that time. And I also want to correct the hon Schreiber for daydreaming that the DA will be ruling country in 2024.
IsiXhosa:
...vuka Mhlekazi ...
English:
You are daydreaming ...
IsiXhosa:
... Mhlekazi, vuka!
English:
Hon Denner, you come here and grandstand. You are a Member of Parliament. Portfolio committees are to play oversight. Where are the portfolio committees and you to go and play oversight?
Why should you come here and grandstand? Hon Gondwe, it’s news that if someone is not DA, he or she is ANC. But anyway, it’s not about your story, hon member, it’s about the team scoring. I know you’ve scored for your own candidates but it’s unfortunate. I stand here on behalf of the ANC, the party that fought for the liberation of the South African people and indeed the democratical dispensation of 1994 resulted with a rainbow nation and this Parliament, which is reflected in the august House today.
This debate takes place in May which is Africa Month, in the same month in 1963 the gigantic Organisation of African Unity, OAU, today African Union, AU, was conceived. Some of its main objectives were to co-ordinate and intensify its operations and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa. And the Department of Public Service and Administration, the PSC and NSG seeks to address the similar cause for the realisation of a capable and ethical state. The ANC government is striving for the world-class public service and surely today is better than yesterday.
Tata Mandela once said: “The public service must counterattack the inductive of a concentricity and remain anchored by the comprehensive tenets and the moralities as established by the fiduciary responsibility.” The ANC government is committed in advocating and innovating the best policies ever. Chairperson
...
IsiZulu:
... ongakaze enze lutho akazi lutho. Abanye banesilokozane sokuthi i-ANC yavula abantu amehlo bemi ngenhla bebamunca igazi labo. Uhulumeni ka-ANC ufunda ngendlela ngoba uyenza. Namhlanje sesiyazi ukuthi DPSA nePSC bangavundulula amanyundululu enkohlakalo kodwa awukho umthetho obagunyazayo ukuthatha izinyathelo ezinqala. Kube kunabantu abanamacala angapheli bebanjwa bededelwa kodwa bahlezi emakhaya bebe beqhubeka behola imali kahulumeni. Iyeza ke imithetho ezoqeda lowo khisimuzi kuyoqhuma nhlamvana ezinye ziyofeketha.
Amazambane abolile ayophuma eqhasha.
English:
The ANC has always placed the people at the centre of the development and our public servants are a national resource.
We have fought for the rights of workers and stand by the call and struggle of improving the living conditions of workers.
The world is experiencing rising interest rates, with high levels inflation and this increases the cost of living and as the government of the people. We should continually develop interventions to cushion the working class. The relationship of government with labour is a significant social partner which should be characterised by the respect and justice to develop consensus.
Human resource capacity is critical and the National School of Government has an important responsibility to play to ensure that to ensure that public servants have the requisite skills and knowledge to implement government policies. Training and development is a continuous and ongoing process in all working environment as new challenges develop new ways of doing things. The National School of Government offer various training courses for public services and should serve as a key component of the professionalisation of the public service. It has currently trained over 130 000 public servant and private sector employees over the past two years. The significant enrolment from employees in the private sector demonstrate the
level of interest in the public service and the existing capacity to attract various skills into the public service. The National School of Government has also adapted to the changed conditions of learning through the introduction of online learning which enables increased access.
We call upon all public servants to take keen interests in the courses offered by the school. For professionalisation of the public service to succeed, training and development and requirements of training by the school will be critical to ensure career development in the public service. Government has developed an economic reconstruction and recovery plan which is centred around infrastructure development because of its catalytic impact. The capability of the state to implement the economic reconstruction and recovery plan is critical and the assessment of existing skills will be crucial. We welcome the pronouncement by the President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his response to the state of the nation address when he committed that and I quote:
I am directing that all infrastructure and service departments conduct skills audits within nine months. These
audits must not tell us what training officials think they require but must help us understand whether critical skills exist in the department to effectively deliver infrastructure and services. The National School of Government will work organs of state like Human Science Research Council to conduct these audits, etc.
Various skills audits undertakings have demonstrated that we do have public servants in senior positions without the requisite requirements. This anomaly should be addressed and government departments and their entities should assess the skills and where necessary undertake skills audit to ensure that the required technical capacities exist. Outsourcing of various professionals in the public service is due ti the lack of sufficient skills within the public service. We welcome processes of amending legislation ... [Time expired.]
IsiZulu:
Ngiyabonga Sihlalo, i-ANC iyasesekela isabiwomali.
English:
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon members, the Minister will now conclude the debate.
The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Hon
House Chairperson, let me first start by thanking the hon members of this House who took seriously the engagement in a debate on matters that affect the people. I really need to do that but to also point out my disappointment on those who chose to use a parliamentary sitting as a court where one must stand and defend themselves which is unfortunately abuse of this platform as well as abuse of the privilege provided to members in the House when they debate. Let me start by reminding the hon Gondwe that in my speech I indicated that this morning the Bill - Public Service Commission Bill has been approved by the Cabinet Committee for public comments.
It’s going to Cabinet next week on Wednesday for approval. So, once it goes that route, there is no turning back. And for me, probably, we need to look at how we debate because at times we tend to read what we have prepared without applying our minds to that which was said on the platform.
Hon Schreiber, I was tempted not to respond to you precisely because you deliberately covered yourself with the privilege alleged fraudster – alleged dishonest ... let me tell you that I am a South African and I have worked for my last 30-odd years. And South Africans that I have worked with know what I am capable of. So, I have no reason to justify ... I have no reason whatsoever to justify who I am and what I am capable of doing. Lastly, let me also add my voice in sharing on behalf of our department and send the message of condolences to the EFF on the loss of the hon member Apleni.
I do want to say that given the kind of work that we do, when times like these hits, they hit hard, especially to those who have been walking the road with you. I have interacted a number of times with the hon member, and I respect his respect for others but also his demeanour or how he presents himself, especially in debates. Hon Shaik Emam, you have supported us, and I do want to say that all the areas that you have raised are the areas that as a department we are seized with dealing and addressing. The problems that are being highlighted by the hon members who truly paid attention to the debate are those areas that the department is seized with addressing every step
of the way. I thank you, hon Deputy Minister, the Department of Public Service and Administration team, all our entities or sister departments that we have so well with up to this far. I thank all the members’ support. Thank you, hon Chair.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Thank you, hon Minister and thank you, hon members. You are reminded that the debate on Small Business Development Budget Vote will take place at 16:15 in this very Chamber. And the debate on National Treasury Budget Vote will take place at 06:15 in Committee Room M46.
Debate concluded.
The mini plenary rose at: 15:55.
Audio
No related