Questions and Replies

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05 January 2022 - NW2586

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What (a) has been the compliance rate by government departments regarding the submission and implementation of the service delivery implementation plans (SDIPs) in the (i) 2018-19, (ii) 2019-20 and (iii) 2020-21 financial years and (b) role does her department play to ensure that (i) the submitted SDIPs are implemented and (ii) better alignment and coordination in the delivery of services by individual government departments is achieved?

16 December 2021 - NW2699

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether her department has the capacity to conduct and/or roll out lifestyle audits in the various government departments; if not, on what dates are the lifestyle audits likely to be conducted and/or rolled out in the various government departments; if so, on what dates have the lifestyle audits been conducted and/or rolled out by her department in the various government departments;

Reply:

    1. The conducting and/or roll out of lifestyle audits are, in terms of regulation 22 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016, the responsibility of departments. Within departments, ethics officers and investigators are required to perform the required stages of lifestyle audits (lifestyle review and lifestyle investigation). In terms of the Public Service Regulations, 2016, departments have to designate Ethics Officers to manage ethics, and in terms of the Minimum Anti-Corruption Requirements, departments have to investigators and a dedicated anti-corruption capacity. This is not a new requirement, so departments do have an established ethics management and anti-corruption capacity.

The Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU), in terms of Section 15 of the Public Administration Management Act, 2014, has the function to monitor the implementation of lifestyle audits. This Unit does not have an investigative mandate, so it will not conduct lifestyle audits.

Lifestyle audits became compulsory from 1 April 2021. To assist departments, the PDSA adopted a Guide on implementing lifestyle audits and started with awareness raising and the training of ethics officers.

Lifestyle audits could commence after Senior Management Members disclosed their financial interests in April (every year) on the eDisclosure system, and when the other designated categories did the same in June and July (of every year). The lifestyle audit process is dependent on the disclosure of financial interests on the eDisclosure system.

    1. The PAEIDTAU is not aware whether any Public Service employees have been subjected to lifestyle audits. Departments have until the end of March 2022 to conduct lifestyle audits for the current financial year.

End

The number of employees subjected to lifestyle audits and the outcomes of the process will only be known at the end of January 2022. In a Circular dated 25 October 2021 addressed to all departments and government components, departments were requested to provide feedback on their progress regarding the implementation of the Guide to the PAEIDTAU, by the end of January 2022.

14 December 2021 - NW2681

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Motsepe, Ms CCS to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(a) To which position in Government has a certain person (name furnished) been employed and (b) what processes were followed in the employment of the specified person to the new position? NW3181E

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is not the employer of the individual. It is widely known that the individual was employed by the Presidency therefore the matter should be referred to the Presidency accordingly.

End

14 December 2021 - NW2502

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether, with reference to her reply to question 152 on 7 April 2021 which revealed that over 35% of senior Public Service employees do not have the requisite qualifications for the positions they currently occupy, her department has conducted any investigation into how the specified employees were recruited and employed in the absence of the requisite qualifications; if not, why not; if so,

Reply:

  1. Subsequent to the reply to question 152 on 7 April 2021, a Circular HRD031 was sent to all Heads of Departments requesting them to verify the qualifications of their Senior Management Service (SMS) members and to update information on the PERSAL system. Verification of this information is done by departments.

As a results of information relayed in the Circular, the number of SMS members who do not have the requisite qualifications for the position they currently occupy, went down from 35% to 27.29 % by July 2021, and further to 26% by 31 October 2021. This is because, as stated before, there might be SMS members who do possess proper qualifications but such are not reflected on the PERSAL system.

  1. (a) & (b) Information received from departments pointed to the fact that Departments are not regularly information on PERSAL resulting in incomplete information. It was also revealed that some of the SMS members who were identified as not meeting minimum requirements became senior managers before the 2016 Public Service Regulations, as such they were complaint at the time of their joining the SMS.

The Circular to Heads of Departments to update PERSAL data has resulted in a steady improvement in capturing qualifications on the PERSAL system. At the moment there is no need identified to conduct any investigation into how the specified employees were recruited and employed at this stage.

The DPSA will continue to monitor the capturing of data on qualifications and such analysis will therefore inform a decision if any further investigations are warranted.

End

08 December 2021 - NW2588

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether her department has conducted an investigation into the reasons that some government departments are battling to finalise and/or conclude disciplinary cases within the stipulated time frame; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) are the reasons that some government departments are battling to finalise their disciplinary cases within the stipulated time frame and (b) steps has her department taken in order to capacitate government departments that are failing to finalise their disciplinary cases within the stipulated time frames?

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has conducted an investigation into the reasons why some government departments are battling to finalise and/or conclude disciplinary cases within the stipulated time frame.

During Quarter (Q) 3 of the previous financial year (October to December 2020), the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU), assisted by the Strengthening Ethics and Integrity Project that are funded by the Canadian Government, contracted an independent expert to conduct research into the reasons for case backlogs and long overdue precautionary suspensions.

a) The following reasons were identified why some government departments are battling to finalise their disciplinary cases within the stipulated time frame:

  • Interference were reported, where it was alleged that suspensions were sometimes used as a tool to neutralize opposition, or employees from different camps or interest groups.
  • Heads of Departments and labour relations officials are scared to address interferences due to a fear for retaliation.
  • Unavailability of chairpersons in provinces.
  • Use of legal services to assist with discipline management cases without involving the labour relations official.
  • Appeals instituted on the side of the employer with the aim to keep an official out of the work place, usually when this person reported wrongdoing or corruption.
  • Shortage of labour relations employees.
  • Unavailability of tools of the trade, especially where educators are involved.
  • Complexity of cases due to sector specific challenges, such as in Education and Health.

b) To capacitate government departments that are failing to finalise their disciplinary cases within the stipulated time frames, the DPSA launched a project where the Minister for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA) held one-on-one meetings with Executive Authorities of departments identified to have long overdue disciplinary cases and precautionary suspensions to ascertain the reasons for backlogs and to pledge support. This was immediately followed by a workshop conducted by the PAEIDTAU to the identified departments to address their backlogs. The PAEIDTAU developed, with the assistance of the Strengthening Ethics and Integrity Project, an electronic tool that was utilised by the affected departments to register their backlog cases on, and to provide monthly feedback. In January 2021, the Director-General (DG) DPSA embarked on provincial meetings, where the issue of discipline management is addressed and compliance statistics are shared with departments. The MPSA also addressed a special FOSAD meeting in May 2021 to raise this issue with director-generals.

To assist departments with managing discipline and to address the findings of the PAEIDTAU research, a new Guide on managing discipline in the public service was adopted and approved by the MPSA. From 1 April 2021, the implementation of this Guide is compulsory. This guide specifically addresses the issues of appeals and precautionary suspensions. During 2020, the DPSA also facilitated the training of 204 (out of 246) public service employees on a PSETA accredited course for presiding officers (chairpersons and initiators) to address the issue of capacity. With the assistance of the Strengthening Ethics and Integrity Project, the PAEIDTAU is currently developing training material for labour relations officials and managers, to improve implementation of the newly adopted guide.

The above outlined interventions undertaken by the MPSA, PAEIDTAU and DG yielded significant success. A decrease in suspensions and in the costs of precautionary suspensions, as well as an improvement in the capturing of cases on the Personnel Salary System (PERSAL) were noted at the end of March 2021. By the end of March 2021, provinces finalised 78% of their backlogs (up from only 1% in Q1, 8% in Q 2, and 18% in Q 3). The cost of precautionary suspensions for National Departments stabilised around R 20 million per quarter and the cost for precautionary suspensions in provinces decreased to a new low level - almost R 25 million less than what the year started with (Q1: R 87 million compared to Q4: R62 million). The two provinces that had the most precautionary suspensions also managed to reduced their backlogs. The Free State reduced their cost from R 12 million in Q 3 to R 6 million in Q 4. Kwa-Zulu Natal managed to reduce their cost from a high of R 92 million in Q 3 to R 21 Million in Q 4. The amounts reflected here are based on all disciplinary cases captured on PERSAL.

End

08 December 2021 - NW2503

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether any disciplinary and/or legal steps have been taken against the 241 Public Service employees who, according to the Department of Social Development, received the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant in May 2020; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) What steps has her department put in place to deter Public Service employees from applying for the SRD grant following its recent reintroduction by the President, Mr M C Ramaphosa

Reply:

1. No disciplinary and/or legal steps have been taken against the 241 Public Service employees who received Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants in May 2020.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is working with the departments of identified Public Service employees to ensure legal steps are taken where required. The Department of Public Service Administration (DPSA) is working closely with SASSA to ensure that disciplinary steps are taken against Public Service employees who received SRD grants in an unlawful way.

In terms of this arrangement, investigations are conducted by SASSA (supported by the Fusion Centre), as the DPSA has no investigative mandate. Furthermore, However, the DPSA plays a coordinating role and provides technical assistance to departments as far as that is concerned.

Up to date, the DPSA verified a list of 241 employees identified to have received SRD grants unlawfully. During the screening process, the DPSA found that only 198 employees on the list of 241 employees were in fact Public Service employees.

The investigating team therefore is currently focussing on the remaining 198 cases, and works with the South African Police Service to obtain statements and to collect evidence. This collated information is packaged in files which were opened for each accused. These files will be used during the criminal and disciplinary process so as to synchronize the two processes. The charges levelled against the employees will be fraud and misrepresentation. The investigation process is not yet finalised, but is continuing.

On 16 November 2021, the DPSA and investigation team from SASSA met to assess progress. The meeting resolved that the allegations against the public service employees are of a serious nature and therefore:

a) Disciplinary hearings should be held;

b) SASSA and DPSA agreed on the information/evidence to be included in the files to be opened for each employee;

c) For employees employed in provinces, the offices of the Premier will coordinate and monitor cases;

d) SASSA will provide witnesses;

e) Departments will have 90 days to finalise their cases from the dates of receiving files;

f) DPSA and SASSA will monitor the adherence to the timelines; and

g) SASSA will finalise the packaging of files.

 

Once investigations are finalised, the DPSA and investigators will reconvene with the identified departments, where guidance will be provided to labour relations officers to take the disciplinary cases forward in a coordinated way. The DPSA will source additional resources to assist those provinces with the most cases.

(2) SASSA is responsible for managing the payment of SRD grants and utilises its own electronic system to do that. The DPSA and SASSA linked the SASSA system to access information on the Personnel Salary System (PERSAL) so that current payments to applicants are only made after it was confirmed that the applicants are not appointed as Public Service employees.

End

02 December 2021 - NW2324

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What is the (a) breakdown of the total number of Public Service employees currently reported to be working from home for each (i) national and (ii) provincial government department and (b) total number of (i) national and (ii) provincial departments which have implemented a hybrid system or model for work; (2) What are the relevant details of how government departments are implementing the hybrid system or model of work?

Reply:

1. The required information is not centralised and readily available as each department keeps its own register and records. Individual Departments must be approached for detailed information.

2. The DPSA issues circulars following Cabinet and National Corona Virus Command Council (NCCC) resolutions as announced by the President on the state of COVID-19 Risk Adjusted Disaster Alert Levels. These circulars are meant to guide Heads of Departments on the decongestion of workplaces by keeping the minimum numbers of employees physically on-site in order to be within safety protocols in line with Department of Health Guidelines and the Occupational Health and Safety Directions from the Department of Employment and Labour. This is achieved through rotational and remote working arrangements. Although employees work off site on certain days, they are still expected to discharge their responsibilities as if they are in the offices.

The percentage of the occupancy rate at the workplace on any particular workday is determined by the alert level at that particular time and the specific operational needs and realities of the relevant organisation.

End

02 December 2021 - NW2420

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

How will his department monitor the strict adherence to Part B of the new Z83 form introduced in 2021 by (a) line managers and (b) human resources departments in the recruitment process?

Reply:

(a)&(b) The Minister of Public Service and Administration is responsible for the setting of norms and standards in terms of Section 3 of the Public Service Act, 1994. The Z83 is an instrument gazetted for such norms and recruiting. It is thus the relevant Executive Authorities responsibility to ensure that norms and standards are upheld. This was applicable to the previous version of the Z83 as well. Human Resource processes are subject to audit processes. DPSA has issued various circulars on the strict application of the Z83 to departments as part of advocacy.

End

02 December 2021 - NW2325

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)How are the various government departments (a) measuring and (b) monitoring employee performance with some Public Service employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) (a) whether her department has developed a remote working policy for government departments given that some Public Service employees are working from home; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, on what date was the specified policy developed; (3) Whether the remote working policy has been fully implemented and/or rolled out in all government departments; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1 (a) All employees are required to sign performance agreements outlining the outputs, indicators and activities that they must deliver on during a particular period. This requirement still applies even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1 (b) Remote working requires supervisors to agree on work to be completed by employees and regular monitoring to be done in order to ensure that employees are on track in meeting the agreed upon targets. The Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) requires that the performance of employees must be monitored on a continuous basis, with oral feedback on an employee’s performance if the performance is fully effective and meeting the requirements, and in writing if the employee’s performance is unsatisfactory. Conducting mid-year performance reviews and annual performance assessments are compulsory, which is a formal process and in writing.

2. The Remote Working Policy Framework for the Public Service has been developed and is being consulted on with stakeholders including Organised Labour who are parties to the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) and it will be approved once consultations are completed.

3. The Remote Working Policy Framework for the Public Service is at a consultation stage, having been placed on the agenda of the PSCBC meeting of the 6th December 2021 for consultations with organised labour.

End

01 December 2021 - NW2422

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

In light of the fact that the Minister of Home Affairs recently reported to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that one of the officials that were facing disciplinary charges at the Department of Home Affairs is now in the employ of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, how will his department assist government departments to ensure that Public Service employees who are facing disciplinary charges do not avoid facing charges against them by seeking and finding employment in another government department?

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is assisting departments in the following ways to deal with the disciplining of employees who left one department to join another:

Departments have, in terms of Section 16B (4) of the Public Service Act, 1994, a responsibility to ensure employees guilty of misconduct are disciplined.

Section 16B (4): If an employee of a department (in this subsection referred to as ‘the new department’), is alleged to have committed misconduct in a department by whom he or she was employed previously (in paragraph (b) referred to as ‘the former department’), the head of the new department-

a) may institute or continue disciplinary steps against that employee; and

b) shall institute or continue such steps if so requested-

(i) by the former executive authority if the relevant employee is a head of department; or

(ii) by the head of the former department, in the case of another employee.

The head of the Department of Home Affairs can follow the above prescripts to ensure that the disciplinary process is instituted by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

To further discourage employees with pending disciplinary cases against them from moving around within the Public Service, the DPSA amended the Application for Employment form (Z83) to make it compulsory for prospective employees to disclose all pending disciplinary cases on the form. The use of the amended Z83 form is compulsory from January 2021, and misrepresentation is considered a misconduct which may result in the termination of an employee’s service.

End

05 November 2021 - NW1574

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1) With reference to his reply to question 490 on 21 April 2021, what (a) are the reasons that the positions have not been filled permanently and (b) steps has his department taken to ensure that the positions are filled with permanent appointments; (2) whether his department has taken any steps to determine the impact of the vacancies on the performance of the respective departments; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether he will make a statement in this regard; if not, why not; if so, on what date?

Reply:

(1)(a) Directors-General and Heads of Department are appointed on fixed term contracts. Positions become vacant when a Head of Department vacates her or his position. Reasons for vacancies are due to the previous National Macro-Organisation of Government and contracts ending. Departments are at different points of the recruitment process to finalise the process of the filling of the post in the respective departments.

(b) It is the responsibility of the relevant Minister of every department in the case of a National Head of Department to advise the President of the vacancy of a National Head of Department in order to manage the process of the filling of the post. The MPSA provides support and guidance to departments on the policy matter pertaining to same and has a guide in place for the filling of such posts. In addition the MPSA has issued various circulars as well as provided reports to the President on the matter.

(2) Departments are consistently provided with support from the MPSA and DPSA on the matter of vacancies. The relevant Executive Authority of a department in terms of Section 3(7) of the Public Service Act, 1994 is responsible for recruitment and appointment and the filling of vacancies in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994 and Public Service Regulations, 2016. Vacant HoD posts are occupied in an acting capacity for business continuity of a department, as such an acting HoD is responsible for the deliverables of the department and reporting such through the required structures. Performance is reported through the Annual Performance Plan and Annual Operational Plan by each department through their relevant Executive Authority. MPSA is responsible for the development of norms and standards and will continue to support departments.

End

05 November 2021 - NW2113

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What number of (a) directors-general and/or (b) heads of departments within the public service are currently on (i) suspension and (ii) extended sick leave in each (aa) department and (bb) province?

Reply:

(a)The response will be provide after receiving information from the Presidency and the Premiers.

End

27 October 2021 - NW2036

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What is the (a) total number of Public Service employees currently on paid suspension, (b) total amount of money spent on paying the salaries of such employees on paid suspension since 1 January 2020 and (c) average length of time it took to finalise disciplinary actions against Public Service employees since 1 January 2020?

Reply:

The response below is based on the information sourced from PERSAL and therefore reflect information captured by both National and Provincials departments as of 31 August 2021. (a) two hundred and twenty-three (223) (b) the total amount is R22 254 974.06 (c) the average length of the time will be Sixty-eight (68.03) days.

End

30 September 2021 - NW2128

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What (a) is the detailed breakdown of the current average salary for each of the 16 salary bands in the Public Service, (b) total amount will be spent annually in terms of the latest Public Service wage agreement on paying public servant salaries in each of the 16 salary bands, (c) total amount of that amount will be spent annually on employees in each specified salary band in the Public Service and (d) is the breakdown of the total number of employees currently employed in each of the 16 salary bands in the Public Service?

Reply:

a) The detailed breakdown of the current average salary for each of the 16 salary bands in the Public Service:

Salary level

Current average salary per salary level

SL 1

R 103 562

SL 2

R 171 278

SL 3

R 206 957

SL 4

R 247 296

SL 5

R 283 227

SL 6

R 332 985

SL 7

R 411 227

SL 8

R 479 868

SL 9

R 567 956

SL 10

R 710 273

SL 11

R 851 022

SL 12

R 1 222 246

SL 13

R 1 147 609

SL 14

R 1 378 620

SL 15

R 1 661 168

SL 16

R 2 130 602

b) Total amount that will be spent annually in terms of the latest Public Service wage agreement on paying public servant salaries in each of the 16 salary bands:

The latest wage agreement in the Public Service is Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) Resolution 1 of 2021. The table below reflects the total cost of implementing the Resolution per salary level. It should be noted that no decision has yet been taken regarding possible salary adjustments for members of the Senior Management Service (Salary levels 13 – 16).

Salary level

Total cost of implementing Resolution 1 of 2021

SL 1

R9 552 000

SL 2

R1 235 509 000

SL 3

R1 146 359 000

SL 4

R619 649 000

SL 5

R3 382 164 000

SL 6

R2 457 016 000

SL 7

R5 854 878 000

SL 8

R3 434 624 000

SL 9

R2 261 454 000

SL 10

R1 416 912 000

SL 11

R989 621 000

SL 12

R888 732 000

SL 13

N/A

SL 14

N/A

SL 15

N/A

SL 16

N/A

Total

R23 696 470 000

c) Total amount of that amount that will be spent annually on employees in each specified salary band in the Public Service:

Salary level

Estimated total cost of employment, including the cost of Resolution 1 of 2021, per salary level

SL 1

R 45 851 000

SL 2

R 14 534 682 000

SL 3

R 15 577 597 000

SL 4

R 10 043 465 000

SL 5

R 60 279 792 000

SL 6

R 45 593 919 000

SL 7

R 130 820 285 000

SL 8

R 80 343 958 000

SL 9

R59 391 750 000

SL 10

R 40 307 049 000

SL 11

R 31 208 568 000

SL 12

R 34 486 430 000

SL 13

R 8 843 759 000

SL 14

R 3 343 153 000

SL 15

R 878 758 000

SL 16

R 1 499 944 000

Other (not linked to a specific salary level)

R 12 097 656 000

Total

R 549 296 616 000

d) The breakdown of the total number of employees currently employed in each of the 16 salary bands in the Public Service:

Salary level

Total number of employees per salary level

SL 1

263

SL 2

77 651

SL 3

69 003

SL 4

38 663

SL 5

201 244

SL 6

129 361

SL 7

306 703

SL 8

159 899

SL 9

99 927

SL 10

54 510

SL 11

35 365

SL 12

27 399

SL 13

7 660

SL 14

2 405

SL 15

528

SL 16

712

Other (not linked to a specific salary level)

27 423

Total

1 238 716

The information in the above tables represents the situation as at 31 July 2021 and has been obtained from the National Treasury PERSAL database. The information excludes Defence and the State Security Agency.

End

23 September 2021 - NW2270

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Cebekhulu, Inkosi RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

With regard to the Government employees who, contrary to legislation, have done and continue to do business with the State, what (a) measures has the Government undertaken, in the past 24 months, to ascertain the total number of government employees doing business with the State, (b) total number of government employees in the specified period have been identified as doing business with the State and (c) steps has the Government taken against its employees who do business with the State?

Reply:

a) The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) draws reports of employees who are alleged to have conducted business with the State from the National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database (CSD) on a monthly basis and alert their departments to take appropriate steps and provide progress reports to the DPSA on action taken.

b) At the end of March 2019, National Treasury found 1068 employees alleged to have conducted business with the State (270 from national departments and 798 from provincial departments). In April 2020, the number increased to 1539 (this number was 1544, but Department of Trade and Industry confirmed that the 5 cases identified in their departments were in fact employees officially representing that department). A total of 1111 employees, possibly conducting business with the State, were from provincial departments, whilst 428 were from national departments. At the end of June 2021, the total number of employees alleged to have conducted business with the State has drastically decreased to 118, wherein 38 employees were from national departments whilst 80 were from provincial departments. This shows the effectiveness of interventions that the Public Service has introduced to eliminate this action.

c) The DPSA is working closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to assist with the investigations and prosecution of cases of employees who are criminally charged with conducting business with the State, in terms of the Public Administration Management Act, 2014. SAPS is currently investigating 17 employees who were alleged to be conducting business with the State and three of these cases have already been referred to the NPA for prosecution. One of these cases was enrolled in court. On a quarterly basis the DPSA also follows up with Departments to verify any disciplinary action taken against such employees alleged to have conducted business with the State.

End

23 September 2021 - NW1409

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether, with reference to the reply to question 219 on 10 March 2021 which revealed that the national and provincial spheres of government were on course to pay remuneration amounting to R4,5 billion to public service employees who were at various stages of disciplinary processes between 2019 and 2021, there are any steps that the Public Service Commission will take to ensure that pending disciplinary hearings of suspended employees do not exceed three months; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

In terms of the Disciplinary Code and Procedure, discipline is a management function, and the PSC does not have the mandate to interfere in the disciplinary process. This position was confirmed by a legal opinion obtained by the PSC from the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor.

However, as part of its monitoring and advisory mandate, the PSC held a meeting with DPSA on 28 May 2021 to deliberate on, amongst others, the issue of disciplinary management and prolonged suspensions. The DPSA indicated that they have procured a service provider to assist them to develop a strategy on how to deal with the backlog of disciplinary cases. In order to contribute to the formulation of the strategy, the PSC and DPSA explored various options, including the following:

  1. The reinstatement of employees whose cases have exceeded the 90 days period where the nature of the misconduct is not of a serious nature;
  2. The reassignment of employees whose cases have exceeded 90 days where the nature of the misconduct is not of a serious nature to other units within Departments or the Public Service;
  3. The establishment of a pool of capacity (i.e. Labour Relations Officers) within the Public Service to deal with backlog cases within the prescribed period; and
  4. The appointment of contract workers/service provides who have the required expertise to deal with some of the cases within the prescribed period.

The PSC is awaiting further engagements with DPSA on the development of the strategy and the PSC continues to urge departments to ensure that disciplinary matters are concluded timeously in the interest of sound labour relations and service delivery.

End

16 September 2021 - NW2037

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether a certain person Mr D C Mamphiswana is currently employed in any capacity in a national and/or provincial government department; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) on what date was the specified person employed, (b) what is the current position the person holds and (c) what is the annual salary package?

Reply:

a) According to PERSAL Dr DC Mamphiswana is currently not employed in the Public Service.

b) Dr DC Mamphiswana was the previous Director-General at the Public Service Commission and was appointed on 01/06/2016. He was dismissed for misconduct in January 2021.

c) Not applicable as the person is no longer employed in the Public Service.

End

16 September 2021 - NW2006

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

With reference to the Department of Public Service and Administration circular HRD03/01 signed by the Director-General, Ms Yoliswa Mkhasi, and dated 15 April 2021, requesting all Heads of Department and Directors-General to urgently update the qualifications of Senior Management Service (SMS) employees in the Public Service on the Personal and Salary System (PERSAL), (a) what are the reasons the updating of this information on the PERSAL system has become urgent, (b) how often are the human resource units of the various national and provincial government departments expected to update this information on the PERSAL system, (c) who is responsible for monitoring the updating of this information on the PERSAL system by the human resource units of the various government departments and (d) what steps will her department take against the human resources units of the various national and government departments which fail to update this information on the PERSAL system by the dates stipulated in the circular?

Reply:

It was noted that some departments are not capturing or updating the NQF qualifications and personal information as often as expected. This practice leads to unreliable data regarding officials. The capturing is done on the PERSAL system and hence departments are required to urgently update the information on the PERSAL system. (b) Currently there is no prescribed timeline for the updating of information on the PERSAL system. Departments are, however expected to update information on PERSAL system when employees are promoted or transferred to another department and/or at any time when personal information changes. (c) Heads of various departments are responsible, hence the Circular is directed to Heads of Departments. (d) The matter will be escalated to Executive Authorities where there is non-compliance with the Circular. The MPSA also has the option of reporting the non-compliance with the Circular to the President if no-noticeable change is reported after escalation to Executive Authorities

End

15 September 2021 - NW1861

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether her department has developed a policy on the payment of overtime in the Public Service; if not, why not; if so, (a) on what date was the policy developed and (b) how often is it monitored and reviewed, (2) Whether her department monitors the payment of overtime in the Public Service; if not, why not; if so, how often does her department monitor the payment of overtime in the Public Service?

Reply:

1. Overtime work is informed by the service delivery requirements of a department. Hence, Regulation 49 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 requires that a department must have an approved overtime policy in place. The said departmental overtime policy must be in keeping with the overarching policy requirements set out in the Public Service Regulations, 2016, applicable collective agreements and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, as amended.

a) The overarching policy requirements were established with the introduction of the Public Service Regulatory Framework in 1999 and the conclusion of Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) Resolution 3 of 1999.

b) The said policy requirements are reviewed as and when required, for example, with the introduction of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, as amended, in the Public Service in July 2000 and with the promulgation of the 2016 Public Service Regulations. The applicable Regulation is currently being reviewed.

2. Overtime payments are a function located in departments through the PERSAL system. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) does not have access to, and control over the payment function taking place in departments. However, the DPSA from time to time does extract data on overtime from PERSAL and analyse the overtime expenditure in the Public Service. This analysis is used to engage with departments to ensure compliance with Public Service Regulations, 2016 including on the proper alignment of departmental structures to service delivery requirements. Since 2020, the DPSA has held regular meetings with departments that have been found to be non-compliant with applicable regulations and technical support has been provided to improve compliance.

End

15 September 2021 - NW1860

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What total amount did each (a) national and (b) provincial government department spend on paying overtime to Public Service employees in the (i) 2019-20 and (ii) 2020-21 financial years; (2) Whether her department has developed norms and standards for the payment of overtime in the Public Service; if not, why not; if so, (a) on what date were the norms and standards developed and (b) how often are the norms and standards (i) monitored and (ii) reviewed?

Reply:

  1. 1. The total overtime expenditure by provincial and national departments for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years are set out in the table below. In instances where no values are displayed, it is due to either the department splitting or merging with another/other department(s) or overtime payments not having been captured on the PERSAL system:

Department Name

2019-20

2020-21

 

Amount

(R)

Amount

(R)

Eastern Cape Provincial Administration

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

1,207,384.23

131,393.44

 

Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism

511,581.59

249,209.73

 

Education

18,113,853.20

13,965,584.32

 

Health

829,123,891.33

922,173,581.39

 

Human Settlements

183,421.78

130,867.37

 

Office of the Premier

959,684.20

155,510.05

 

Provincial Treasury

65,511.58

5,302.19

 

Roads and Public Works

1,876,901.37

537,655.44

 

Rural Development and Agrarian Reform

4,583,294.67

3,966,340.06

 

Safety and Liaison

956,381.49

191,975.32

 

Social Development

3,258,168.59

1,348,584.50

 

Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture

971,988.92

29,116.44

 

Transport

39,490,326.66

44,816,427.05

Free State Provincial Administration

Agriculture

1,406,881.16

1,517,070.60

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

27,482.18

326,724.86

 

Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs

3,686,637.87

1,145,811.34

 

Education

6,663,922.23

6,077,107.86

 

Health

412,804,512.48

448,065,887.45

 

Human Settlements

919,669.23

282,820.62

 

Office of the Premier

5,841.27

28,560.38

 

Police, Roads and Transport

26,522,898.56

26,223,630.44

 

Provincial Treasury

193,997.36

129,203.80

 

Public Works

1,261,530.82

1,371,970.70

 

Social Development

9,747,433.92

6,324,314.36

 

Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation

1,029,939.76

116,687.64

Gauteng Provincial Administration

Agriculture and Rural Development

3,992,205.46

836,076.84

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

280,270.04

954,484.62

 

Community Safety

26,033,682.97

77,501,930.44

 

E-Government

4,989,355.16

6,067,932.15

 

Economic Development

14,159.93

40,695.39

 

Education

21,995,472.75

24,786,642.54

 

Health

2,435,543,294.00

2,763,210,382.50

 

Human Settlements

129,667.01

58,370.18

 

Infrastructure Development

28,723,049.87

29,295,939.15

 

Office of the Premier

713,338.14

2,973,302.02

 

Provincial Treasury

441,709.44

256,062.17

 

Roads and Transport

2,286,377.10

8,877,497.13

 

Social Development

1,435,832.52

1,268,506.95

 

Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation

6,240,455.90

706,086.43

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Administration

Agriculture and Rural Development

7,863,906.28

8,384,542.17

 

Arts and Culture

221,106.35

11,173.32

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

1,130,739.09

563,901.35

 

Community Safety and Liaison

260,549.36

 
 

Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs

1,150,064.72

648,309.55

 

Education

45,741,563.54

42,181,719.06

 

Finance

1,374,313.87

615,340.64

 

Health

1,443,466,029.40

1,651,250,447.20

 

Human Settlements

1,753,104.14

487,113.17

 

Office of the Premier

1,133,266.41

1,083,368.74

 

Public Works

1,273,475.07

671,446.33

 

Social Development

4,797,599.77

6,104,190.08

 

Sport and Recreation

3,602,378.24

1,135,364.42

 

Transport

120,146,901.38

114,084,581.30

Limpopo Provincial Administration

Agriculture and Rural Development

10,515,966.75

2,981,688.70

 

Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs

4,358,545.18

1,093,578.77

 

Community Safety

88,452.17

 
 

Economic Development, Environment and Tourism

21,306,916.98

17,419,216.45

 

Education

21,490,655.33

12,084,855.07

 

Health

912,828,046.45

834,820,747.92

 

Office of the Premier

2,626,255.86

207,299.01

 

Provincial Treasury

61,181.02

83,157.58

 

Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure

5,185,352.43

1,313,613.05

 

Social Development

644,331.84

171,781.02

 

Sport, Arts and Culture

381,760.10

19,709.53

 

Transport and Community Safety

134,489,211.93

118,715,430.12

Mpumalanga Provincial Administration

Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs

2,512,911.27

1,108,970.79

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

535,146.73

448,455.16

 

Community Safety, Security and Liaison

21,406,246.29

27,837,333.02

 

Culture, Sport and Recreation

3,558,405.69

1,892,291.27

 

Economic Development and Tourism

786,429.45

8,047.20

 

Education

9,496,317.00

10,047,619.84

 

Health

425,888,487.00

495,675,959.89

 

Human Settlements

2,742,950.17

1,418,061.16

 

Office of the Premier

689,522.46

502,770.65

 

Provincial Treasury

867,846.68

62,664.65

 

Public Works, Roads and Transport

25,012,772.13

28,574,276.03

 

Social Development

1,779,451.45

13,441,056.28

North West Provincial Administration

Agriculture and Rural Development

2,926,869.15

3,070,211.19

 

Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation

280,463.39

496,449.11

 

Community Safety and Transport Management

48,715,985.02

40,785,276.66

 

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

1,154,554.32

1,826,152.58

 

Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism

815,951.62

509,190.39

 

Education

12,774,961.63

7,752,329.84

 

Health

493,620,723.57

648,705,462.33

 

Human Settlements

 

29,555.38

 

Office of the Premier

916,062.45

1,049,945.94

 

Provincial Treasury

3,060,051.70

1,629,648.73

 

Public Works and Roads

14,270,996.60

5,642,349.40

 

Social Development

1,116,656.03

1,731,924.82

Northern Cape Provincial Administration

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

1,419,518.86

751,237.42

 

Education

4,511,565.10

3,364,596.93

 

Environment and Nature Conservation

461,153.72

170,158.66

 

Health

189,446,067.37

223,175,196.17

 

Office of the Premier

891,074.34

549,628.18

 

Provincial Treasury

64,866.20

 
 

Roads and Public Works

1,556,828.92

419,632.24

 

Social Development

193,823.21

193,274.31

 

Transport, Safety and Liaison

1,630,716.95

3,176,554.74

Western Cape Provincial Administration

Agriculture

3,802,633.61

2,770,686.47

 

Community Safety

1,857,729.80

1,460,201.91

 

Cultural Affairs and Sport

1,686,526.30

135,725.04

 

Economic Development and Tourism

131,377.14

174,957.97

 

Education

11,463,379.32

5,749,486.77

 

Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

326,097.58

63,502.19

 

Health

1,157,736,241.00

1,243,312,634.20

 

Human Settlements

5,295,675.96

1,742,808.98

 

Local Government

943,099.21

851,712.07

 

Provincial Treasury

669,139.26

389,753.04

 

Social Development

8,378,531.97

9,032,576.23

 

Department of the Premier

3,517,839.63

1,247,110.44

 

Transport and Public Works

12,378,007.36

9,447,650.95

 

National Departments

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

17,779,803.32

 
 

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

80,389,519.07

40,098,966.40

 

Basic Education

7,897,621.06

5,681,828.67

 

Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service

794,037.21

400,803.16

 

Communications

541,647.64

 
 

Communications and Digital Technologies

639,577.01

138,099.45

 

Cooperative Governance

4,412,709.39

4,270,256.25

 

Correctional Services

193,914,775.91

211,578,343.23

 

Economic Development

280,232.85

 
 

Employment and Labour

55,125,049.13

53,047,865.35

 

Energy

612,460.36

 
 

Environment, Forestry and Fisheries

10,565,727.39

12,219,404.08

 

Government Communication and Information System

2,950,394.84

702,593.22

 

Health

20,001,395.84

25,895,317.01

 

Higher Education and Training

16,976,257.16

9,595,677.26

 

Home Affairs

85,684,534.47

50,468,033.79

 

Human Settlements

2,257,343.29

1,731,822.84

 

Independent Police Investigative Directorate

1,816,320.14

1,339,076.49

 

International Relations and Cooperation

11,755,886.85

8,905,729.97

 

Justice and Constitutional Development

18,089,042.44

9,119,949.42

 

Military Veterans

1,804,463.19

917,236.95

 

Mineral Resources and Energy

4,878,887.82

2,823,676.98

 

National School of Government

225,216.84

14,284.23

 

National Treasury

16,347,923.84

3,179,421.72

 

Office of the Chief Justice

2,194,424.04

856,071.81

 

Office of the Public Service Commission

380,286.14

118,374.03

 

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

1,099,056.25

408,591.27

 

Police

1,058,957,936.40

703,439,233.53

 

Public Enterprises

633,577.65

54,097.31

 

Public Service and Administration

1,182,159.50

941,606.03

 

Public Works and Infrastructure

41,830,007.47

22,785,119.14

 

Science and Innovation

634,812.48

176,458.79

 

Small Business Development

258,870.39

80,442.36

 

Social Development

3,978,318.46

5,318,308.53

 

Sport and Recreation South Africa

740,229.15

 
 

Sport, Arts and Culture

2,211,959.45

1,123,723.21

 

Statistics South Africa

1,750,411.32

1,208,001.54

 

The Presidency

11,214,516.50

4,723,079.39

 

Tourism

711,130.74

1,497,175.97

 

Trade, Industry and Competition

1,058,217.03

282,276.81

 

Traditional Affairs

550,756.28

23,888.86

 

Transport

3,285,644.20

2,572,738.80

 

Water and Sanitation

33,960,826.74

31,247,215.11

 

Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

190,896.72

44,683.56

Data Source: PERSAL

Compile by the DPSA

Excludes Defence and the State Security Agency

1. Overtime work is informed by the service delivery requirements of a department. Hence, Regulation 49 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 requires that a department must have an approved overtime policy in place. The said departmental overtime policy must be in keeping with the overarching policy requirements set out in the Public Service Regulations, 2016, applicable collective agreements and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, as amended.

a) The overarching policy requirements were established with the introduction of the Public Service Regulatory Framework in 1999 and the conclusion of Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) Resolution 3 of 1999.

b) The said policy requirements are reviewed as and when required, for example, with the introduction of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, as amended, in the Public Service in July 2000 and with the promulgation of the 2016 Public Service Regulations. The applicable Regulation is currently being reviewed.

End

01 September 2021 - NW1686

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether the commissioners in the Public Service Commission signed performance agreements; if not, (a) what are the reasons that they do not sign and conclude performance agreements and (b) how is their performance assessed and/or measured; if so, (i) how often are the performance agreements signed and concluded and (ii) with whom do they sign and conclude the performance agreements?

Reply:

The Commissioners in the Public Service Commission (PSC) have not signed any performance agreements.

a) The legislation regulating the employment of Commissioners, i.e. the Public Service Commission Act, 1997 and the Conditions of Appointment (including remuneration and other conditions of service) applicable to members of the Public Service Commission determined by the President, in terms of section 6 (1) of the Public Service Commission Act, do not provide for Commissioners to sign Performance Agreements. The implication of this is that Commissioners are not eligible for annual notch increases and remain on the same notch for the duration of the 5 year term.

The performance of Commissioners was raised by Members of Parliament in dealing with the Public Service Commission Amendment Act, 2019, and the Act makes provision for the renewal of term of a commissioner, based on the commissioner having maintained a satisfactory level of performance in relation to his or her duties. Parliament, being the employer of Commissioners, has to finalise a process in this regard. The PSC is also addressing the matter in the PSC Bill that is being processed.

b) Therefore, no assessment of individual performance is conducted. As the Public Service Commission operates as a single entity, it submits an annual report on its activities to the National Assembly and legislatures as required in section 196 (4)(e) of the Constitution, 1996.

  1. Not applicable
  2. Not applicable

End

27 August 2021 - NW1416

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)With respect to the establishment of the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit, (a) on what date was the specified unit officially established, (b) what is the current staff complement of the unit and (c) what has been the successes of the unit since its establishment; (2) Will he furnish Dr M M Gondwe with a list detailing the job title of each member of the unit; if not, why not; if so, on what

Reply:

1. (a) In March 2019, the President issued a proclamation on the establishment of the Unit, to be effective from 1 April 2019. The Unit was therefore formally established on 1 April 2019.

(b) Currently the unit consists of nine employees: 1 Chief Director, 1 Director, 4 Deputy Directors and 3 Assistant Directors. Two vacant Director posts are in the process of being filled.

(c) The successes of the unit:

  • Technical Assistance and support: Since 2019, various awareness sessions were conducted to assist departments to implement Public Service Regulations, 2016 addressing ethics; integrity and discipline management. This includes issues of financial interests, gifts, other remunerative work and employees conducting business with the State. Departments were also assisted with establishing Ethics Committees. Ethics Officer Forums were established and used to guide Ethics Officers on the management of ethics in their departments, focussing on identified challenges and new developments.

The Unit assisted departments in rolling out the Guide to implement lifestyle audits in the Public Service. This included conducting training of 41 Ethics Officers (on 3 – 4 May 2021) regarding the verification of assets. This training was run in partnership with the UNODC and the World Bank.

Supported by Co-Water Sogema, an implementing agent for the Government of Canada (under the Strengthening of Ethics and Integrity Project) the Unit is finalising online courses to enable Ethics Officers and departmental investigators to conduct lifestyle reviews and lifestyle investigations as part of the lifestyle audit process. Awareness sessions on the Guide to implement lifestyle audits in the Public Service were presented to all provinces and selected national departments.

The Unit developed and adopted a Guide on managing discipline in the Public Service, to assist departments in managing disciplinary cases and to address precautionary suspensions.

The Unit adopted a project in Q 3 of 2020/2021 to assist those departments with long outstanding precautionary suspensions to address their backlogs and as a result, the costs for precautionary suspensions. Due to the project, by end of March 2021, provinces finalised 78% of their precautionary backlogs (Q1: 1% - Q 2: 8%, Q 3: 18% and Q4: 78%). The cost for precautionary suspensions was reduced, with the cost for National Departments stabilising around R 20 million per quarter and the cost for provinces decreasing from the first quarter to the last quarter with almost R 25 million (Q1:R 87 million compared to Q4: R62 million). The Unit specifically focussed on two provinces with the highest costs pertaining to precautionary suspensions: Free State and Kwa-Zulu Natal. The Free State managed to reduce their cost from R 12 million in Q 3 to R 6 million in Q 4. KZN reduced its cost from a high of R 92 million in Q 3 to R 21 Million in Q 4. NB: The amounts are based on information captured on PERSAL and verified by departments.

  • Monitoring and evaluation: The Unit drew information from 2017 and drafted monitoring and evaluation reports where trends on the following are monitored and used to identify needs and emerging risks:
    • Report on employees conducting business with the State (March 2021), which indicated a decline in employees conducting business with the State. In June 2020, approximately 1500 employees were identified to be possibly involved in conducting business with the State. This declined to 490 employees in Jan 2021, and at the end of June 2021 it declined to 96 employees.
    • Report on employees performing other remunerative work (Feb 2021). The report found that departments are successfully implementing regulation 24 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 (dealing with approval for performance of other remunerative work). Where challenges are identified, the Unit intervenes with training and assistance.
    • Report on submission of Financial Disclosures (March 2021). The report found that 98% of SMS members submitted their financial disclosures for 2020/2021. 60% of MMS members submitted their financial disclosures. Most of these members submitted for the first time, as they were identified as a new category. The Unit intervened to address challenges through training, awareness sessions and technical support provided to departments.
    • The Unit established a database on Public Service employees appointed as board members to State Owned Entities. The database is used to monitor if those employees were appointed in an official (as allowed in terms of Regulation 13(c) and to cross reference with existing databases to ensure they do not perform other remunerative work or conducting business with the State).
  • Cooperation: The DPSA entered into agreements with the Financial Intelligence Centre, National Prosecuting Authority, South African Police Service and Auditor-General South Africa to assist the Unit with monitoring the implementation of regulations and to share data. The Unit works within the Anti-Corruption Tasks Team to provide support to investigations involving fraud of Personal Protective Equipment, Unemployment Insurance Fund and Social Relief of Distress fraud by identifying Public Service employees and following up on the institution of disciplinary action against employees.

2. A list of the members of the Unit was provided to Dr Gondwe.

27 August 2021 - NW1372

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Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(a) What is the total Rand value of monies recovered by his department from officials doing business with the State and (b) which departments has he found to be implicated in the specified matter?

Reply:

a) No monies were recovered by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), as no individual within this department were found guilty of conducting business with the State. The DPSA established a Memorandum of Understanding with the South African Police Service (SAPS), National Prosecuting Authority and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to assist departments with investigating those cases where public service employees were identified by the DPSA to be possibly conducting business with the State. The SAPS investigations into the criminal cases referred by departments are not finalised yet, and as such no monies could be recouped.

b) By April 2021, the DPSA identified the following departments as possibly having employees conducting business with the State, and they were requested to investigate the allegations, to proceed with disciplinary action and to open criminal cases against employees found to be guilty:

National/Provincial department

Provincial

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural

Development

 

Correctional Services

 

Higher Education and Training

 

Justice and Constitutional Development

 

Science and Innovation

 

Social Development

 

Trade, Industry and Competition

Eastern Cape

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

 

Office of the Premier

 

Provincial Treasury

Free State

Social Development

Gauteng

Education

 

Health

KwaZulu-Natal

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

 

Education

 

Health

 

Transport

Mpumalanga

Culture, Sport and Recreation

 

Health

 

Public Works, Roads and Transport

North West

Education

 

Health

Northern Cape

Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural

 

Development and Land Reform

 

Economic Development and Tourism

 

Education

 

Health

 

Roads and Public Works

Western Cape

Health

End

27 August 2021 - NW1546

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Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What are the reasons that vacant Head of Department posts in the North West are filled with persons employed on temporary contracts?

Reply:

The appointments of Heads of Department is governed by the Public Service Act which states that such appointments shall not exceed a period of five years. The contracts of two serving heads of department (COGTA and Human Settlements) were extended by the Premier on a short term basis at the end of their initial 5 year contract periods. The recruitment process of replacement full time incumbents is currently underway.

End

27 August 2021 - NW1674

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What are the (a) full relevant details of the various agreements signed by him and his predecessors over the past 10 financial years on behalf of the Government with the Republic of Cuba, (b) reasons and (c) total amounts paid to any Cuban entity in the past 10 financial years by (i) his department and (ii) any entity reporting to him?

Reply:

a) The Department of Public Service and Administration has not concluded any agreements with the Republic of Cuba over the past 10 financial years.

b) Not applicable

c) (i) & (ii) Not applicable

End

27 August 2021 - NW1290

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)With reference to his reply to question 219 on 10 March 2021, what steps has and/or will his department take to investigate and address the delays in finalising disciplinary cases of Public Service employees who are sitting at home whilst earning a full salary; (2) what (a) total amount has been spent by each (i) national and (ii) provincial departments on (aa) legal and (bb) compensation fees incurred as a result of disciplinary cases involving Public Service employees and (b) is the breakdown of the specified figure for each department; (3) What steps has and/or will his department take against executive authorities who fail to ensure that disciplinary cases within their departments are finalised within the stipulated 90-day period?

Reply:

1. In the third quarter of the previous financial year, the Department of Public Service and Administration launched a project to address the delays in finalising disciplinary cases where the Minister for the Public Service and Administration addressed executive authorities (Ministers and Premiers) whose departments were identified to have long outstanding precautionary suspensions. This was followed by one-on-one sessions between these identified provinces and departments and the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU) to assess the reasons for delays, to provide technical assistance to finalise cases and where a newly developed electronic register was provided to departments to user to record their cases and to provide monthly progress updates to the DPSA. The MPSA furthermore addressed the issue in the Forum of South African Director-Generals (FOSAD) which took place in May 2021. The Director-General: DPSA embarked on provincial visits where top management were engaged, amongst others, on discipline management.

To assist departments with discipline management and to address identified challenges, the PAEIDTAU developed a Guide on managing discipline in the public service. The Guide is available on the DPSA website and training on the guide will commence this year.

In 2020, the DPSA trained 204 presiding officers to preside over disciplinary hearings.

As an interim measure, the MPSA launched (on 16 April 2021) a Discipline Management Complaints Hotline to enable public servants to report incidents of bullying and victimizations by their supervisors, pending finalisation of their disciplinary cases.

2. Tag A, herewith attached, addresses question 2, and reflects the information provided by national and provincial departments who responded to the request of the DPSA to provide the necessary information.

3. As indicated in the response of question 1, the MPSA addressed the issue with executive authorities in one-on-one meetings. The MPSA will continue to issue non-compliance letters to non-compliant executive authorities as mandated in terms of section 16 A of the Public Service Act and will also report those executive authorities to Cabinet and the Presidential Co-ordinating Council.

End

01 July 2021 - NW1745

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Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What (a) were the reasons given by the Northern Cape regarding the request for condonation on submission on Performance Agreement Compliance and (b) measures has his department put in place with regard to provinces missing deadlines?

Reply:

a) The Northern Cape Provincial Government complied with the due date of 31 October 2020 on the signing of PAs for the 2020/2021 performance cycle as set by DPSA Circular 32 02 2020. There was therefore, no reasons required.

b) The performance management and development system (PMDS) prescribe the specific measures for dealing with non-compliance on the signing of PAs including:

  • Empowering Executive Authorities and Heads of Department to take appropriate disciplinary action against employees who fail to comply with the PMDS; and
  • Disqualifying any employee who fails to comply from participating in any performance incentive, i.e. pay progression and performance bonuses;

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) monitors compliance to these policy prescripts and issues compliance notices. Advocacy meetings are also held with FOSAD and Provincial Executive Councils led by Premiers to highlight areas of concern. If a Department is highlighted to have consistently failed to comply, the Minister also has the option to escalate the matter to the President.

End

01 July 2021 - NW1073

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

With reference to the filling of vacant posts for the position of Director-General and/or Head of Department in the Public Service, what (a) is the total number of (i) national and (ii) provincial departments which were required to advertise for the specified posts more than once during the (aa) 2018-19, (bb) 2019-20 and (cc) 2020-21 financial years, (b) are the reasons that the specified departments were required to advertise for the posts more than once and (c) total amount was spent on re-advertising the posts for each of the implicated departments?

Reply:

(a) Based on information available to the DPSA (a)(i) Three Director General or Head of Component posts were re-advertised as follows:

(aa) CEO: Government Printing Works was re-advertised in June 2018.

(bb) Director-General: Department of Home Affairs was re-advertised in November 2019.

(cc) Director-General: Cooperative Governance was re-advertised was advertised in February 2020.

(a)(ii) Based on information available to the DPSA, state the number of HOD posts (i.e. three (3) Provincial HoD posts were re-advertised:

(aa)

(bb)

(cc)

(b) The reasons provided to the DPSA by the advertising Departments included that advertising requirements were not being met, including attaining the delegation of authority to fill the post from the President and allowing for a fair or adequate time to reply to an advert. It should be noted that in terms of section 3(7)(a) and (b) of the Public Service Act, 1994 the relevant executive authority of department has power and duties to manage the recruitment and appointment in his or her department which includes filling of a posts. The mandate of the DPSA as far as advertising is concerned, is limited to the publication of the vacancies and facilitation of the cabinet memorandum specifically for the Director-General and Deputy Director General posts.

(b) The DPSA issues the PSVC publication at no cost to the departments, any other costs related to the re-advertisement of such post in the media is managed by the relevant department.

End

01 July 2021 - NW1483

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Mphithi, Mr L to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether his department has concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba from the 2010-11 financial year up to the 2020-21 financial year; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) total number of Cuban nationals (i) have been employed in each of the specified financial years and/or (ii) are due to be employed in the 2021-23 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period, (b) are the details of the work that each of the specified Cuban nationals was and/or will be employed to perform, (c) are the details of the specific skills sets that each of the specified Cuban nationals possessed and/or will possess that South African nationals did or will not possess and (d) are the details of the total cost of employing each of the specified Cuban nationals in each case; (2) whether his department took any steps to ensure that the specific skills set of the specified Cuban nationals were and/or will not be available in the Republic amongst South African citizens; if not, in each case, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the (a) steps taken and (b) outcomes of the steps taken in this regard?

Reply:

1. The Department of Public Service and Administration has not concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba from the 2010-11 financial year up to the 2020-21 financial year. There was no need identified in this regard.

2. Not applicable.

End

18 June 2021 - NW1286

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Cuthbert, Mr MJ to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether a certain person (name and details furnished) is an employee of any government (a) department, (b) agency and/or (c) state-owned entity in any capacity whatsoever in the national and/or provincial sphere of government; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the further relevant details?

Reply:

(a)(b) & (c) No, the said person is not an employee in the Department of Public Service and Administration; any departmental agency nor a state-owned entity reporting to the Ministry of Public Service and Administration (MPSA) portfolio. Consequently, there are no further relevant details that can be provided.

According to records on the Public Service payroll system (PERSAL) is currently NOT an employee of any national or provincial department or government component. The person was last employed in the South African Police Service between November 2005 and November 2020.

End

28 May 2021 - NW1114

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether he amended the Z83 application for employment form, as published in notice 627 of 2020 in the Government Gazette of 6 November 2020, to include a new racial category called Other to be listed alongside the existing categories of African, White, Coloured and Indian; if so, (2) what is the legal definition (a) of the category called Other which does not exist in the Employment Equity Act, Act 55 of 1998, and (b) used by his department for the categories of (i) African, (ii) White, (iii) Coloured and (iv) Indian; (3) Whether a person classified as other qualifies as a member of a designated group for the purposes of the Employment Equity Act, Act 58 of 1998, and broad-based black economic empowerment?

Reply:

(1) The Z83 application for employment form was amended extensive public consultations to address, among others, the issue of employees trying to escape disciplinary procedures and accountability by resigning when charges are proffered against them. The revisions empower the Public Service to give effect to section 16B (4) and (5) of the Public Service Act, 1994 which allows for employees to be disciplined for misconduct allegedly committed in their former department, when they are appointed in a new department. In addition other amendments included the race categorisation for ‘other’’.

(2) There is no legal definition accorded to the category of “other”. Under note 3 attached to the information of race as reflected in the Z83 form, it is indicated that the information is to enable the department to comply with the employment Equity Act, 1998. The information provided in respect of the race of applicants is therefore utilised to implement any affirmative action measures that a department may have.

In terms of the Employment Equity Act, “designated groups” is defined to include South Africa citizens who are black people, women and people with disabilities. In the same Act, “black people” is defined to mean Africans, Coloured and Indians. In addition it is also recognised that there are applicants, such as foreign nationals, who do not fall within these definitions provided for in the Employment Equity Act and therefore the category of “other” was introduced.

(3) The Z83 form is for purposes of employment in the public service and does not address broad-based black economic empowerment prescripts. The intention of the Z83 form is to allow the ease of categorisation of persons for employment taking into account the Employment Equity Act. Therefore an applicant who reflects himself or herself within the category of “other” indicates that the applicants does not fall within the other categorisations as contemplated in the Employment Equity Act.

28 May 2021 - NW1115

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What happens if an applicant refuses to indicate their race in section B of the Z83 application for employment form; (2) Whether his department classifies the race of an applicant who refuses to indicate their race; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, on what basis does his department classify a person as (i) Black, (ii) White, (c) Coloured, (iv) Indian and/or (v) Other; (3) What physical characteristics does his department take into account when classifying an applicant as Black, White, Coloured, Indian and/or Other?

Reply:

1. The Z83 application form is a prescribed form. An applicant is required to fill in all sections of this form completely, accurately and legibly. In addition, the declaration at the end of the form requires the applicant to confirm that all the information provided (including any attachments) is complete and correct to the best of his/her knowledge. Therefore it is incumbent on an applicant to complete the form in full. In the event that this information or any other information is not indicated, the application will not be compliant and may result in disqualification.

2. There is no requirement for any department to attempt to classify applicants into racial groups. The information provided on the Z83 form by the applicant is relied upon as correct and true based on the declaration as mentioned above.

3. As neither the DPSA nor any other department is required to determine the categorisation of the race of an applicant, there are no physical characteristics taken into account.

20 May 2021 - NW825

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether, with reference to the findings by the auditor-general that some government employees applied for the Social Relief of Distress grant (SRD), his department took any disciplinary and/or legal steps against the implicated government employees; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) Whether any steps have been taken to recover the monies from the implicated government employees; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) Whether any measures have been put in place to ensure that no government employee will be able to fraudulently and/or unlawfully apply for and/or receive the SRD grant; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1. No employees of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has been implicated, therefore the Department did not take any disciplinary and/or legal steps. Discipline management is a decentralised function and therefore the responsibility of each department to enforce the disciplinary code and take the necessary legal steps to recover public funds. The DPSA is only mandated to take action against its own employees when found guilty of wrongdoing through a disciplinary process.

2. The DPSA did not recover monies from the implicated public service employees. Before monies can be recovered from employees, an investigation must be finalised with sufficient evidence of criminality collected and recommending for monies to be recovered. The recovery of monies will then be effected through a court order. The mandate to investigate fraud, corruption and crime belongs solely to the South African Police Service, or under special circumstances to the Special Investigative Unit (SIU). The DPSA, including the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU), does not have a mandate to investigate crime or to recover monies from employees.

3. The DPSA established that all cases regarding government employees receiving Social Relief of Distress grants (SRD) were referred to the Fusion Centre, with a process embarked upon to analyse the data and to refer established cases to investigators. The Fusion Centre is an Anti-Corruption Task Team initiative, where resources of law enforcement agencies are pooled and coordinated to investigate and prosecute priority corruption cases. The DPSA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Financial Intelligence Centre (who are involved in the Fusion Centre) in terms of which the DPSA will assist any investigations by identifying Public Service employees in corruption cases. In this regard, the DPSA will assist with the identification of Public Service employees from the SRD Grant cases, and after investigations established criminal conduct involving public service employees, the PAEIDTAU will monitor if national and provincial departments are taking disciplinary steps against the identified employees. The Department of Social Development will have to implement measures on their systems to prevent government employees to be able to fraudulently and/or unlawfully apply for and/or receive the SRD grants, as those systems are not managed or maintained by the DPSA.

End

20 May 2021 - NW827

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether, in light of the rising budget deficit of the Republic which has been made worse by the economic impact of COVID-19, necessitating a need for the rationalisation of Government expenditure through, among other considerations, a rationalisation of the public service headcount, his department has introduced a rationalisation process of the staff complement in the public service; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) by what date is the rationalisation envisaged to be completed?

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration has not introduced rationalisation of the Public Service headcount. Headcount increases have not been the main driver of the wage bill. Rationalisation of the Public Service headcount may adversely affect service delivery to citizens in critical sectors such health, education and policing amongst others. The 2021 Budget Review, has indicated that the government wage bill must be managed within the Fiscal Framework which assumes that compensation budget ceilings will be maintained.

Not applicable in terms of the response in (a).

End

11 May 2021 - NW308

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What is the total number of (a) national and (b) provincial government employees who are currently working from home during the Adjusted Level 3 Lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus; (2) whether the Government has conducted an assessment of the number of national and provincial government employees who are currently working from home that have access to sufficient internet/data to execute their duties; (3) what number, out of the total number of national and provincial government employees currently working from home, do not have access to the required internet/data connections to fully execute their duties?

Reply:

  1. The required information is not centralised and readily available as each department keeps its own register and records. Individuals Departments must be approached for detailed information such as access to internet/data.

End

11 May 2021 - NW698

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether, with reference to the findings by the auditor-general that some government employees applied for the Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD Grant), his department has been able to conclusively establish the number of government employees who have fraudulently applied for the SRD Grant; if not, why not; if so, what (a) is the total number of government employees who actually received the SRD Grant and (b) is the total amount that the implicated government employees received from the SRD Grant?

Reply:

Cognisance of the Auditor-General’s findings is taken. It must however, be noted, that the mandatory investigative processes need to be undertaken by the relevant authorities, such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and in some cases, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). Once these investigations have been completed, the necessary information will be obtained by the DPSA, and will be communicated to the relevant department/s. The DPSA, through the Technical Assistance Unit will ensure that it keeps abreast of the developments so as to offer support to departments and monitor the management of disciplinary actions instituted against those public servants who are found guilty.

End

21 April 2021 - NW490

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(a) What number of (i) directors-general and (ii) heads of departments (HODs) in the public service are (aa) permanently employed, (bb) in acting positions, (b) for what period have they been acting in such positions and (c) will he furnish Dr M M Gondwe with a breakdown of this number in each government department?

Reply:

a) (i) (aa) Directors-General - 37 Nationally appointed; 8 Provincially appointed (Schedule 1 of the Public Service Act, 1994) - (Directors-General are appointed on contract for a term not exceeding five years)

(bb) Acting Directors-General - National 8 Directors-General are acting; Provincially 1 Director-General is acting.

(ii) (aa) Heads of Department: 87 appointed – (Schedule 2 of the Public Service Act, 1994) – (Heads of Department are appointed on contract for a term not exceeding five years)

(bb) Acting Heads of Department – 25.

(b&c) Officials are appointed to act from the date the post has become vacant – Period of Acting Directors-General Nationally by Department (data: as at 31 December 2020):

National Departments

Post vacant date

Duration vacant (months)

Department of Social Development

2017-05-31

43

Department of Water and Sanitation

2017-11-30

37

Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

2020-10-31

2

Department of Military Veterans

2018-06-15

31

Small Business Development

2018-09-30

27

The Presidency

2020-08-31

4

Communication and Digital Technologies

2020-06-30

6

State Security Agency

2018-04-30

33

     

Provincial Department

Post vacant date

Duration vacant (months)

North West Office of the Premier

2019-04-30

20

(b&c) Officials are appointed to act from the date the post has become vacant – Period of Acting Nationally by Department: (data: as at 31 December 2020):

Province

Provincial Department

Post vacant date

Duration vacant (months)

KZN

Provincial Treasury

2020-06-30

6

 

Transport

2020-04-30

8

 

Northern Cape

Provincial Treasury

2014-10-31

74

 

Education

2020-08-31

4

 

Roads and Public Works

2020-07-31

7

 

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

2019-10-31

14

 

Environment and Nature Conservation

2020-02-01

11

 

Economic Development and Tourism

2014-10-31

74

 

Health

2020-02-28

10

 

Eastern Cape

Health

2020-09-30

3

 

Rural Development and Agrarian Reform

2018-09-30

27

 

Mpumalanga

Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs

2018-05-31

31

 

Public Works, Roads and Transport

2019-10-31

14

 

Economic Development and Tourism

2014-10-31

74

 

Education

2019-08-31

16

 

Health

2013-06-01

90

 

Cooperative Governance

2020-02-29

10

 

Gauteng

Community Safety

2020-02-29

10

 

Health

2020-10-01

3

 

Economic Development

2020-11-30

1

 

Limpopo

Education

2020-01-31

11

 

Social Development

2020-05-01

8

 

North West

Agriculture and Rural Development

2020-10-01

3

 

Health

2020-01-13

12

 

Social Development

2018-11-30

26

       
       

20 April 2021 - NW536

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether, in view of the announcement by the National School of Government that the government of the People’s Republic of China will be providing training to South African public servants, including to expose South African managers to China’s governance models, the Government is paying to obtain this training from the Chinese government; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether he will furnish Dr L A Schreiber with a detailed breakdown of the curriculum and topics that will be covered during the training; (3) given that the People’s Republic of China is a one-party state instead of a multiparty liberal democracy like the Republic, what are the reasons that he has found it to be appropriate for public servants in our democracy to be trained on governance matters by functionaries of the Chinese state?

Reply:

(1) The Government of South Africa is not paying to receive this training from China. The programmes are sponsored by the Government of China and exist within the context of the MoUs entered into between the NSG and the China National Academy of Governance and the University of China Academy of Social Sciences.

(2) For details of the curriculum please see the following annexures:

Annexure 1: Building Governance Capacity for South Africa

Annexure 2: Economic Governance

Annexure 3: Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development

 

The upcoming programme on Governance and Emergency Management will cover topics such as (1) Modernization of Chinese Government Structure and Governance Ability, (2) Chinese Government Performance Management, (3) China's Public Policy Making, (4) Response to Emergencies, (5) Emergency management in China, (6) Practice and exploration of the construction of national emergency management system

These programmes are targeted at Senior Managers in the public service and have also attracted Deputy Ministers, Councillors and Executive Mayors.

(3) The NSG has prioritised the use of strategic partnerships with leading institutions from around the world in pursuit of knowledge exchanges. These partnerships include institutions in Europe, Asia and the Americas. These partnerships are with the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (France), University College London (United Kingdom), Thunderbird School of Global Management – Arizona University (USA), China National Academy of Governance and the University of China Academy of Social Sciences.

The NSG also enjoys exchanges with countries such as Germany, Chile and India where we facilitate learning opportunities for South Africa’s public servants. The pursuit of these strategic partnerships is in line with South Africa’s White Paper on Foreign Policy. We pursue our relations with countries that have diplomatic relations with South Africa, China being one of them. Regardless of its Political System, China boasts a public service that is based on a strong system of meritocracy and has its own unique governance system which other countries can learn from in crafting or improving their own in pursuit of their own national objectives and interests. Over the past decades, China has excelled in development planning, testing and mass rollout of integrated development initiatives. China has been very successful in translating strategic plans into operational plans and implementing them. We would like South Africa’s public servants and leaders to be exposed to the education and learning programmes that have underpinned the successes of development-oriented states such as China.

We also facilitate learning opportunities with institutions in Germany, France, Chile and India, because like China, they have mastered State craft.

End

20 April 2021 - NW172

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Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What total (a) number of provincial departments have underperformed in the 2019-20 financial year and (b) amount was paid for performance bonuses to the specified underperforming departments in the specified financial year; (2) What total (a) number of departments within the national Government have underperformed in the 2019-20 financial year and (b) amount was paid for performance bonuses to the specified underperforming departments in the specified financial year?

Reply:

  1. For the purpose of responding to this parliamentary question, departments that received a disclaimer or adverse finding from the Auditor-General for the 2019/2020 financial year are regarded as having underperformed. (a) The North West Department of Human Settlements is the only provincial department that received a disclaimer or adverse finding from the Auditor-General for the 2019/2020 financial year. (b) According to information available on PERSAL no performance bonuses were paid by the department for the 2019/2020 financial year.
  2. (a) None of the national departments received a disclaimer or adverse finding for the 2019/2020 financial year. (b) According to information available on PERSAL no performance bonuses were paid by departments that are regarded as underperforming.

End

15 April 2021 - NW535

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether, in light of the dismissal of a certain person (name and details furnished), for illegally appointing his mistress to the position of Chief Director: Professional Ethics, he intends to institute a review of the fitness to hold office of all people appointed by the specified person; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

As it stands all appointments made by this person were performed in line with the law and delegations and therefore they are all valid until declared invalid by a court of law. In addition, each appointment made creates a contract of employment and rights for employees in terms of the Labour Relations Act of 1995 and other labour legislation. The individual employees’ rights cannot be diminished by just one incident that has no bearing on their employment.

The dismissal of the person is regarded as a deterrent to all employees to act within the prescribed legislative framework and the organisation cannot conduct a witch-hunt where no allegation or evidence of wrong-doing exist. Such an approach will have a destabilising effect on the organisation. In this regard, it should be kept in mind that the recruitment and selection process is not undertaken by a single person, but by a Selection Committee comprising of at least three members and is guided by the Public Service Regulations, 2016, as amended, and the Departmental Policy on Recruitment and Selection. When the allegations came to the attention of the Executive Authority, the former employee was removed from all recruitment and selection processes within the organisation.

Since the dismissal of the former employee, the organisation has been at pains to institute additional controls in the human resources management environment to overcome the challenges identified in the recruitment and selection process, this includes but is not limited to a comprehensive legislative and policy framework checklist that accompanies each recruitment and selection process, as well as the review of human resources management policies.

Whistle-blowing Guidelines are in place to encourage and enable employees to raise serious concerns about fraud and corruption within the organisation or with the independent Audit Committee. All complaints are handled professionally and in line with the prevailing prescripts.

12 April 2021 - NW915

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Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(a) What total number of (i) Directors-General and (ii) provincial Heads of Department have signed their performance contracts and (b) how does he intend to hold the specified officials to account should they fail to meet the agreed upon performance standards?

Reply:

a) All the DGs and HoDs who were required to sign performance agreements for the 2020/2021 performance cycle have submitted.

(i) Out of the 54 national departments and Offices of the Premier, 39 DGs were required to and signed performance agreements. The remainder of the DGs comprises of 13 acting DGs and two (2) newly appointed. These officials only have to sign performance contracts three months after assumption of duties.

(ii) The 68 HoDs who were required to sign performance agreements have submitted it. At the provincial level, 24 were acting HoDs, three (3) newly appointed, one (1) on special leave and one (1) on precautionary suspension.

b) In terms of section 7(b) of the Public Service Act 103 of 1994, each individual Executing Authority has all the necessary powers to manage performance in their respective departments.

End

12 April 2021 - NW307

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether he has been informed of reports that certain public sector unions are demanding wage increases of up to 10% during the upcoming round of wage negotiations (details furnished); (2) (a) what are the full details of all the various demands that have so far been tabled by public sector unions in relation to the upcoming round of wage negotiations and (b) will he furnish Dr L A Schreiber with a list consisting of the (i) name of each labour union and (ii) demands they have tabled; (3) Whether it is the position of his department that a wage increase of 10% is considered a reasonable demand; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

(1) The Minister for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA) can only respond to formal demands tabled by labour in the Public Service Coordinating Council (PSCBC). At the time of this reply, the unions to the PSCBC had not formally tabled their demands as per Council processes. Therefore the MPSA has not been informed of any wage increase demand of up to 10% during the upcoming round of wage negotiations.

(2)(a) The union parties to the PSCBC tabled their demands in relation to the upcoming round of wage negotiations on first March 2021 and they are attached as annexure to this reply.

(2(b)(i)(ii) The information requested is not available for the reasons indicated above.

(3) The process of engagement between parties in the PSCBC on wage negotiations occurs under the purview of the PSCBC. The employer will negotiate on the basis of fairness, equity, sustainability and affordability.

End

12 April 2021 - NW489

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What number of public servants have taken early retirement since the start of the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020 at (i) national and (ii) provincial level and (b) will he furnish Dr M M Gondwe with the breakdown of the relevant number in each government department and (c) what number of these public servants were (i) teachers and (ii) nurses?

Reply:

(1) (a) (i) The number of public servants who took early retirement since the start of the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020 at national level was 2 879.

(1) (a) (ii) The number of public servants who took early retirement since the start of the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020 at provincial level was 2 005.

(1) (b) The breakdown of the relevant number of early retirements in each government department is depicted in the table below:

 

Number of Public Servants that retired early by department from 27 March 2020

National/Provincial department

Total

Total

4,884

Eastern Cape

Total

322

 

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

8

 

Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism

2

 

Education

215

 

Health

54

 

Office of the Premier

3

 

Provincial Treasury

4

 

Roads and Public works

6

 

Rural Development and Agrarian Reform

20

 

Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture

2

 

Transport

8

Free State

Total

135

 

Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs

3

 

Education

105

 

Health

10

 

Police, Roads and Transport

7

 

Social Development

10

Gauteng

Total

207

 

Agriculture and Rural Development

1

 

Economic Development

4

 

Education

87

 

Health

107

 

Human Settlements

6

 

Social Development

2

KwaZulu-Natal

Total

502

 

Agriculture and Rural Development

15

 

Arts and Culture

1

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

2

 

Education

368

 

Health

101

 

Office of the Premier

2

 

Public Works

2

 

Social Development

3

 

Transport

8

Limpopo

Total

360

 

Agriculture and Rural Development

5

 

Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs

5

 

Economic Development, Environment and Tourism

1

 

Education

283

 

Health

48

 

Office of the Premier

1

 

Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure

11

 

Social Development

3

 

Transport and Community Safety

3

Mpumalanga

Total

139

 

Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs

5

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

1

 

Community Safety, Security and Liaison

1

 

Culture, Sport and Recreation

2

 

Education

93

 

Health

28

 

Provincial Treasury

2

 

Public Works, Roads and Transport

7

National

Total

2,879

 

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

30

 

Basic Education

4

 

Correctional Services

382

 

Employment and Labour

7

 

Energy

2

 

Environment, Forestry and Fisheries

1

 

Government Communication and Information System

2

 

Health

2

 

Higher Education and Training

110

 

Home Affairs

36

 

Human Settlements

2

 

International Relations and Cooperation

8

 

Justice and Constitutional Development

45

 

Military Veterans

2

 

Mineral Resources and Energy

4

 

National Treasury

9

 

Office of the Chief Justice

9

 

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

2

 

Police

2,127

 

Public Service and Administration

2

 

Public Works and Infrastructure

44

 

Social Development

1

 

Sport, Arts and Culture

4

 

Statistics South Africa

3

 

Water and Sanitation

41

North West

Total

106

 

Agriculture and Rural Development

1

 

Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation

3

 

Community Safety and Transport Management

4

 

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

2

 

Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism

1

 

Education

69

 

Health

20

 

Provincial Treasury

1

 

Public Works and Roads

5

Northern Cape

Total

34

 

Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs

1

 

Education

26

 

Health

4

 

Roads and Public Works

1

 

Social Development

1

 

Sport, Arts and Culture

1

Western Cape

Total

200

 

Agriculture

1

 

Community Safety

1

 

Cultural Affairs and Sport

1

 

Education

119

 

Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

2

 

Health

60

 

Provincial Treasury

7

 

Social Development

6

 

The Premier

3

(1) (c) (i) The number of teachers who took early retirement during this period was 1 274

(1) (c) (ii) The number of nurses who took early retirement during this period was 214

The information indicated above was obtained from PERSAL as on 1 March 2021.

End

12 April 2021 - NW519

Profile picture: Hicklin, Ms MB

Hicklin, Ms MB to ask the Minister to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether any staff member in his department (a) performed work outside normal working hours in addition to the responsibilities related to his or her work in the past five financial years and (b) has been performing such work during the period 1 April 2014 up to the latest specified date for which information is available; if not, in each case, how is it determined whether such work is being performed or not; if so, in each case, (i) what number of staff members and (ii) in what job and/or work categories are the specified staff members employed; (2) Whether approval for such work was obtained in each case; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what is the policy of his department in this regard, (b) by whom are such applications considered and approved, (c) what number of contraventions of this policy were brought to the attention of the National Treasury in the past five financial years and (d) what steps have been taken against the transgressors?

Reply:

1. a) No employee of the Department of Public Service and Administration performed work outside normal working hours in addition to the responsibilities related to their work in the past five financial years.

b) The functions and performance of all employees are governed by their Job Descriptions, Employment Contracts, Performance Agreements and regular Performance Assessments as per applicable Directives, laws and policies.

b. (i) Zero (0);

(ii) Not applicable.

2. No such requests nor approvals were made by any employee as the Department does not have such a policy.

a) The Department does not have a policy that requires employees to perform work outside of normal working hours additional to their responsibilities as this would be irregular and violates the principles of fair labour practice.

b) Not applicable.

c) Not applicable.

d) Not applicable.

End

09 April 2021 - NW953

Profile picture: Cuthbert, Mr MJ

Cuthbert, Mr MJ to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether a certain person (name and details furnished) is an employee of (a) his department, (b) a departmental agency and/or (c) any state-owned entity reporting to him in any capacity whatsoever; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the further relevant details?

Reply:

a) No, the said person is not an employee in the Department of Public Service and Administration.

b) N/A

c) N/A

End

09 April 2021 - NW334

Profile picture: Sarupen, Mr AN

Sarupen, Mr AN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What (a) number of (i) directors-general and (ii) acting directors-general of government departments received performance bonuses in respect of the 2018-19 financial year and (b) was the total quantum of such bonuses paid out and (c) number of the relevant departments achieved outputs in excess of 80% of their targets as set out in their annual performance plans?

Reply:

In terms of section 7(7) of the Public Service Act, 1994, only the head of national departments and Offices of the Premier may bear the designation of Director-General. The information presented is therefore limited to Directors-General as contained in Schedule 1 of the Public Service Act, 1994.

(a) According to the information from the PERSAL system for the 2018/2019 performance cycle (i) four (4) Directors-General were paid performance bonuses (ii) no acting Directors-General were paid performance bonuses. (b) A total amount of R614 935,11 was paid out to Directors-General for performance bonuses. (c) All of the relevant departments have achieved outputs in excess of 80% of their targets as set out in their annual performance plans (APP). The table below provides the details of the departments who paid performance bonuses.

No

Name of Departments

Performance bonus paid

Achievement of APP targets

Directors-General

 

1

Higher Education and Training

R155,942.16

95%

2

The Presidency

R90,369.00

80%

3

Northern Cape: Office of the Premier

R248,131,95*

99%

4

Western Cape: Office of the Premier

R120,492.00

92%

GRAND TOTAL

R614 935,11

 

*The amount is for two payments of performance bonuses for two performance cycles paid in the 2018/2019 financial year. .

End

09 April 2021 - NW534

Profile picture: Schreiber, Dr LA

Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)In light of the recent ruling by the Labour Appeal Court that the 2018 wage agreement, namely Resolution 1 of 2018, was deemed unlawful and in contravention of Regulations 78 and 79 of the Public Service Regulations because the State agreed to wage increases despite not having the requisite written commitment or approval from National Treasury, what are the reasons that his department ignored the letter from the Minister of Finance on 14 February 2018, which explicitly indicated that no additional funding can be made available to fund the wage negotiations outcome and advised his department to instead table an alternative offer that would not exceed the existing funding envelope; (2) whether he will furnish Dr L A Schreiber with (a) a list of the full names of (i) all government officials and (ii) Cabinet Ministers who formed part of the Committee of Ministers and/or who participated at any point in the negotiation of the 2018 wage agreement between the State and trade unions, (b) a full list of names of Cabinet Ministers and officials who formally approved and/or signed off on the 2018 agreement on behalf of the State, (c) a copy of the Cabinet Minutes from the Cabinet meeting that approved the draft wage agreement of 26 January 2018 and (d) a copy of the Cabinet Minutes from the Cabinet meeting that approved the final wage agreement of 8 June 2018?

Reply:

The labour unions involved in this matter have made an application for leave to appeal the Labour Appeal Court judgement. The matter is therefore still before the courts. Under the circumstances, it is advised that at this stage the Minister for the Public Service and Administration is unable to respond to the questions posed.

End

09 April 2021 - NW385

Profile picture: Clarke, Ms M

Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether each national department employs an accounting officer; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) (a) what total number of accounting officers are employed in an acting capacity and (b) does each specified officer have the necessary qualifications required for the position; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

(1) In terms of Section 36 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 with respect to Accounting Officers; every department and every constitutional institution must have an accounting officer and the head of a department must be the accounting officer for the department.

(2) In terms of Section 37 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999, deals with acting accounting officers and stipulates when an accounting officer is absent or otherwise unable to perform the functions of accounting officer, or during a vacancy, the functions of accounting officer must be performed by the official acting in the place of that accounting officer.

(a) Nationally: There are nine (9) acting Accounting Officers (In the Presidency the acting DG is also the formally appointed accounting officer).

Provincially: There are twenty seven (27) acting Accounting Officers.

(b) In terms of the regulatory framework, Regulation 63 (2) of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 states that, “an employee directed to act in another post in terms of section 32 (2) should have the necessary competency for the post to which he or she is appointed to act”. As defined in the Public Service Regulations, 2016, Competency means the combination of knowledge, skills, behaviour and aptitude that a person can apply in the work environment, which indicates a person's ability to meet the requirements of a specific post. For purposes of business continuity meeting qualifications for a post for purposes of acting is not a requirements however, noting the definition, competency to perform the duties are.

End

09 April 2021 - NW935

Profile picture: Gondwe, Dr M

Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether, with phase one of the vaccine rollout process targeting frontline healthcare workers, his department has devised a vaccine rollout strategy for public service workers; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) forms part of the National Vaccine Rollout Committee led by the Department of Health. The Committee acts as a coordination mechanism that oversees the vaccine rollout in both the public and private sectors as government implements the National Vaccine Rollout Strategy, which was presented to Parliament.

In preparation for the Phase Two of the Rollout strategy, the DPSA has developed and presented the Project Plan to the Workplace Vaccination Work Stream of the rollout Committee, which outlines the rollout strategy for essential workers in the public service. This Project Plan is being consulted on with critical stakeholders for finalisation. The relevant details will therefore be made public and shared with Parliament once the plan has been finalised following the consultations.

End

09 April 2021 - NW948

Profile picture: Gondwe, Dr M

Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)How often does his department verify the data on the Persal system in an effort to ensure (a) its accuracy and (b) that there are no ghost employees on the system; (2) what are the reasons that some government departments are still making use of manual pay slips as opposed to electronic pay slips despite the fact that electronic pay slips contribute towards the reduction of printing costs and root out ghost employees in the public service; (3) by what date is it envisaged that the Government will phase out the manual submission and formally introduce electronic submission of leave forms for Public Service employees as part of modernising the public service?

Reply:

1. Each department is required to verify the payroll reports on a monthly basis to ensure that every employee receiving payment from the department is eligible for such payment.

a) The capturing, maintenance and verification of data on PERSAL is a decentralised responsibility of each relevant Head of Department. Therefore it is the responsibility of each Head of Department to assign a designated employee as a PERSAL controller to manage data accuracy. PERSAL controllers in every department are accountable for institutionalizing, maintaining and communicating procedures to ensure continuous control over access, security and maintenance of data records within their departments.

b) Treasury Regulations prescribe the verification of payroll reports to ensure that only legitimately employed persons receive payment. According to Treasury Regulation 8.3.4:

For all employees, the person in charge at the respective pay-points must certify on the date of payment that all persons listed on the payroll report are entitled to payment. Employees paid by cheque must sign the payroll report when collecting their cheques.” Regulation 8.3.4 further specifies “These payroll reports must then be returned to the Chief Financial Officer of the department within 10 days and the accounting officer must ensure that all pay-point certificates have been received on a monthly basis.”

2. There is no specific set date for the complete phasing out of manual submission as the relevant technology platform is currently not capable of on-boarding all government departments at the same time. The introduction of electronic payslips is therefore, being rolled out in a phased approach. The migrating of departmental users to an electronic payslip platform requires a close partnership between the PERSAL controllers at National Treasury, department specific HRM employees working on PERSAL, Government Information Technology Officer (GITO) per department, the account management team at SITA as well as their mainframe team. This process impacts the on-boarding process as it depends on the readiness of specific departments to move to an electronic payslip platform at different times depending on the time departments receive the proposal from SITA, process it and verify employees and their respective email addresses to ensure the correct payslip goes to the correct employee. It has also been indicated by some departments that not all employees have access to emails which impacts on their ability to access electronic payslips.

3. The automation of leave is part of the functionality to be provided by the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS). National Treasury, which is the lead department in the IFMS Programme, is currently in the process of appointing a service provider to design the system to meet the requirements of the Public Service. Once this has been completed and the IFMS implemented, the system will address, amongst others, the automation of leave.

In view of the above, it is not possible to indicate at this stage on which date manual leave forms will be phased out and replaced with an electronic system.

End