Reply:

In terms of section 91(2) read with section 91(3)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, the President appoints the Deputy President and Ministers and assigs them powers and functions. The appointments are made under a President's Act, see for example President's Act No. 135 signed on 26 May 2014 after the 2014 general elections.

Following the appointment of the national Executive by the President (President’s Act) various administrative and legal steps are taken to give effect to the new Executive portfolios. The Presidency with the support of the Department of Public Service and Administration and the National Treasury, lead the National Macro Organisation of the State (NMOS) in 2014. The NMOS process gives effect to the Presidential proclamations regarding the establishment of new or amended Executive portfolios, the renaming and establishment of new departments, and the transfer of legislation between Ministers in terms of the Constitution.

The NMOS process does consider efficiencies in terms of the size of Ministerial portfolios and locate, as far as possible, more than one department or government component under a Ministry without the need to create a Ministry for every department. Examples of multiple departments within Ministerial Portfolios are:

(a) Communications - Department of Communications and the Government Communication and Information System.

(b) Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs - Department of Cooperative Governance, the Department of Traditional Affairs, and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent.

(c) Defence and Military Veterans - Department of Defence and the Department of Military Veterans.

(d) Public Service and Administration - Department of Public Service and Administration, the National School of Government, the Office of the Public Service Commission and the Centre of Public Service Innovation.

(e) Justice and Correctional Services - Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Department of Correctional Services and the Office of the Chief Justice.

(f) Minister in the Presidency: Planning Monitoring and Evaluation - Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and Statistics South Africa

Departments are linked to Ministers' portfolios to administer the legislation and policies in that portfolio. The decision to establish national departments is an executive decision by the President. In terms of section 7(5)(a) of the Public Service Act, 1994, the President by proclamation may on the advice of the Minister for the Public Service and Administration amend Schedule 1 so as to establish or abolish any national department, designate such department and the head thereof or amend such designation.

The Department of Public Service and Administration has not conducted a study to advise the President on reducing the size of national government.

Reply:

(i) Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA)

    (a) In the 2015-16 financial year, DPSA spent an amount of R 2 792 971.76 for advertising.

     (b) An amount of R1 666 000.00 has been budgeted for advertising for the financial year 2016-17

(ii) Entities namely: (1) National School of Government and (2) Centre for Public Service Innovation

National School of Government (NSG)

   (a) In the 2015 -16 financial year, The NSG spent R 977, 249 on advertising

   (b) An amount of R1, 121,041 has been budgeted for advertising for the 2016-17 financial year

Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI)

  (a) In the 2015/16 financial year, The Centre for Public Service Innovation spent R1.053 million of advertising

  (b) An amount R676 000 has been budgeted for advertising in the 2016-17 financial year.

Reply:

(a)(i)(ii) No. The Department does not have a mandate to run development programmes.

(b) Entities namely (1) National School of Government and (2) Centre for Public Service Innovation

(1) National School of Government

The National School of Government does not run development programme for (i) small business and (ii) co-operatives as it does not fall within the mandate of the National School of Government.

(aa)(bb)(cc) Falls away

(2) Centre for Public Service Innovation

The Centre for Public Service Innovation is not running dedicated development programme for (i) small businesses and (ii) co-operatives. However, in terms of its MoA with The Innovation Hub (one of the entities within the National System of Innovation tasked with developing SMMEs), the Centre for Public Service Innovation, annually post a public service challenge to small businesses and co-operatives on their Open IX Exchange.

Small business and co-operatives are invited to submit proposals for developing solutions. The Centre for Public Service Innovation then funds the piloting of the selected solution to a maximum value of: (bb) R250 000, (cc) the number of jobs to be created for 2016/17 has not been quantified yet, since pilot project will only be initiated later in the year.

Reply:

(a)(i)(ii)(iii) Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is mandated by the Medium Term Strategic Framework and Outcome 12 to develop an Operations Management Framework (OMF) and to provide institutional support on the implementation thereof to selected national and provincial Government departments on an annual basis.

In pursuance of that mandate, the Chief Directorate: Operations Management of the DPSA developed an Operations Management Framework with supporting toolkits which includes amongst others includes Business Process Management and Standard Operating Procedures.

In the 2015-16 financial year, DPSA focused on the National Department of Labour, the Social Development Sector and the Transport Sector. Business Process Maps and Standard Operating Procedures were developed for these Departments as follows:

Labour:

No.	Branch	Core Service
1	Inspection and Enforcement Service (IES)	Conduct Review Inspection on Employment Inspection in terms of Labour Legislation - Basic Conditions of Employment Act Inspection in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
2	Public Employment Services (PES)	Recruitment and Placement Services Walk in Registration of Work Seekers at a Labour Centre Online Registration of Work Seekers via ESSA International Cross Boarder Labour Migration Management
3	Labour Practice and International Relations (LPIR)	Registration of Labour organisations Processing of Collective Agreements
4.	Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)	Online application for unemployment/ordinary claim by claimant
5.	Compensation Fund (CF)	Assessment: Tariffs Section 85: Reduction and Loading Assessment Rate Assessment: Tariffs Section: Sub Class investigations Raising Assessment (Manual Submission) Registration of Employer Revision of Assessment

Social Development:

• Registration of Non-Profit Organisations
• Funding of Non-Profit Organisations
• Placement of children in need of care and protection in foster care

Transport:

• Issuing of contracts to service providers for the transportation of eligible learners to and from school
• Issuing of public transport operating licenses
• Issuing drivers licenses

The DPSA provided institutional support and/or advice to other departments on the Operations Management value chain. A list of departments is provided hereunder:

No.	Name of the Government Department/ Component/ Institution
1	Gauteng Department of Health
2	National Department of Health
3	Batho Pele Forum
4	Free State — Office of the Premier
5	Mineral Resources
6	Military Veterans
7	Department of Corporative Governance
8	KZN — Arts and Culture
9	National School of Government
10	Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
11	Eastern Cape — Safety and Security
12	Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services
13	KZN —Education
14	Correctional Services Inspector Judge
15	Northern Cape — Office of the Premier
16	Batho Pele Standards Steering Committee
17	Department of Trade and Industry
18	KZN — Office of the Premier
19	Human Settlements
20	Parliamentary Budget Office
21	Agriculture and Rural Development
22	Ministry: Public Service and Administration
23	National Consumer Commission
24	Independent Police Investigative Directorate
25	Agriculture — Mpumalanga
26	Gauteng Office of the Premier
27	Northern Cape Provincial Treasury

(b) (i) (ii) (iii)

(i) The Strategy on the Provision of targeted support to Departments was developed by the DPSA to coordinate targeted support to government departments in line with the mandate of the MPSA outlined in section 3 (6) of the Public Service Act, 1994 as amended by the Public Service Amendment Act 30 of 2007.

The Strategy on the Provision of targeted support to Departments is delivered in phases and the Initiation phase of the strategy looks at three key areas:

• Cabinet initiated Intervention or Support
• Pro-active requests from Departments for support and
• DPSA initiated support (MPAT, SD sites)

The targeted support on year one focused on Pro Active requests from departments for support and the requests received were on Organisational Design support. Received requests on Organisational Design from 43 sectors, 25 were finalised and 11 in progress, attached at Annexure B. The Strategy on the Provision of targeted support to Departments has been approved for implementation.

(ii) With regard to poor performing departments, a presentation was made to the North West province on their performance against outcome 12 and it was agreed that the Province will be assisted in the new financial year on their Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIPs), and together with National Treasury assist the Province in unblocking the challenge of 30 day payment to suppliers.

(iii) Extensive consultations were held within DPSA and with National and Provincial departments. The draft strategy was finally presented at the Governance and Administration cluster on 01 October 2015 for endorsement and support.

Reply:

(1) (a) The conditions of service attached to appointment as a Commissioner of the Public Service Commission are determined by the President of the Republic and include provisions of Chapter 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (section 196), the Public Service Commission Act, 1997 and the conditions of service applicable to members of senior management service (SMS level) in the public service.

The President, acting in terms of section 6(1) of the Public Service Commission Act, determines the annual salaries and conditions of appointment of Commissioners. The conditions of appointment, (Including remuneration and other conditions of service) of a commissioner of the Public Service Commission are linked with the ‘comparable positions at the SMS level in the public service’.

Despite the linking of the salary dispensation of Commissioners with the SMS, the salary progression measures (notch increases) applicable to the SMS were not extended to Commissioners.

The condition of appointment determined by the President with effect from 1 April 2015, provides for the following inclusive flexible remuneration packages:

Position	Package with effect from 1 April 2015
Commissioner	R1 267 806
Deputy Chairperson	R1 656 618
Chairperson	R1 706 694

(b) The package of a Commissioner of the Public Service Commission is structured as follows (i) basic salary, (ii) State’s contribution to the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) and (iii) a flexible portion.

The basic salary consists of 70% of the inclusive flexible remuneration package. The State’s contribution to the GEPF is calculated on the basic salary, Commissioners may structure their flexible portion into the following items:

   (i) Motor car allowance – to a maximum of 25% of the total package per annum

   (ii) 13th cheque – equal to one-twelfth of the basic salary, to be structuredd as a once-off non-pensionable bonus

   (iii) Medical Assistance – Contribution to a medical aid scheme

   (iv) Housing Allowance – An amount as decided by the member.

   (v) Non-pensionalbe cash allowance – Any remaining amount of the flexible portion.

(2) (a) The medical aid benefit forms part of the inclusive remuneration package.

(b) The housing allowance forms part of the inclusive remuneration package.

(c) The State’s contribution to the GEPF forms part of the inclusive remuneration package.

(3) No benefits extend beyond the term of service of a Public Service Commissioner, since the conditions of appointment (Including remuneration and other conditions of service) applicable to Members of the Public Service Commission, which are determined by the President does not provide for extension of benefits beyond the term of office of a Commissioner.

(4) Falls away, since there are no benefits extended beyond the term of serve of a Commissiner of the Public Service Commission.

Reply:

(a) No meetings have been held during the (i) 2013/2014, (ii) 2014/2015 and (iii) 2015/2016 financial years.

(b) No activities have been held during the (i) 2013/2014, (ii) 2014/2015 and (iii) 2015/2016 financial years.

(c) No National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF) achievements have been reported on for the financial years (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

Reply:

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent Constitutional body, and its budget is appropriated via the Minister of Public Service and Administration.

1(a)(i) The Public Service Commission, forwarded a request to the Department of Public Works (DPW) on 29 October 2010 for the extension of the lease agreement for a period of five (5) years as the building (Commission House in Arcadia, Pretoria) was still suitable and met the requirements of the PSC. The PSC experienced challenges with the renewal process.

Seeing that there were delays with the renewal of the lease as well as the fact that the PSC had reached the optimal occupancy of the building, the PSC requested the DPW to procure alternative office accommodation in July 2012.

In order to allow the DPW to commence with the procurement process of the alternative accommodation, the PSC agreed that the lease agreement be renewed for a further period of eighteen (18) months to ensure that PSC relocates into the new alternative office building on 1 April 2014.

A building was identified as suitable alternative accommodation for the PSC and a lease agreement was signed. However, during tenant installation process there were concerns raised by the PSC e.g. additional costs to be borne by the PSC relating to tenant installation. This resulted in the process being suspended by the DPW. Due to the dispute, the PSC did not take occupation of the building.

The PSC forwarded another request to DPW in June 2015, after receiving notice to vacate Commission House, to commence with the sourcing alternative accommodation.

1(a) (ii) The PSC requested DPW on 1 June 2015 to re-advertise the bid as the PSC was notified of the refurbishment of the building (Commission House) taking into account that the building was supposed to be already vacant then (the PSC was supposed to have vacated the building in 2014).

(b) The term of the lease for the current offices is for a period of 24 months, with an exit clause after 18 months.

(c) The PSC has requested DPW to source permanent accommodation. The process will be completed by no later than January 2017.

2(a) The PSC paid R1.2 million once off costs towards the relocation to temporary accommodation (Absa Towers) for IT network infrastructure.

2(i)(aa) The PSC did not incur costs to move furniture. The Department of Public Works absorbed 50% of the relocation costs and the current landlord paid 50%.

2(i)(bb) The PSC paid R1.2 million for IT network infrastructure costs.

2(i)(cc) The PSC did not incur costs for refurbishing office space. The costs were covered by the tenant installation allowance paid by the landlord.

2(ii) The PSC did not pay estate agents fees.

2(iii) There is no other expenditure that was incurred.

2(b) The total current monthly cost of the rental of the temporary office accommodation is R1 407 312.79 for 8907 square metres.

2(c) The rental for the previous office accommodation was R523 087.00 per month for 6533.75 square metres. The rental for previous accommodation was not market related as ever since the PSC took occupation of the building in 1997, the ownership of the building changed 4 times without the annual rental escalation affected. The current monthly rental expenditure is high compare to the previous monthly expenditure on office accommodation.

(3) The monthly costs would have been lower if the PSC would have moved to the office accommodation identified by the Department of Public Works

The monthly rental for the office accommodation identified by the DPW would have been R 1 361 352.36 for 8907 square metres including parking.

Reply:

On 09 September 2014 Cabinet approved the establishment of an internal pool of legal experts and labour relations specialists to deal with the backlog cases of precautionary suspensions in the public service. The DPSA has established a pool of panellists to deal with the backlog of precautionary suspension cases in the public service.

(a) The pool comprises 298 expert investigators, departmental representatives and presiding officers to ensure that the value chain is expedited in an optimal manner. Departments and provinces request assistance on their backlog cases from the DPSA.

(b) According the national and provincial statistical report of September 2014 to 31 March 2016 the total number of the backlog of precautionary suspension cases for national departments and provinces referred to DPSA is 687. The total breakdown consist of 291 cases for the provinces and 396 for the national departments.

(c) The progress made since the inception of the project is the resolution of 384 precautionary backlog cases. The total breakdown of the resolved cases consist of 57 for provinces and 327 for national departments. The percentage for the resolved cases is 56%. Members of the pool are allocated cases on a rotational basis so as to achieve an even spread of cases amongst panellists.

Reply:

(1) (a) (i)(ii)(iii) No.

(b) No.

(2) (a) (i)(ii)(iii) No.

(b) No.

Reply:

(1) Yes. On 26 October 2015, Cabinet approved the establishment of the inter-departmental committee on beneficial ownership. The committee was set up at the inaugural meeting of the committee held on 27 February 2016. It is constituted by the following institutions and government departments convened by the Department of Public Service and Administration:

 (a) National Treasury (NT);

 (b) Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC);

(c) Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA);

(d) South African Revenue Service (SARS):

(e) South African Police Service (SAPS):

(f) National Prosecuting Authority (NPA);

(g) Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Doi & CD);

(h) Department of Trade and Industry (DTI);

(i) Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC);

(j) Department of Social Development (DSD);

(k) Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO);

(l) State Security Agency (SSA);

(m) National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (NICOC);

(n) South African Reserve Bank (SARB);

(o) Financial Services Board (FSB);

(p) Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE);

(q) Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB);

(r) Law Society of South Africa (LSSA);

(s) National Gambling Board (NGB); and

(t) Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA)

(2) Yes. Development of the country’s implementation and/or action plan has commenced, the committee is currently finalising the draft action plan. The draft action plan is derived from the G20 High Level Principles endorsed by Cabinet in October 2015, which sets-out the required actions to be undertaken by the Government of the Republic of South Africa.

Reply:

The details of the action taken to date to address each of the 14 Recommendations are attached herewith below as Annexure A. These details were compiled by the Public Service Commission, after consultation with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), which is the custodian of the Ministerial Handbook and all Human Resource Management (HRM) prescripts in the Public Service. Furthermore, the National School of Government (NSG) was also consulted.

These details illustrate that the Department of Public Service and Administration has made significant progress towards implementation of the Recommendations made by the Public Service Commission. The National School of Government has made noticeable preparatory work to roll-out implementation of the executive development programme, and plans are also under way to develop other targeted training programmes.

ANNEXURE A: Progress n implementation of each of the 14 Recommendations made in the Report - Assessment of the Implementation of Policy Framework on the Appointment of Ministerial Staff in National and Provincial Departments
No.	RECOMMENDATION FROM PSC	PROGRESS REPORT
1	The DPSA should develop a focused policy framework that will regulate the employment practices of persons who provide support and serve in EAs' offices	Amended Public Service Regulations and other prescripts regulate the employment practices of persons appointed in the offices of Executive Authorities. It covers the recruitment process, nature of appointment, allowance payable, termination of services and other employment conditions. According to the
2	All SMS levels in Ministries irrespective of the method of recruitment (headhunting or advertising) must be subjected to proper selection processes (i.e. interviews and competency assessment) and for any identified competency gap, a developmental plan must be put in place to address the gap. This plan must be developed in consultation with the person concerned and be managed by the Director-General or Head of Department.	According to the Public Service Regulations, all members of the SMS appointed in offices of EAs are supposed to be subjected to proper recruitment and selections processes and the performance management and development system for SMS. In addition, the Directive on Compulsory Capacity Development, Mandatory Training Days and Minimum Entry Requirements for SMS, which came into effect on 01 April 2015, also applies to all SMS members in the offices of EAs. SMS members should meet the minimum qualification and experience requirements prior to appointment. The challenge is that there are still many incidences of non-compliance with prescripts, as such, the DPSA has undertaken to conduct targeted support for departments during the 2016/17 financial year.
3.	The Director-General or Head of Department has to provide "primary advisory" support to the EA due to the resources (e.g. research experts, etc.) he/she manages in the department, an administrative reporting line to the Director-General or Head of Department must be enforced for the Chief of Staff.	According to the DPSA, this is the current practice as Chiefs of Staff report to their respective Heads of Department on all administrative matters.
4	Compulsory induction, orientation/training on the functions performed in Ministries, the relationship between the Ministry and the department, the protocols of being a sessional employee and the benefits thereof and how to support the Minister with political responsibilities should be conducted with staff working in the EAs' offices, either at departmental level or coordinated by the National School of Government (NSG) or the DPSA. The current and/or previous competent and experienced Chief of Staff should be part of the training team and assist in this regard.	It is expected that the orientation of staff working in Ministries would be conducted by respective departments. The extent of implementation for such orientation programmes has not been validated. The generic orientation course for staff in Ministries has not been developed yet. Its development has been prioritised by the NSG. Consultations with relevant stakeholders are expected to commence during the 2016/17 financial year.
5	There should be a dedicated course for Chiefs of Staff and a forum to share experiences and to professionalise this strategic role. There should be a way of career-pathing for experienced Chiefs of Staff.	The course for Chiefs of Staff has not been developed yet. Its development has been prioritised by the NSG. Consultations with relevant stakeholders are expected to commence during the 2016/17 financial year.
6	A Legislation based Compliance Framework for Ministries should be developed by the DPSA.	Government has adopted the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) to track and report on compliance to relevant legislation by departments.
7	The DPSA should review the organisational structures of Ministries according to the size and responsibility of the Ministry.	The DPSA has developed a revised generic organisational structure for Offices of EAs and Deputy Ministers as part of the process of amending the Ministerial Handbook. The concern is that the revised Ministerial Handbook has not been approved by Cabinet, as such, the generic organisational structures are not implemented. It is therefore important for the Minister for Public Service and Administration to fast-track the approval of the revised Ministerial Handbook.
8	Uniform job profiles and descriptions should be enforced for Chiefs of Staff across the Public Service. Key competencies and minimum qualifications for the position of Chief of Staff must be well-defined. This will help to guide the selection and appointment process and Ministers must be informed of and adhere to this guide. Uniform job profiles should be developed for the rest of the staff in EAs' offices.	The DPSA has developed, as part of the generic organisational structures, clearly defined purpose and functions per post in the offices of EAs. However, the extent of implementation of the uniform job description remains questionable due to the non-approval of the revised Ministerial Handbook. With respect to SMS positions in ministerial Office, the DPSA through the Directive on Compulsory Capacity Development, Mandatory Training days and Minimum entry requirements for SMS has set the minimum qualification and experience requirement for appointment in the office of the EA at an SMS level. The challenge is that there are still many incidences of non-compliance with prescripts and compliance with the Directive has not been assessed.
9	80% of the positions in Ministries should be permanent and be part of organograms of departments.	The DPSA proposed uniform organisational structures for Ministerial Offices does recommend that a percentage of posts in the Offices of EAs should be permanent. These are all the administrative positions, which turn to be in the majority Implementation of this will be assessed once the revised Ministerial Handbook has been approved and is being implemented by departments.
10	An orientation and support programme for Cabinet Ministers/Premiers/Members of Executive Council (MECs) and Directors-General/Heads of Department should be developed and it must be compulsory for new EAs and DGs/HoDs to attend at the beginning of every term of government and when a need arises due to reshuffling. There must be a separate session for EAs and DGs first and thereafter a joint session. Also the advisors need to have an orientation programme.	At the start of each term of administration, the Presidency organizes anorientation programme for Executive Authorities (EAs) and the DPSA is invited to make presentations on the Roles and Responsibilities of the EA in relation to the Public Service Act and Regulations, and also presents on the Ministerial Handbook. However, there is no targeted training provided after reshuffling.
11	There should be a probation period for staff appointed in Ministries and that period should take into consideration the nature of Ministries and the limited time available to follow the probation period regulations that are cumbersome to release a person who is not performing or fitting in the culture of the Ministry.	In terms of the Public Service Regulations, all appointments, longer than 12 months, are subject to a probationary period. This requirement includes appointments in Ministries However, there are instances of non¬compliance — the magnitude of which has not been established. Hence implementation of the revised Ministerial Handbook will also serve as an instrument to address such incidences.
12	The DPSA should continue to give guidance and assistance in the development and implementation of turnaround strategies and restructuring processes.	The DPSA continues to play this role, based on requests received from departments. It must however be stated that Executive Authorities have the power to decide on their turnaround strategies and organisational structures. All what the DPSA can do is to provide guidance.
13	The DPSA should develop a database of employees with working experience in Ministries who could not be absorbed by departments for purposes of redeployment.	All permanently employed employees are accommodated in the relevant department upon exit of the EA. There is no provision within the Public Service to absorb employees employed in Ministries linked to the term of office of EAs. Where employees who are linked to the EAs term of office are transferred to or absorbed by the department, this practice will considered to be irregular and should as such be corrected in line with the applicable prescripts.
14	The DPSA should enforce the developed benchmark job descriptions and evaluations for posts in EAs' offices to ensure consistency throughout the Public Service.	In developing the draft generic organisational structures for Ministries, all posts were job evaluated with clearly defined job purpose and functions Once approved, implementation of these job descriptions, alongside the revised generic organizational structures will ensure consistency.

Reply:

1. The Public Service has a framework of minimum qualifications in place for the recruitment of staff to each position in the Senior Management Service. The Directive on compulsory capacity development, mandatory training days and minimum entry requirements for senior management service issued for implementation on 1 April 2015, is a subordinate legislation to the Public Service Act, 1994, which stipulates the minimum entry requirements for Senior Management Service (SMS) posts.

The Directive, which is currently being implemented by departments, indicates the entry requirements in terms of educational qualifications and years of experience for the different levels of SMS posts.

2. The Directive mentioned in paragraph 1 supra, also provides for the management of development priorities for existing SMS members in-so-far as providing specific training and development opportunities in order to ensure that the incumbent members who do not meet the minimum requirements are capacitated, as well as mandating the expected minimum qualification requirements for progression to higher posts.

(3) (a) A uniform salary dispensation applies to Directors-General across all national departments who are appointed in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994. A different salary dispensation applies to Directors-General in the so-called "services departments" who are appointed in terms of the Police Act, the Correctional Services Act and the Defence Act.

(b) The reason for the differentiation is the difference in employer contribution towards the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) between Public Service Act appointees on the one hand and those appointed in terms of the Acts for the services departments on the other.

   (i) Directors-General appointed in terms of the Public Service Act are paid at the same level irrespective of the size of budget of the department because of the core responsibilities performed as accounting officers.

   (ii) The full-time salary scales (Total Cost-to-Employer packages) for Directors-General appointed in terms of the Public Service Act and the Acts for the services departments are contained in the Table below as follows:

PUBLIC SERVICE ACT (Rpa)	POLICE ACT, CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ACT AND DEFENCE ACT (Rpa)
1	656	618	1	686	438
1	681	464	1	711	737
1	706	694	1	737	414
1	732	299	1	763	475
1	758	285	1	789	929
1	784	661	1	816	782
1	811	427	1	844	037
1	838	601	1	871	700
1	866	183	1	899	771

(4) No additional incentives are payable to employees possessing identified critical or scarce skills. Special salary dispensations, called Occupation Specific Dispensations (OSDs), have been implemented for identified occupations to stimulate recruitment and retention of personnel in these occupations. The following OSDs have been implemented in the Public Service:

• Legally qualified personnel;
• Engineers, Technicians, Technologists and Artisans and related occupations;
• Nursing personnel;
• Medical Officers, Medical Specialists, Dentists, Dental Specialists, Pharmacologists, Pharmacists and Emergency Care Practitioners, Therapeutic, Diagnostic and related Allied Health Professionals;
• Correctional Services Officers;
• Educators; and
• Educators in the Department of Correctional services.

Reply:

(1) Disclosure of financial interests by members of the senior management is regulated through the Financial Disclosure Framework (which is chapter 3 of the Public Service Regulations, 2001).

(a) Kindly see Tag A which outlines categories of financial disclosures and particulars which members of the senior management service should disclose (Regulations D and E).

(b) (i) The disclosure of financial interests could be done using a manual form (paper-based form) or electronically using the eDisclosure system.

(ii) The disclosure process is as follows:

• (Disclosure of financial interests is made to the Executive Authority (Regulation C.1). The Executive Authority is the Minister of the National Department or MEC of a provincial department. Premiers are Executive Authorities for their respective departments.

• The Executive Authority submits the copy of the financial disclosure form to the Public Service Commission (Regulation 0.4).

• According to Regulation B(a) the Director-General: Office of the Public Service Commission keeps the register of designated employees' Interests.

• Subject to regulation F.3 of the Financial Disclosure Framework, only the following persons have access to a submitted form or the register:

 (a) The executing authority to whom the form is submitted and the staff designated by the executing authority for purposes of record-keeping of the original form and submission of a copy of the form to the Commission;

(b) commissioners of the Commission;

(c) the Director-General: Office of the Public Service Commission; and

 (d) such other persons designated by an executing authority or the chairperson of the Commission for purposes of the effective implementation of the Financial Disclosure Framework.

2. The measures are found to be effective. The information is verified against Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) data base and Deeds Register to verify completeness of the information and determine if there is potential or actual conflict of interest. The information is further assessed in relation to the functions to be performed by the senior manager.

3. Submitted information is verified against the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) data base and Deeds Register to verify completeness of the information and determine if there is potential or actual conflict of interest. The verification of this information is done by the Public Service Commission which is an independent body. In future the information will also be verified against eNatis data base. If there is potential or actual conflict of interest, the information is discussed with the relevant SMS member and the report is given to the Executive Authority. The Executive Authority has to inform the Public Service Commission of the steps taken to remove conflict of interest.

4. This is the responsibility of Office of the Public Service Commission of which the Report thereof are submitted to Parliament.

TAG A: FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORM

ANNEXURE A

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORM

Personal details

Financial Year
Surname
First Names
ID Number
Persal Number
Current Position
Salary Level
Specialization/brief job description
Postal Address
Residential Address
Name of Department
Telephone Numbers (W)
Cell Numbers
E-mail address

1. Shares and other financial interests

Number of shares/Extent of financial interests	Nature	Nominal Value	Name of Company/Entity

1. Directorships and partnerships

Name of Corporate Entity or Partnership	Company Registration Number	Type of Business (e.g. Construction, Consultancy, etc)	Amount of Remuneration

1. Remunerated work outside the public service

Must have been sanctioned by your Executive Authority and approval uploaded to the system or attached to the form.

Name of Employer	Type of Work	Remuneration

1. Consultation and retainerships

Name of client	Nature	Type of business activity	Value of any benefits received

1. Sponsorships

Source of assistance/ sponsorship	Description of assistance/ sponsorship	Value of assistance/ sponsorship

1. Gifts and hospitality from a source other than a family member

Description	Value	Source

1. Immovable property

Description (e.g.flat/ land/ house	Name of the Flats/ Townhouse/Estate	Suburb/Area (e.g. Arcadia-Pretoria)	ERF number	Unit number	Value

1. Vehicles

Description Vehicle (e.g. car/motorbike/boat/aircraft)	Registration number	Year Model	Purchase price

_____________________________________

SIGNATURE OF DESIGNATED EMPLOYEE

DATE: ________________________

PLACE: ________________________

Reply:

1. No. I have not earned any additional income from businesses, in particular business doing work for the Government, since appointment as Minister.

(a)(b)(c)(d) Falls away

(2) (a((b)(c) have not earned income from business, in particular business doing work for the Government, through my appointment as Minister.

(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) Falls away.

Reply:

1. Yes. Not all training offered to public servants takes place through the National School of Government. There is no regulation that mandates departments to send public servants to the National School of Governement to be trained.

Mandatory training programmes are the Compulsory Induction Programmes (CIP) for newly appointed public servants from salary levels 1 to 16 as per the Directives issued by the Minister for Public Service and Administration namely;

  (a) Amendments to the Directive on the Implementation of the Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP) in the public service, April 2015

  (b) Directive on Compulsory Capacity Development, Mandatory Training Days and Minimum entry requirements for Senior Management Services (SMS).

    (i) CIP 1-12 focuses on newly appointed public servants on salary levels 1 to 12. This CIP 1-12 is divided into two programmes, namely CIP 1-5 and CIP 6-12 with dedicated focus on the unique requirements of knowledge, skills, values and competencies that is relevant and responsive at these salary levels respectively.

   (ii) CIP 13-14 focuses on newly appointed public servants on salary levels 13 and 14, namely Directors and Chief Directors. These programmes focus on the unique requirements of knowledge, skills, values and competencies that are relevant and responsive at these salary levels.

   (iii) CIP 15-16 or the Executive Inductive Induction Programme (EIP) focuses on newly appointed public servants on salary levels 15 and 16, namely Deputy-Director Generals and Director-Generals. This programme focuses on the unique requirements of knowledge, skills, values and competencies that are relevant and responsive at these salary levels.

2. Yes. All the training programmes are focused on a specific target group or salary level of public servants.

   (a) The department that identified the training needs decides what training should be carried out.

   (b) The guidelines that inform the training programmes are the Learning Provision Cycle and the Learning Programme Design Matrix. The Learning Provision Cycle provides the strategic framework for planning, design, development, approval, delivery and monitoring and evaluation of the training programmes. The Design Matrix provide the specific guidelines with regard to the specific/enabling outcomes, assessment criteria, learning statements, assessment activities, and related critical cross filed outcomes to ensure integration of learning.

   (c) The National School of Government is responsible for the quality of training that is selected and offered. It does this using its Quality Management and Monitoring and Evaluation Systems. The Quality Management System involves the Quality Management System Policies with accompanying implementation toolkits. The Monitoring and Evaluation processes include the 100% monitoring of all NSG programmes, regular on-site visits and evaluation reports as well as application or learning studies focusing on selected National School of Government programmes.

3. (a) Every training programme has assessment requirements to ensure the effectiveness of training.

   (b) Training is monitored and evaluated on a regular basis. The National School of Government conducts evaluations of the training programmes and the application of learning thereof in the workplace to establish (i) whether training is achieving its intended objectives and (ii) whether training is resulting in expected changes in the workplace; and if so, what these changes mean to the public.

4. (a) The National School of Government is continually analysing the Report on National Skills Development Strategy of South Africa from the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa, and also the Workplace Skills Plans of departments, in order to recommend training offered through the NSG as an appropriate mechanism to improve performance where performance weaknesses are identified;

(b) The Public Service Commission has released reports on the “State of the Public Service” as well as reports such as “ Assessing the effectiveness of training provided by PALAMA in improving skills and competencies of public service leadership with a view to inform curriculum development by the National School of Government, September 2014” . The recommendations provided in these AMPAT reports inform the training offered through the NSG as an appropriate mechanism to improve performance where performance weaknesses are identified.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Public Service and Administration has undertaken a systemic review and revision of the performance management and development systems (PMDS) applicable to all levels of staff. The focus of the exercise was to align organisational performance with employee performance whilst also bringing administrative efficiency to the processes. These revisions have been consulted extensively with national departments and provincial administrations as well as at various Public Service Consultative forums

(b) (i) Heads of Department (HODs) Evaluation system is at an advance stages of finalization for approval, with increased focus on departmental programme performance, performance against the Annual Performance Plan and the audit findings and opinions of the Auditor-General. The policy is in the final stages of consultation for concurrence with the Presidency and the Public Service Commission before being tabled at Cabinet for approval.

(ii) On a similar vein, the department has structured revised performance management and development systems for each of the other levels of the Senior Management Service (SMS), which will be communicated and implemented subject to the approval of the HOD PMDS.

In addition, as per Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) Resolution 1 of 2012, the department has crafted revisions to the Employee Performance and Development System (EPMDS) for non-SMS staff. These revisions have been published in the Government Gazette: 3 August 2015, Notice 800 of 2015 as part of the Draft Public Service Regulations, 2015: Invitation for public comment. The department has received comments which are being processed for finalisation and submission for approval.

(c) (i) Since the powers to perform organisational review and redesign process are decentralized to departments. The competency of Executive Authorities regarding the internal organisation of departments is exercised within the Norms and Standards issued by the Minister for Public Service and Administration (MPSA). The MPSA gives effect to the organisational design Norms and Standards through the Public Service Act (PSA), 1994, the Public Service Regulations (PSR) (2001), Guidelines, Directives and Frameworks.

Furthermore, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) for example, has recently conducted a study on the Minimum Norms and Standards for the provisioning of SMS posts for provincial administrations, which is calculated on citizen segmentation factors, geographic accessibility and spatial norms, reasonable minimum span of control and the complexity of the job role.

(ii) The Norms and Standards will also assist in determining an ideal split between how many SMS posts as a maximum should be located at a national level and how many SMS posts should be located at a provincial level. Furthermore, the MPSA has issued a Directive on the process to coordinate the grading of an entire occupational category or certain level within an occupation category that is utilised by more than one department. The aim of the Directive is to ensure consistence in the provision and grading of posts.

Reply:

(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) refer to the table herewith below

DEPARTMENT	(a) SMS	(b) NON SMS
	(i) 2012-13	(ii) 2013-14	(iii) 2014-15	(i) 2012-13	(ii) 2013-14	(iii) 2014-15
Department in the Presidency	12 319	-	9 864	416 387	243 905	641 178
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	21 867	112 489	56 874	1 035 018	1 864 952	1 592 482
Department of Arts and Culture	19 918	66 576	32 682	45 526	180 706	130 728
Department of Basic Education	-	5 386	-	395 100	226 197	499 776
Department of Correctional Services	447 405	350 644	-	1 043 945	1 658 816	1 395 545
Department of Defence	-	17 313	-	1 726 295	2 718 120	3 302 708
Department of Economic Development	12 664	-	5 528	4 221	44 325	33 165
Department of Education		-			71 288
Department of Energy	26 798	73 596	25 839	348 375	220 788	723 484
Department of Environmental Affairs	333 777	244 543	79 856	1 260 936	1 316 770	1 789 722
Department of Health	108 908	-	43 933	3 439 678	473 797	129 358
Department of Higher Education and Training	147 422	222 309	35 945	833 500	236 652	854 689
Department of Home Affairs	58 225	11 601	126 393	82 741	1 015 097	2 446 848
Department of Human Settlements	4 921	221 348	152 192	118 109	154 944	488 283
Department of International Relations and Cooperation	199 231	209 306	-	1 535 737	753 501	505 964
Department of Labour	296 264	435 061	192 976	1 915 858	1 489 388	3 315 866
Department of Military Veterans			-			77 430
Department of Mineral Resources	131 485	49 367	253 312	884 538	1 596 215	1 447 496
Department of Planning Monitoring & Evaluation	29 446	-	-	235 569	52 536	105 318
Department of Public Enterprises	64 928	16 124	68 053	64 928	46 760	198 487
Department of Public Service and Administration	124 567	138 871	69 007	1 575 078	1 666 447	2 180 617
Department of Public Works	405 583	46 789	4 197	1 598 299	823 480	591 761
Department of Rural Development and Land Reform	39 339	10 146	15 097	4 442 810	5 969 431	865 588
Department of Science and Technology	325 724	10 113	-	172 442	151 696	184 792
Department of Social Development	62 085	8 467	13 904	418 255	378 179	389 325
Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services		-	85 716		15 375	179 225
Department of Tourism	157 755	44 295	15 060	591 582	673 286	624 988
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)	427 021	387 575	280 234	2 087 656	2 196 260	1 961 640
Department of Transport	194 950	231 783	7 367	27 850	267 054	445 685
Department of Transport	-			8 312
Department of Water Affairs	1 012 651	266 656	204 122	2 716 476	2 377 570	1 820 347
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development	547 013	489 380	353 696	1 566 779	1 125 087	2 992 829
Government Communication and Information System	35 893	-	-	35 893	243 378	725 679
Government Pensions Administration Agency	-	-	5 383	359 534	336 112	231 488
Government Printing Works	-	-	3 804	125 120	94 341	64 662
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID)	54 886	40 246	73 253	192 101	234 770	109 879
National Parliament	11 096	25 680	41 915	5 659 163	3 004 607	2 556 824
National Prosecuting Authority of SA	-	26 007	78 065	26 541	173 377	303 076
National School of Government	136 754	23 051	69 698	383 794	748 103	543 064
National Treasury	134 896	89 643	98 457	277 500	386 881	1 045 676
Public Service Commission	10 188	-	38 486	95 088	77 026	113 626
South African Police Service (SAPS)	-	-	5 116	6 541 413	6 473 637	1 959 404
South African Police Service (SAPS)	-	-	-	37 000	132 000	8 991
South African Revenue Service (SARS)		-	-		6 885	11 140
South African Social Security Agency	-	33 484	-	25 225	1 131 756	1 178 350
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)	23 486	28 028	5 989	2 411 228	1 550 906	1 922 371
Grand Total	5 619 464	3 935 878	2 552 014	46 761 599	44 602 403	42 689 554

Reply:

(a) The Department of Public Service and Administration's total procurement percentage is as follows:

(i) 34% of total procurement initiatives per respective categories were sourced from SMMEs,

(ii) The department has not procured any goods/services from co-operatives.

(b) The National School of Government’s total procurement percentage is as follows:

  (i) The National School of Government (NSG) has purchased 14.15% of its total procurement from SMMEs from 1 April 2015 up to 24 March 2016

  (ii) The National School of Government has not procured any goods/services from co-operatives

Reply:

(1) Yes. The Directive (Circular No: HRD 1 of 2012) mandates the National School of Government (NSG) to develop and roll out the compulsory induction programme (CIP).

(2) (a) Departments are expected to pay a total cost of R1876 (if NSG facilitator, venue and IICs costs are excluded), R8875 (if NSG internal satff is used and venue excluded) or R16275 (if IICs is used and venue is excluded) per employee

(b) the services included in the fee cover Programme management and administration, materials production and delivery, capacity building, professional support, monitoring and evaluation, and

(c) (i) (ii) factors are as follows, readiness of departments to implement the programme, absence of trainer policies to maximise trainer capacities developed by the NSG and use of cost-recovery model;

(3) (a) The NSG has ensured that the compulsory induction programme accommodates the diverse needs of public service staff members living with disabilities by availaing materials in Word to those who are visually impaired and collaborating with departments in securing the Braille services and of sign-language specialists.

(b) No. The NSG striven to ensure that staff living with disability are not be discriminated against with the introduction of the compulsory induction programme for public servants.

 

Reply:

1. (a) The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and also the National Treasury are in a better position to provide details of steps to enforce the requirement for departments to pay suppliers within 30 days.

1. The Public Service Commission (PSC) derives its mandate from Section 196(4) of the Constitution, 1996. In terms of this mandate, the PSC promotes the constitutional principles in Section 195, including ensuring that resources (in this case financial) are used for the purpose they are earmarked, that services are rendered fairly, that ethics are promoted and that public administration is development-oriented. In addition, the PSC is mandated in Section 196(4)(b) to inter alia investigate, monitor and evaluate the organisation and administration of the public service and in Section 196(4)(c) to propose measures to ensure effective and efficient performance within the public service. Section 196(4)(f) tasks the PSC to monitor and investigate adherence to applicable procedures in the public service either on own accord or on receipt of a complaint.

In accordance with this mandate, the PSC conducted a series of public hearings at provincial and national level during the 2012/13 financial year. The hearings were intended to provide an overview of the challenges experienced in the payment of service providers and to develop possible solutions in this regard. The hearings were also designed to provide a forum for consultation and public participation with regard to the payment process. Departments with the highest incidence of non-payment (according to figures received from National Treasury) were also invited to these hearings. These departments were provided the opportunity to answer service providers’ questions, explain their challenges and solve cases of non-payment on the spot, where possible.

Reports on the individual hearings were compiled and coordinated through the relevant treasuries with government departments.

(2) (a) Outcome 12 Quarterly Report, which include monitoring of the 30 days payment of suppliers are tables at Cabinet as required. The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) is part of the Outcome 12 Implementation Forum and it is in a better position to provide details on the effectiveness of the mechanisms to enforce the 30 days payment of suppliers.

(b) To have performance Agreement of managers to also include payment of suppliers as key performance area, amongst other things.

Reply:

1. (a) new staff members joined the Public Service as permanently appointed staff:

Question	Years	Number permanently appointed to the Public Service[1]	Number of officials eligible for CIP – that is officials with first time appointment after 1 July 2012[2]	Number of officials that have completed the full CIP	Number currently training on CIP	Number still need to commence training on CIP
(aa)	2012 – 2013	40 547	18 776	43	326	18 407
(bb)	2013 – 2014	46 592	32 499	25	7 897	24 577
(cc)	2014 – 2015	53 881	37 773	188	15 563	22 022
(dd)	2015 - 2016	43 005	34 125	143	8 861	21

(b) (i) 399 have completed the full CIP

(b) (ii) 32 647 are currently training on CIP

(b) (iii) 90 127 still need to commence training on CIP

(2) (a) Accredited trainers in the Public Service responsible to facilitate training of the induction programme:

Province /National	Number of departmental officials ready to train
Eastern Cape	97
Northern Cape	30
Western Cape	21
Gauteng	34
Limpopo	19
Mpumalanga	14
North West	67
Free State	28
KwaZulu Natal	52
National	260
National School of Government	27
Total	649

(b) For the financial year 2016-17 the target is 36 000

(c) The National School of Government process of putting in place necessary systems, capacity and procedures to ensure that all newly appointed employees in the public service complete their compulsory induction programme within two years of being appointed for the first time, is a work in progress.

 

 

 

1. Data Source: PERSAL, excluding Defence ↑

2. Data Source: PERSAL, excluding Defence and Teachers, and all on probation ↑

Reply:

(a) (i) The Executive Development Programme (EDP) is tailor made primarily for the Senior Management Service (SMS) in the public service, as well as for specially identified Middle Managers working in the public service. The programme is aligned to the Senior Management Service (SMS) competency framework and aims to equip participants with necessary knowledge and skills to perform effectively as senior managers and team leaders.

(ii) The design and delivery of the EDP is informed by extensive international research on management and leadership competency based programmes and a senior management training needs analysis. The EDP meets both competency-based needs (recruitment) and ongoing professional development of SMS members (PDP).

The following curricula were developed to assist public service managers and HRM&D specialists in developing knowledge and skills regarding HRM Regulations:

• Investigating Corruption is a five-day credit-bearing course developed by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and handed to the NSG for roll out. It is aimed at building and strengthening competencies of learners to investigate corruption in the public sector. The course is at NQF level 6 and has 10 credits. NSG roll-out is envisaged for April 2016.
• Application of Policy and Procedure on Incapacity and ill-health retirement (PILIR) is a 5 day, non-credit-bearing course that capacitates learners to implement and apply the PILIR in the public service. The course has as its foundation the PILIR policy and addresses the management of absenteeism, ill-health and incapacity, thereby ensuring sustained service delivery and improved productivity in the public service.
• PILIR online for supervisors enables supervisors to implement the Policy and Procedure on Incapacity Leave and ill-health Retirement (PILIR) in their units on a daily basis. The main aim of this non-credit-bearing course is to develop capacity to comply with the PILIR Guide direct reports and/or team members with regard to the application of the PILIR process;
• Strategic HR Planning for the achievement of organisational results:. The course on Strategic Human Resource Planning for the achievement of organisational results is aligned to the DPSA Strategic Framework on HR Planning and enables learners to acquire knowledge and skills to develop human resource strategies and plans which are integrated with their departmental strategic and operational plans, in order to ensure that their future staffing needs are met. This 5 day credit-bearing course is at NQF level 6 and has 12 credits.

• Development of HRD Implementation Plans is a credit-bearing course intended specifically for senior and middle management in the public service who are involved in the development of Annual HRD Implementation Plans. This is a 5 day course at NQF level 5 and has 10 credits.
• Disability Management in the Public Service enables learners to facilitate the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace, and remove barriers that prevent their successful participation in the job market. It is at NQF level 5 and has8 credits.
• Investigating and Presiding Skills is developed for Public Servants and managers involved in workplace investigations related to employee misconduct, as well as persons appointed as Presiding Officers or Chairpersons at disciplinary enquiries. It is non-credit bearing.
• Grievance and Disciplinary Action Procedures is a 5 day credit-bearing course that equips learners with the requisite knowledge, skills and values to resolve employee grievances; monitor and adjust the application of the grievance procedure; and evaluate, analyse and address grievance patterns. It is at NQF level 5 and has 13 credits.
• Recruitment and Selection in the public service is a 5 day credit-bearing course that enables learners with knowledge and skills on how to effect the recruitment of employees in the Public Service. It is at NQF level 5 and has 9 credits.
• An online course in Managing Performance has been developed in the public service to assist senior management in developing the knowledge and skills base of senior public officials regarding Human Resource Management. The online performance management programme is not credit bearing.

(b) (i) Number senior public officials successfully completed formal training programmes of the NSG in HRM regulations in 2015

Course:	Number trained: (2012/13 to 2015/16)
•	EDP: Strategic HRM Module	453
•	Investigating Corruption	Envisaged roll-out is April 2016
•	Application of Policy and Procedure on Incapacity and ill-health retirement (RUM	757
•	PILIR online for supervisors (launched during 2015)	379
•	Strategic HR Planning for the achievement of organisational results	700
•	Development of HRD Implementation Plans	55
•	Disability Management in the Public Service	1 648
•	Investigating and Presiding Skills	503
•	Grievance and Disciplinary Action Procedures	651
•	Recruitment and Selection in the public service	217
•	Managing Performance in the public service	2 517

(ii) The online performance management programme is open to all public servant who manage their own and team performance.

(c) National Qualifications Framework (NQF) credits for each of these training programmes are follows:

• Investigating Corruption is at NQF level 6 and has 10 credits.
• Application of Policy and Procedure on Incapacity and ill-health retirement (PILIR) is a non-credit-bearing course.
• PILIR online for supervisors is a non-credit-bearing course,
• Strategic HR Planning for the achievement of organisational results is at NQF level 6 and has 12 credits.

• Development of HRD Implementation Plans is at NQF level 5 and has 10 credits.
• Disability Management in the Public Service is at NQF level 5 and has 8 credits.
• Investigating and Presiding Skills is non-credit bearing.
• Grievance and Disciplinary Action Procedures is at NQF level 5 and has 13 credits.
• Recruitment and Selection in the public service is at NQF level 5 and has 9 credits.
• An online course in Managing Performance has been developed is not credit bearing.

Reply:

(1) Not all training programmes facilitated by the National School of Government are done in terms of registered unit standards recognised by the SA Qualifications Authority;

a) Some training programmes need to be responsive to ‘just-in-time’ needs of the public service and do not require SAQA approval.

b) 16% of the training done during the past year was offered in accordance with registered unit standards.

(2) There were no full qualifications consisting of more than 120 credits been (a) achieved by and/or (b) awarded to learners who have been enrolled to study through (i) the National School of Government or (ii) its predecessor, the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy in (aa) 2013, (bb) 2014 and (cc) 2015.

 

Reply:

(a) The decision was made in 2014 after publication of the last Report on the State of the Public Service.

(b) The decision was made by the Public Service Commission.

(c) The decision was made in order to review the work of the Public Service Commission in this area and also for consultation with relevant stakeholders on the values and principles in relation to section 195 of the Constitution, which have a bearing on the Report.

Reply:

(1) (a) Mandate to determine appropriate qualification/s related to an employee’s scope of work and the expected levels of improvement in performance as results of the attainment of the identified qualification/s resides with the Executive Authority of the respective departments.

     (b) In terms of the Resolution, Sectors and/or Departments must define the qualifications which are relevant to their respective areas of work and which they intend to recognise.

(2) (a) Determination of performance levels in the public service is managed in terms of the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) as stipulated in Chapter 1, Part VIII of the Public Service Regulations (2001) as amended. This benefit was also introduced to encourage public servants to acquire academic qualifications in their respective areas of work in an attempt to professionalise and to build confidence in the public service.

(b) Bonus is paid on attainment of a qualification subject to terms and conditions stipulated in the resolutions and the circular.

(3) (a)(b) There is no record of any department implementing this agreement so far (since o1 January 2013), except for departments where this benefit has been in existence before the PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2012 was concluded.

Reply:

(a)(b) are as follows:

Chairperson

Commissioner	Period
Mr B Mthembu First Term of Office	21 October 2009 to 20 October 2014
Adv RK Sizani First Term of Office	19 December 2015 to 31 August 2016

Deputy Chairperson

Commissioner	Period
Ms TM Tengeni Second Term of Office Continues	21 October 2009 to 16 January 2014
Adv RK Sizani First Term of Office	24 October 2014 to 18 December 2015

Commissioner: National

Commissioner	Period
Ms SS Nkosi First Term of Office	23 February 2009 to 22 February 2014
Ms SS Nkosi Second Term of Office	24 April 2014 to 23 April 2019
Mr B Mthembu Second Term of Office	1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020

As at March 2016, there are no vacancies at National level. Commissioners RK Sizani, LV Sizani and CP Nzimande are not included in the table above due to the fact that their periods of appointment do not fall within the period in question, i.e. 1 January 2014.

Free State Province

Commissioner	Period
Mr P Helepi Second Term of Office	1 February 2009 to 31 January 2014
Dr WH Boshoff First Term of Office	1 March 2014 to 28 February 2019

Limpopo Province

Commissioner	Period
Mr MZ Mawasha First Term of Office	5 October 2009 to 4 October 2014
Mr TG Mashamba First Term of Office	24 August 2015 to 23 August 2020

Northern Cape Province

Commissioner	Period
Ms MA Marais First Term of Office	1 March 2010 to 28 February 2015
Ms MA Marais Second Term of Office	13 April 2015 to 12 April 2020

Eastern Cape Province

Commissioner	Period
Mr S Mafanya First Term of Office	1 February 2009 to 31 January 2014
Mr S Mafanya Second Term of Office	11 February 2014 to 10 February 2019

Mpumalanga Province

Commissioner	Period
Mr DS Mkwanazi First Term of Office	23 April 2009 to 22 April 2014
Mr DS Mkwanazi Second Term of Office	1 May 2014 to 30 April 2019

KwaZulu-Natal Province

Commissioner	Period
Ms PM Tengeni Second Term of Office	16 January 2009 to 20 October 2009
Dr MP Sithole First Term of Office	1 September 2015 to 31 August 2020

As at March 2016, there are no vacancies at Provincial level.

It should be noted that Commissioners for Gauteng, North West and Western Cape are not included in the table above due to the fact that their periods of appointment do not fall within the period in question, i.e. 1 January 2014.

Reply:

(a) Section 196 (2) of the Constitution provides that the Public Service Commission (PSC) must be regulated by national legislation. The PSC Act in section 11 (c) provides for the PSC to make Rules as to the manner in which meetings of the PSC shall be convened, the procedure to be followed at those meetings and the conduct of its business, the quorum at those meetings, and the manner in which minutes of those meetings shall be kept. Provision is therefore made in the prevailing legislation for the PSC to make Rules to ensure that the standard of our own internal deliberations and decision-making processes meet the tests of accountability, transparency and responsiveness.

The PSC’s Governance Rules provide for operational functioning of its various governance structures, as well as the secretariat function. The Governance Rules take due consideration to the second Certification judgment of the amended text of the Constitution[1] which held that the PSC Commissioners will have joint responsibility for the work that it does. It provides that the Chairperson must provide overall leadership to the PSC, ensuring its effectiveness in all aspects of its role without limiting the principle of joint responsibility for the PSC’s decisions.

The Governance Rules provide for a variety of meetings. The Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson only leads the Plenary, which is the highest decision making body of the PSC. The Plenary is constituted by the 14 Commissioners. Plenary meetings are held on a quarterly basis. These meetings are held on dates determined in advance. Plenary meetings are convened and Chaired by the Chairperson or, if the Chairperson is absent or unavailable, by the Deputy Chairperson. If both are unavailable to chair a Plenary meeting or part of a meeting, nothing in the law or in the Rules prohibits the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson to request a Commissioner to chair the meeting in their stead.

In order to execute the PSC’s mandate, subcommittees are established in the form of Specialist Teams. Each Specialist Team assigns a Convenor from amongst the Commissioners to coordinate and Chair the operations of the Specialist Team. The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson serve on Specialist Teams in their capacity as Commissioners.

The Specialist Teams provide strategic oversight on the key performance areas of the PSC and make findings and recommendations on behalf of the PSC in line with the Delegations Frameworks, providing for the delegation of powers by the PSC to provincially based commissioners as envisaged in section 11 (b) of the Act and the delegation of powers and assignment of duties by the PSC to Commissioners as envisaged in section 13 of the PSC Act.

Working committees of Specialist Teams in the form of panels are established to deal with decision-making in respect of investigations in terms of section 196 (4)(f) of the Constitution, in line with the Governance Rules and the Delegations Frameworks mentioned above.

(b) The specified rules were adopted in March 2005. Amendments to the Governance Rules were adopted in February 2015 and implemented with effect from 01 April 2015.

(c) There are no Rules in relation to the management of vacancies. However, the process for appointment of Commissioners is prescribed in section 196 (7) of the Constitution, read with section 4 of the PSC Act, which state that:

• Five nationally based commissioners are appointed by the President in terms of section 196(7)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996), following the approval of the National Assembly after a public notice process and a recommendation by a committee of the National Assembly.

• One commissioner for each province is appointed by the President in terms of section 196(7) (b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996), in the PSC following a nomination by the Premier of the province after a public notice process and a recommendation by a committee of the provincial legislature and approved by that legislature.

(d) Rule E.1 (b) of the Governance Rules provide that “Plenary meetings are convened and chaired by the Chairperson or, if the Chairperson is absent or unavailable, by the Deputy Chairperson.” This Rule must be read in conjunction with section 11 (c) of the PSC Act, the Certification Judgements, as well as the Delegations Frameworks, providing for the delegation of powers by the PSC to provincially based commissioners as envisaged in section 11 (b) of the Act and the delegation of powers and assignment of duties by the PSC to Commissioners as envisaged in section 13 of the PSC Act.

1. Certification of the amended text of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Case CCT 37/96) ↑

Reply:

No. (a)(b)(c) Falls away.

Reply:

(a) Measures being considered to achieve a reduction in the public sector wage bill include placing a moratorium on the filling of certain managerial and administrative vacancies in the public service.

(b) Relevant details and their implications thereof will only become available once all necessary consultations have been concluded.

(i)(ii)(aa)(bb)(iii)(aa)(bb) Falls away

Reply:

(a) No.

(b) and (c) Yes. (i) (ii) refer to the table herewith below;

Financial Year	Event	Amount	Number of Adverts
2012- 13	None	R0.00	0
2013- 14	MPSA Strategic Communication	R284 988.60	1
	Launch of the Public Service Charter: Business breakfast	R240 574.50	1
2014- 15	National Batho Pele Excellence Awards	R33 379. 20	1

Reply:

(a) The challenges include the following:

• Departments have not consistently applied the required legislative prescripts in order to effect a fair and objective recruitment process.
• Departments did not have standardised methods and procedures in place to ensure compliance.
• Departments have challenges in determining inherent skills, competencies and training required.
• Departments have further challenges determining valid and fair selection criteria.

  (i) The departments affected are listed on the attached Annexure A

   (ii) The magnitude of the challenges is small.

   (iii) (aa) The average vacancy rate at senior management level as at 31 December 2015 is 9.12%;

(bb) The average turnover rate at senior management level as at 31 December 2015 is 0.78%.

  (iv) The challenges are minimal due to the measures put in place to prevent them and also to address them as and when they are identified.

(b) (i) Measures in place to address the challenges include the following:

   a) Enforcement of the legislation that govern recruitment and selection namely; the Public Service Act, 1994 (as amended) and its subordinate legislation, the Public Service Regulations, 2011 (as amended).

  b) Implementation of a strategy to reduce the recruitment period and the vacancy rate in the Public Service, which include reduction of the period to fill a vacant post in the Public Service to four (4) months after being advertised; and reducing the average vacancy rate in the Public Service to 10%.

  c) Standardisation of the recruitment practices through introduction of the Executive Protocol on filling of the vacant posts of Directors-General and Deputy Directors-General at national sphere of government. This Protocol also provides norms and standards on recruitment.

  d) Introduction of a Directive on the selection practices in relation to Ministerial Directives.

  e) Introduction of a Directive on Compulsory Capacity Development, Mandatory Training Days and Minimum Entry Requirements into Senior Management Level.

 f) Introduction of a Directive on the Implementation of Competency Assessments for entry onto Senior Management Service levels.

  g) Introduction of a Directive on the minimum educational requirements for entry into the position of senior management service.

(ii) Plans to address the challenges;

Planned initiatives include introduction of a pre-entry certification for any individual who wishes to enter or progress within the Senior Management Service. A Public Service specific course is currently being developed by the National School of Government in this regard. A guideline for mentoring and peer support has also been drafted in order to improve the quality of individual leadership development for newly appointed as well as currently employed SMS members.

Reply:

1. According to data from PERSAL, the number of Public Service employees employed in each provincial Department of Education as at the last day of the (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 financial years are indicated in the table below. Please note that abnormal and periodical appointments are excluded.
2. According to data from PERSAL, the number of Public Service employees employed in each provincial Department of Health as at the last day of the (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 financial years are indicated in the table below. Please note that abnormal and periodical appointments are excluded.
3. The Provincial Legislatures do not fall under the purview of the Department of Public Service and Administration and most of the Provincial Legislatures are not utilising PERSAL as a personnel administration and payroll system. Each Provincial Legislature can be contacted to obtain this information.

Number of Public Service employees in provincial Education and Health departments
March 2011 to March 2015
Provincial Department	201103	201203	201303	201403	201503
Eastern Cape	Education	86 181	82 816	80 154	78 791	74 279
	Health	40 818	41 186	39 577	38 655	39 470
Free State	Education	31 113	31 885	32 013	31 368	30 382
	Health	16 841	18 915	19 060	19 008	18 388
Gauteng	Education	79 554	82 134	82 318	83 794	84 353
	Health	62 492	65 078	61 406	62 992	62 894
Kwazulu-Natal	Education	106 689	108 058	106 732	108 024	106 715
	Health	71 001	78 543	82 436	72 731	71 865
Limpopo	Education	64 425	63 911	62 901	62 768	62 153
	Health	36 472	38 112	37 094	36 650	37 203
Mpumalanga	Education	42 493	42 719	42 801	42 298	41 848
	Health	18 026	18 485	18 269	19 225	19 446
North West	Education	30 425	30 242	30 329	30 703	29 473
	Health	17 290	17 613	18 256	19 305	18 955
Northern Cape	Education	12 023	11 892	11 690	12 457	12 229
	Health	6 176	6 372	6 474	6 713	6 781
Western Cape	Education	40 514	40 402	40 114	40 672	42 108
	Health	29 306	30 446	31 092	31 654	31 882
Excluding Abnormal and Periodical appointments

Reply:

(1) Yes. There are currently 306 Ethics Officers either appointed or designated in the public service.

(b) Appointments are made in terms of the prescribed public service procedure, with regard to designation, existing employees in their respective departments are assigned a new or additional functions in line with the responsibilities attached to the post of an ethics officer.

(c) (i) Departments follow an open recruitment process to identify and appoint appropriate officials. The grade of the post is determined using the approved Job Evaluation process and System. Departments currently utilise the job description as contained in the Public Service Integrity Management Framework.

(ii) All employees, prior to appointment to the public service, are subject to a background checks, which include credit and criminal record, verification of qualification, disciplinary record, etc.

The DPSA has initiated a process of amending the Public Service Regulations, 2001. One of the objectives is to formalize and standardize the designation and / or appointment of Ethics Officers and provide for more functions relating to the management and promotion of ethics in the public service. This process will be finalised early in 2016.

(iii) The Department of Public Service and Administration together with the National School of Government have development a set of new ethics courses. These courses were finalised and are being rolled-out. These courses include the following:

• • • • Ethics Management for Local Government
      • Ethics Management Workshop for National and Provincial Government
      • Ethics Module to use in senior management induction
      • Ethics Workshop to use for Ethics Officer Training
      • Ethics Module to use in Compulsory Induction Programme for Public Service

Furthermore, all designated Ethics Officers have been trained on the Financial Disclosure Framework and the use of the e-Disclosure system.

(2) (a) Departments currently utilise the job description as contained in the Public Service Integrity Management Framework. The following functions are performed by ethics officers:-

• Promote integrity and ethical behaviour in departments;
• Advise employees on ethical matters;
• Ensure integrity of organisational policies, procedures and practices;
• Identify and report unethical behaviour and corrupt activities to the head of department;
• Manage conflicts of interest, including:
• Financial disclosures of employees;
• Application for external remunerative work; and
• Departmental gift registers.
• Develop and implement awareness programmes to educate officials on ethics, good governance and anti-corruption measures; and
• Keep a register of all employees under investigation and those disciplined for unethical conduct.

(d) The job grade is determined using the approved Job Evaluation process and System. Where Ethics Officers are appointed (and not designated), whether in the national or provincial department, the size, risk profile, budget, qualification requirement, etc of the post will determine the job grade.

(d) Ethics officers are generally appointed under programme 1 (administration), and report to the head of Corporate Services or the Director’s-General head of office. However, going forward, ethics officers will report to the Head of the Department (HoD) in terms of the proposed Public Service Regulations.

Reply:

(1) (a) The target of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is to conduct a Citizen Report Card survey every 3 years or so. The DPSA aims to deepen the Citizen Report Card (CRC) methodology in the departments and the municipalities. At this stage, DPSA is focusing on assisting the departments in the development of the Improvement Plans and the implementation of the interventions geared to improving service delivery. The DPSA is also in the process of setting up a mechanism for ongoing reporting and assessment of implementation of interventions. Once implementation of interventions has taken root in the departments, another CRC survey will be undertaken and its purpose will be to assess progress made against the baseline.

(b) The Citizen Report Card by definition reflects the performance of government from the perspective of the citizens. The citizens through focus group discussions and interviews get involved in the entire CRC process. The determination of the service delivery areas to be assessed and the eventual design of the questionnaire is a direct result of the consultative process. Flowing from the design of the questionnaire, a pilot survey gets conducted whose purpose is to further refine and finalise the questionnaire before full deployment.

The deployment of the questionnaire is preceded by the development of a sampling plan to ensure that specific randomly selected households and qualifying random respondents are identified. To ensure successful execution of the sample plan and administration of the questionnaire, carefully selected data collectors or field workers are thoroughly trained in understanding the content of the questionnaire and the broader research objectives of the CRC survey.

It should be noted that right at the beginning of the CRC process there are engagements with the various stakeholders in the community to ensure buy-in and support throughout the entire process. The stakeholders key to the process are the traditional authority, Municipal leadership, Non-Governmental Organisations and other organised interest groups in the areas of assessment.

(2) The Citizen Report Card survey is available to the public and can be accessed through the departmental website.

Reply:

1. (a) (i) (aa)(bb) The Citizen Report Cards (CRC) were compiled for the following:

• Department of Basic Education;
• Department of Health:
• Department of Home Affairs;
• South African Police Service; and
• South African Social Security Agency.

(ii) (aa)(bb) The Citizen Report Cards were compiled for the following:

• Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality;
• Mookgopong Local Municipality;
• Okhahlamba Local Municipality;
• Matatiele Local Municipality;
• Emalahleni Local Municipality;
• Moretele Local Municipality;
• City of Mangaung (Botshabelo);
• City of Johannesburg (Diepsloot and Alexandra); and
• City of Cape Town (Gugulethu and Khayelitsha).

(cc) None. The Citizen Report Card survey was conducted in the 2013-14 financial year and the subsequent reports were finalised in the 2014-15 financial year.

(b) The selection was based on the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) priorities, which set out key focus areas of the departments over the MTSF period. One municipality per province was chosen to benefit from the survey and the selection of the municipality in every province was based on the readiness of the municipality to accommodate the study within the set timelines.

(2) (a) (i) The overall scores for each department and municipality are shown herewith below on figure 1 and figure 2 respectively:

Figure 1: Overall Ranking of Departments

Figure 2: Overall Ranking of Municipalities

(2) (a) (ii) The scores are reflected on figure 3 and figure 4 herewith below. The departments were assessed on Accessibility, Reliability, Quality of Service, Staff Performance, Transparency and Openness and also Avenue for Redress whilst the municipalities were assessed using the Batho Pele principles. The satisfaction of citizens against a range of municipal basic services was also assessed.

Figure 3: Ranking of Departments against service delivery attributes

 

Figure 4: Performance of municipalities against Batho Pele principles

(2) (b) (i) The benchmarks reflected in figure 1 and figure 2 above were on the following:

 

• Minimum level of service expected and
• Ideal level of service required.

 

	Minimum service expected	Ideal level of service required
Departments	73.78%	87.78%
Municipalities	67.00%	89.40%

 

(ii) The benchmarks indicated above are considered acceptable as they were sourced from the citizens regarding the level of service they expected and required from the assessed government departments and municipalities..

(c) Action taken was the development of Service Delivery Improvement Plans, which entail interventions to improve performance.

Reply:

(1) Yes. In terms of the Directive on Service Delivery Improvements Plans dated 30 October 2008, issued by the Minister for Public Service and Administration, the national and provincial departments are required to submit their Service Delivery Improvement Plans by 31 March every three years and to report on the progress made annually to the Department of Public Service and Administration.

The Service Delivery Improvements Plans should be aligned to the Public Access Information Act (PAIA) and to the Public Administrative and Justice Act (PAJA) and should also provide an indication on how Service Delivery Improvements Plans are cascaded to service points. The Service Delivery Improvements Plans must be signed-off by Head of the Department (HOD) and also the Executive Authority.

(2) (a) The assessment process of the Service Delivery Improvement Plans include; (i) scrutinizing preliminary scoring using an assessment tool, (ii) structured peer and/or sector assessments for verification and validation of scoring by the cross-cutting teams using the same assessment tool, (iii) provision of preliminary feedback to the participants by the Department of Public Service and Administration.

(b) The standards used to assess the value of the specified plan are based on critical compliance areas of the Service Delivery Improvements Plans Assessment Tool and include;

(i) Openness & transparency on the process followed in developing the Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIP).

1. Meaningful utilization of a situation analysis in identifying the critical service areas that should be addressed in the SDIP.
2. Process mapping, human resources and Unit costing that should lead to a problem statement to be addressed through the mandatory SDIP template.

(c) The cluster and sector of the SDIP assessment and the capacity building workshops organized by the DPSA assist departments to identify their weaknesses, develop and implement corrective measures to address the unacceptable SDIPs developed by the departments.

The workshops provide a platform for technical support, capacity building and practical solutions with departmental cross cutting teams in order to develop realistic, credible and effective SDIPs.

(3) Monitoring and reporting of compliance with commitments is undertaken through annual progress reporting and Annual Operational Plans. Service Delivery Improvement Plan monitoring follow-ups are made through the Khaedu programme and Public Service Month programme.

National and Provincial departments have also put in place internal processes and system to monitor compliance with commitments in the service delivery plans, including reporting to internal departmental structures and eventually to the DPSA in line with the legislative framework.

(4) The Service Delivery Improvements Plan is currently an Internally Driven Plan. However, it is not a confidential document and can be made available on request.

Reply:

During the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit held in Mexico from 27 to 29 October 2015, South Africa was appointed as the Lead and or Chair of the OGP. In accepting the responsibility to Lead the OGP , the South African government reiterated its profound commitment to ensure that the OGP’s Programme's on the Principles of Transparency, Accountability and Responsiveness performs better.

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) will further engage the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer at National Treasury with the intention of finding ways in which the OGP’s commitments and principles around Open Contracting are domesticated.

Reply:

1. (a) As part of an exercise undertaken by the North West Office of the Premier to determine the cost drivers of the wage bill in the Province, misinterpretation of employee information lead to the reports in the media about the 36 000 ghost workers in the Province. After realisation of this misunderstanding the Director-General of the North West Office of the Premier, Dr Keneilwe Sebego issued a media statement, early in November 2015, indicating that there were no ghost workers in North West, but that non-permanent type of appointments were erroneously labelled as ghost workers. This was also officially confirmed in a letter, dated 13 November 2015, addressed to the Director-General of the DPSA in response to enquiries made to the North West Office of the Premier.

(b) Taking the information in (a) above into consideration, there was no fraud or financial loss in the North West Provincial Administration since the payments made to these non-permanent type of appointments were made legitimately.

(c) The non-permanent appointees themselves benefited from the salaries legitimately paid to them.

(d) The DPSA is not aware of any disciplinary action taken as a result of the misunderstanding. The Office of the Premier in North West indicated that it will continue to monitor appointments in the Provincial Administration.

(2) The management and employment of public servants at national and provincial level are managed through a decentralized Human Resource Management framework where Heads of Department and Executive Authorities are responsible for the employment and management of their own employees. Departments’ employee numbers and payroll fall under the purview of the respective Executive Authorities and are audited by the Auditor-General.

(a) The Public Finance Management Act, 1999; Treasury Regulations and other legal prescripts contain provisions to deal with monitoring of payments to employees in the Public Service. Fraud and non-compliance to these measures are managed through the disciplinary processes in the Public Service.

(b) See the reply to (a) above.

Reply:

The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency is in a better position to respond to this parliamentary question, since it is responsible for “monitoring” in the public service. However, flowing from the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) Outcome 12, various projects were initiated, such as the development of Generic Organisational Structures. The Government’s Outcomes Based Programme identified key service delivery outcomes which necessitate collaboration across government Departments.

As part of the implementation of this Outcome 12 initiatives, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is tasked with the responsibility to support departments with the development of sector specific generic functional structures, with a view to improve the quality of organisational structures in the public service. The aim is to ensure consistency and common understanding with regard to what constitutes departmental core functions in order to ensure alignment of organisational structures to the mandate and strategic objectives of such departments, as well as to achieve appropriate grouping of national and provincial functions to clearly define roles and responsibilities.

Furthermore, the DPSA conducts analysis of proposed organisational structures submitted to the Minister for Public Service and Administration (MPSA) for consultation in terms of the 2015 Directive on the Changes to the Organisational Structures by the Departments, which has been issued in terms of the Public Service Regulations 1/III/B.2.

The analysis of the proposed organisational structures also ensures alignment of organisational structures and functions to the strategic objectives and mandates of departments to ensure the elimination of the duplication of functions, the findings of the analysis are provided to relevant Executive Authority.

Reply:

Yes. The Human Resource Development Strategic Framework Vision 2015 and the Skills Development Act, 1998, provide for the placement of young people in Learnership and Internship programmes in the national and provincial departments. The intention is to establish an effective and efficient internship programme aimed at bridging the gap between academic study and competent performance in the workplace by offering structured internship opportunities to students and unemployed youths. The intended outcome of this internship programme is to enable school leavers and unemployed graduates to gain practical work experience over a maximum period of 12 months.

In 2009, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration issued a Determination on the Internship Programmes and Implementation Guidelines for Public Service.

Flowing from the signing of the National Skills Accord in October 2011 and a Youth Employment Accord in April 2013, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) issued a Circular directing the scaling up of internship, learnership and apprenticeship programmes in the public service. Through the same Circular, the scope of internship programmes in the public service was expanded to include graduates, learners seeking work-integrated learning (experiential learners), graduates seeking to meet statutory requirements for professional registration and those seeking minimum work experience for employment purposes both within the public service and other sectors.

The annual target for internship, learnership and apprenticeship programmes is five (5) percent of the departments’ fixed staff establishment on an annual basis.

During 2009-2012, annual target for the public service was 25 000 for each financial years. The following numbers were reported:

(a) 4002 in 2009/10;

(b) 19 278 in 2010/11; and

(c) 20 370 in 2011/12.

For the 2012-2015 period, the target was revised to 50 000. The target for 2012/13 and 2013/14 was 15 000 and 20 000 for the 2014/15 financial year. The following numbers were reported:

1. 17 820 in 2012/2013;
2. 27 351 in 2013/14; and
3. 40 891 in 2014/15.

As at 30 September 2015, a total of 9 320 interns, learners and apprentices have been reported to have been recruited since 1 April 2015.

For the period since January 2012 to 30 September 2015 a total of 50 988 candidates who had been recruited as either interns, learners or apprentices have been absorbed into departments on a permanent or contract employment.

The DPSA has initiated a review of the Determination issued in 2009 to address concerns raised by departments regarding amongst others, the duration of the internship programme, especially for individuals involved in regulated programmes, and to facilitate recruitment and retention of scarce skills.

The outcome of a feasibility study on the development and piloting of a graduate recruitment scheme as recommended by the National Development Plan is currently underway and consultation is also taking place with the national and provincial departments.

Proposals have been made to amend the Public Service Regulations to accommodate the retention of individuals recruited into the public service via internship, learnership and apprenticeship programmes when filling entry levels posts.

Reply:

(1) The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has not received a complaint from Mr. Abraham.

(2) The complaint was lodged with his previous employer, the Department of Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal. The DPSA will investigate and also respond once the Department of Social Development has furnished the DPSA with details of the complaint.

Reply:

(1) (a) The lease agreement for the previous office accommodation for the National Office of the Public Service Commission (PSC) (Commission House) expired on 31 January 2012.

(b) Yes, the initial request forwarded to the Department of Public Works (DPW) on 29 October 2010 was that the lease agreement should be extended for a period of five (5) years as the building was still suitable and met the requirements of the Public Service Commission (PSC). The PSC experienced challenges with the renewal process.

Seeing that there were delays with the renewal of the lease as well as the fact that the PSC had reached the optimal occupancy of the building, the PSC requested the DPW to procure alternative office accommodation in July 2012.

In order to allow the DPW to commence with the procurement process of the alternative accommodation, the PSC agreed that the lease agreement be renewed for a further period of eighteen (18) months to ensure that PSC relocate into the new alternative office building on 1 April 2014.

DPW then commenced with the procurement process and a building was identified as a suitable alternative accommodation for the PSC and a lease agreement was signed. However, during tenant installation process there were concerns raised by the PSC e.g. additional costs to be borne by the PSC relating to tenant installation. This resulted in the process being suspended by the DPW. Due to the dispute, the PSC did not take occupation of the building.

Furthermore, the PSC forwarded another request to DPW in June 2015, after receiving notice to vacate Commission House, to commence with sourcing the alternative accommodation. To date, the PSC has not received an update from DPW on this matter. The PSC has requested the Minister for Public Works to intervene.

(c) The lease agreement for the interim accommodation is for a period of 18 months, with an exit clause in the event a new building is procured before the expiry date of 18 months.

(2) (a) The PSC has not received any financial support from the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) as the request for additional funding was forwarded to National Treasury.

(b) The PSC has not received any other support from the DPSA as the PSC is interacting directly with DPW and National Treasury.

(3) The National Office of the PSC moved to ABSA Towers in July 2015, as an interim arrangement between PSC and DPW until such time that suitable permanent office accommodation has been sourced. The contract for the previous building (Commission House) was on a month to month basis and the landlord gave the PSC notice to vacate the premises as the landlord wanted to refurbish the building.

Reply:

(1) (a) Refer to attached Annexure 1 for details of the toll-free helpline and or hotline.

The following provinces indicated that they have call centres and/or hotlines; Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape. The other three (3) provinces (i.e. Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and North West) indicated that they do not have call centres or hotlines.

The following key service delivery oriented national government department indicated that they have call centres; Social Development, Labour, Human Settlements, Health, Home Affairs, Department of Public Service and Administration, Public Service Commission, Government Employees Medical Scheme, South African Police Services and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

(b) The public can access the details in many ways including from the website of the relevant departments and government telephone directory

(2) Discussions on rationalising the hotlines are in progress. The final decisions will be communicated as soon as they are concluded. The Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, the Department of Public Service and Administration, the Public Service Commission and the National Treasury are the initiators of such discussions.

(3) Nothing is hampering discussions towards rationalisation of the hotlines/ call centres.

(4) No.

(5) The Department of Public Service and administration has developed a national framework to guide complaints and compliments in the public service. It is currently supporting departments and provinces to align their complaints and compliments systems to the national framework.

Reply:

The (a) department and/or (b) the Public Service Commission have not conducted a systematic analysis of the Public Service to determine any duplication of services or functions. However, there is work that is being conducted in this area.

In terms of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) obligations under Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) Outcome 12 various projects were initiated, such as the development of Generic Organisational Structures. The Government’s Outcomes Based Programme identified key service delivery outcomes which necessitate collaboration across government Departments.

As part of the implementation of the Outcome 12 initiatives, the Governance and Administration (G&A) Cluster tasked the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) to support departments with the development of sector specific generic functional structures, with a view to improve the quality of organisational structures in the public service. The aim is to ensure consistency and common understanding with regard to what constitutes departmental core and support functions, to ensure alignment of organisational structures to the mandate and strategic objectives of such departments, as well as to achieve appropriate grouping of national and provincial functions to clearly define roles and responsibility in order to do away with duplications and overlap of functions.

Furthermore, the DPSA conducts analysis of proposed organisational structures submitted to the Minister for Public Service and Administration (MPSA) for consultation in terms of the 2015 Directive on the Changes to the Organisational Structures by the Departments in terms of the Public Service Regulations 1/III/B.2, which provides that Executive Authorities (EAs) shall, based on the strategic plan of his/her department, determine, after consultation with the MPSA, the department’s organisational structure. The consultation requests submitted to the MPSA by the EAs are in relation to all changes to the organisational structure affecting all units or posts from salary level 9 to level 16 (PSA posts and equivalent grades in OSD posts) with regard to creation of units, posts and functional reorganisation within the key programmes.

The analysis of the proposed organisational structures also ensures alignment of organisational structures and functions to the strategic objectives and mandates of departments to ensures the elimination of functional duplications and overlaps. The findings of the analysis are provided to specific EAs to be addressed before the proposed organisational structures are approved for implementation.

Reply:

(1) The Department of Public Service and Administration participates in the following groups and or teams of Departments namely; Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC), Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) and National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF)

ANTI-CORRUPTION INTER-MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE (ACIMC)

(a) Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC) is chaired by the Minister in the Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

(b) (i) Minister of Justice and Correctional Services,

Minister of State Security,

Minister of Police,

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,

Minister for Public Service and Administration,

Minister of Finance,

Minister of Home Affairs,

Minister of Social Development and

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

(ii) Presidency: Lead Department,

Department of Public Service and Administration,

Department of Social Development,

Department of Justice and Constitutional Development,

Department of Home Affairs,

National Treasury,

State Security,

South African Police Service,

(c) Mandate of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC) is to coordinate and oversee the work of state organs aimed at fighting and combating the scourge of corruption in the public and private sectors.

(d) Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee is in a better position to respond to this part of the parliamentary question.

(e) Achievements of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee include the following:

• Coordinated approach for the implementing of government Agenda on the preventing and combating of corruption, as stipulated in the National Development Plan.

• Coordinated reporting on identified international anti-corruption obligations.

ANTI-CORRUPTION TASK TEAM (ACTT)

(a) Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) is at an operational level and works under the oversight of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC), the ACTT has been established as the central body to implement government’s anti-corruption strategy.

(b) (i)(ii) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI): Lead Department

National Prosecuting Authority

Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA)

Department of Justice and Constitutional Development

Special Investigating Unit (SIU)

National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (NICOC)

Financial Intelligence Centre

South African Revenue Service (SARS)

National Treasury

State Security Agency

Government Communications and Information Services

(c) Mandate of the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) is to fast-track high-priority and high-profile corruption cases. The ACTT works with government departments to strengthen governance systems, reduce risks and prevent corruption.

(d) The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) as Lead is in a better position to respond to this part of the parliamentary question.

(e) Achievements Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) includes the following:

• Developed several inter-related programmes aimed at ensuring a structured, consolidated and coordinated governmental and societal approach to fight corruption

• Leads departments and institutions to the periodic reporting to the Executive Committee of the ACTT on progress made in their areas of responsibility.

NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION FORUM (NACF)

(a) National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF) contribute to the establishment of a national consensus through the co-ordination of sectoral strategies against corruption

(b) (i)(ii) Public Service Commission (as Secretariat)

Business representative

Civil society presentative

Public Sector represented by the Department of Public Service and Administration

(c) Mandate of the National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF) is to:

• contribute towards the establishment of a national consensus through the co-ordination of sectoral strategies against corruption;

• advise Government on national initiatives on the implementation of strategies to combat corruption;
• share information and best practice on sectoral anti-corruption work; and
• advise sectors on the improvement of sectoral anti-corruption strategies.

(d) There is no sunset clause on the National Anti-Corruption Forum.

(e) Achievements of the National Anti-Corruption Forum include the following:

The NACF held conferences of which resolutions were adopted leading to a anti-corruption programme. This Forum provides a platform for government, business and civil society organisations to work together in the prevention and combating of corruption.

(2) Corruption, given its definition by the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004 involves offering and acceptance of gratification whether for one’s benefit or for the benefit of another person. It is by its nature a crime committed behind closed doors by parties who will do their utmost not to be detected.

In most cases understanding of the public on what is corruption differs from what is prescribed in the Act, as a result, there has been a fair amount of speculation as to how much money is lost as a result of public sector corruption. The figures are sometimes based on the total value of irregular expenditure, fruitless expenditure, wasteful expenditure and unauthorized expenditure. This measure is inaccurate, as the definitions of such expenditure clearly show that they refer to something different to corruption.

(3) There is currently no measure applied in the public sector to estimate financial losses as a result of corruption. The value of such actions over the last few years would, therefore, be very difficult to calculate or estimate, at a national or provincial department level.

Reply:

As at end of June 2015, the department had 11 employees with disabilities, out of a total of 437 staff complement, the representation of people with disabilities is standing at 2.52%. The demographics of this total is as follows:

Occupational Level
	A	C	I	W	A	C	I	W
SMS	1				1			1	1	2
MMS	1			1				1	2	1
L2-10		1	1		1	1			1	3	2
Total	3	1		2	2			3	6	5

Reply:

(1) No challenges were experienced with regard to the appointment of the Panel of Accredited Health Risk Managers.

(2) Yes. Panel, not a single service provider, of Accredited Health Risk Managers has been appointed. The five Health Risk Managers on the current Panel of Accredited Health Risk Managers were appointed during 2012 to assume duty with effect from 1 January 2013, which was the date of commencement of the three year sick cycle that ends on 31 December 2015. Since the Department of Public Service and Administration was interdicted from commencing with the service by a disaffected Health Risk Manager, which was unsuccessful during the bid process, the service only resume on 1 November 2013

The following table depicts the names of the service providers and the implementation areas within which they are contracted:

Health Risk Manager	Implementation Area
Alexander Forbes Health	Cluster 1 of National Departments Cluster 2 of National Departments Provincial Administration of the Western Cape
Pro Active Health Solutions	Provincial Administration of Gauteng Provincial Administration of Limpopo Provincial Administration of the Northern Cape
Metropolitan Health Risk Management	Dormant member, but has been contracted to dispense of the stockpiled applications for the public service.
Soma Initiative	Cluster 3 of National Departments Cluster 4 of National Departments Provincial Administration of the Eastern Cape Provincial Administration of Mpumalanga Provincial Administration of North West
Thandile Health Risk Management	Provincial Administration of the Free State Provincial Administration of Kwazulu-Natal

(3) The Policy and Procedure on Incapacity Leave and Ill-health retirement and contracts entered into with the Health Risk Managers does not provide a definition of a concept such as a “backlog application”.

However, during the period of the Northern Gauteng High Court interdict from 31 December 2012 to 30 October 2013, at which the implementation of PILIR was suspended, incapacity leave and ill-health retirement applications begun to stockpile.

A summary of the stockpiled applications as recorded on the special codes created on PERSAL for this purpose are depicted in the table below. As indicated earlier, Metropolitan Health Risk Management has been contracted to assess the stockpiled applications and it is anticipated that this process will be completed by 31 March 2016.

Implementation Area	Department	Incapacity Leave	Ill-health Retirement
North West Provincial Administration
	NORTH WEST OFFICE OF THE PREMIER	3
	NORTH WEST PUBLIC WORKS ROADS AND TRANSPORT	167	6
	NORTH WEST AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT	65
	NORTH WEST HEALTH	555	1
	NORTH WEST SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	7
	NORTH WEST SPORT ARTS AND CULTURE	18
	NORTH WEST PUBLIC SAFETY	77
	NORTH WEST EDUCATION	311
	NORTH WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIR	28
	Total	1231	7
Gauteng Provincial Administration	GAUTENG INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT	1
	GAUTENG SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	49	1
	GAUTENG COMMUNITY SAFETY	3
	GAUTENG DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH	699	2
	GAUTENG DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE	7
	GAUTENG EDUCATION	1295
	DEEDS REGISTRATION TRADING ACCOUNT	14
	Total	2068	3
National Departments Cluster 1
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES	1219	1
	Total	1219	1
National Departments Cluster 2	NAT DEPT JUSTICE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT	1066	9
	OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION	3
	INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION	65
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR	152
	GOVERNMENT PENSIONS ADMINISTRATION AGENCY	47
	PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION	2
	NATIONAL DEPT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION	5
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY	25
	INDEPENDENT POLICE INVESTIGATIVE DIRECTORATE	1
	PUBLIC ADMIN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ACADEMY	4
	Total	1370	9
National Departments Cluster 3	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY	32
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS	34
	DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FORESTRY AND FISHERIES	5
	STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA	52
	DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY	11
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT ARTS AND CULTURE	2
	Total	136	0
National Departments Cluster 4	DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	9
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS	5
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS	309
	NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS	23	3
	DEPT GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS AND INFO SYSTEMS	18
	RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM	40
	DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING	15
	DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION	46
	NATIONAL DEPT OF SPORT AND RECREATION SOUTH AFRICA	7
	NATIONAL TREASURY	8
	NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY	230
	THE PRESIDENCY	9
	Total	719	3
Mpumalanga Provincial Administration	MPUMALANGA DEPT OF PUBLIC WORKS ROADS AND TRANSPOR	46
	MPUMALANGA AGRICULTURE RURAL DEV AND LAND ADMIN	5
	MPUMALANGA EDUCATION	190
	MPUMALANGA HEALTH	276	3
	Total	517	3
Limpopo Provincial Administration	LIMPOPO PROVINCE PROVINCIAL TREASURY	10
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE SPORT ARTS AND CULTURE	14
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER	11
	LIMPOPO PROV ECONOMIC DEVELOP ENVIRONMENT TOURISM	24
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE HEALTH	9
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE DEPARTMENT OF ROADS AND TRANSPORT	136	2
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE PUBLIC WORKS	99
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE EDUCATION	553
	LIMPOPO PROVINCE AGRICULTURE	114	4
	LIMPOPO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	44
	Total	810	6
Free State Provincial Administration	FREE STATE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER	9
	FREE STATE ECONOMIC DEV TOURISM AND ENVIRON AFF	25
	FREE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PROVINCIAL TREASURY	17
	FREE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH	720
	FREE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION	729
	FREE STATE DEPART OF POLICE ROADS AND TRANSPORT	10	2
	FREE STATE SPORT ARTS CULTURE AND RECREATION	14
	FREE STATE GOVERNMENT MOTOR TRANSPORT TRADING ACC	1
	FREE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE	25
	Total	1550	2
Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Administration	KZN PROV GOV AGRICULTURE ENVIRONMENT AFF RURAL DEV	110
	KZN PROV GOV EDUCATION	939
	KZN PROV GOV: HEALTH	3962	3
	KZN PROV GOV ARTS AND CULTURE	25
	KZN PROV GOV SPORT AND RECREATION	4
	KZN PROV GOV HUMAN SETTLEMENTS	42
	KZN PROV GOV: TRANSPORT	79
	KZN PROV GOV SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	85
	KZN PROV GOV PUBLIC WORKS	158
	KZN PROV GOV PREMIER	9
	KZN PROV GOV PROVINCIAL TREASURY	13
	KZN PROV GOV ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM	2
	Total	5428	3
Western Cape Provincial Administration	WC Education	854	2
	DEPT OF TRANSPORT AND PUBLIC WORKS	29
	DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH	402
	DEPARTMENT:LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING	14
	PROVINCIAL TREASURY: WESTERN CAPE	7
	WESTERN CAPE SOCIAL SERVICES: HEAD OFFICE	51
	DPT ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING	7
	DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SAFETY	52
	Office of the Premier	16
	DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: WESTERN CAPE	14
	DEPARTMENT CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND SPORT	11
Northern Cape Provincial Administration	Total	1457	2
	NORTHERN CAPE: FINANCE	3	1
	NORTHERN CAPE: PREMIER	2
	NORTHERN CAPE: Education	182
	NORTHERN CAPE: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT	17
	NORTHERN CAPE: SPORT ARTS AND CULTURE	8
	NORTHERN CAPE: Health	19	3
	NORTHERN CAPE: DEP OF SOCIAL SERVICES & POPULATION	17
	NORTHERN CAPE TOURISM ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSERVATI	2
	Total	250	4
Eastern Cape Provincial Administration	OFFICE OF THE PREMIER	32
	Health	16
	SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	1
	ROADS AND PUBLIC WORKS	71
	EDUCATION	790
	LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS	22
	RURAL DEV. AND AGRARIAN REFORM	29
	ECONOMIC AFFAIRS	22	2
	TRANSPORT	69
	DEPT OF FINANCE AND PROV EXPENDITURE	2
	SAFETY AND LIAISON	5
	Total	1059	2
	Grand Total	17814	45

Source: Cases recorded by departments on special register created on PERSAL for stockpiled applications.

(4) The matter of Mahaye v Department of Education (case number PSCB450-10/11) is sub judice since applications for review was brought before the Labour Appeal Court. Therefore details on the matter cannot be disclosed at this point.

Reply:

1. The Public Service Commission (PSC) on an annual basis identifies key areas to be investigated, monitored and evaluated both at national and provincial level. Due to financial and human resource capacity constraints, the scope of projects does not comprise the entire Public Service. Provincially Based Commissioners identify projects to be undertaken in each Province, which is the case with regard to the skills and competency audit of human resource and financial management of senior managers in the Western Cape.

(2) (a) The audit included senior managers (levels 13 and above) from the Western Cape Provincial Administration.

(b) The findings indicated that senior HR managers have improved their components in terms of competence, teamwork, morale and most notably increased efficiencies, compliance and service delivery through streamlined processes. The areas of development identified include the need to enhance on knowledge management within the HR function and strategic capability and leadership.

Finance managers were highly regarded in terms of attention to detail, continuous scoping and analysis of the policy environment, as well as the manner in which most help staff improve competence add value within their context. Developmental areas identified for this group include enhanced interpersonal competencies, especially those that allow them to thrive when managing larger and more diverse teams, contribution towards service delivery innovation and managing change.

(3) The instruments developed and methodology used as part of this project can be refined and adapted for use in departments and other provinces. The project was designed to highlight the required critical skills and knowledge from Human Resource Management and Financial Management portfolios in order to assure high performance.

(4) The audit was not conducted in any other province.

(5) See point 4 above.

Reply:

The department has not engaged the services of Foresight Advisory Services (Pty) Ltd during the (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 financial years as well as since 01 April 2015.

Reply:

(1) The process on the review of the Ministerial Handbook is at advance stages of completion. The Inter-Ministerial Committee established for this purpose met on 17 November 2015 to finalise its inputs. The matter will now be submitted to the Cabinet Secretariat for further processing to the Cabinet for approval.

(2) No. The review of the Ministerial Handbook is still a work in progress. The Revised Ministerial Handbook will be made public when approved by the Cabinet. The Cabinet will also decide with regard to when the Revised Ministerial Handbook will become applicable.