Questions and Replies

Reply:

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

Department Name	2019-20	2020-21
	Amount (R)	Amount (R)
Eastern Cape Provincial Administration	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1,207,384.23	131,393.44
	Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism	511,581.59	249,209.73
	Education	18,113,853.20	13,965,584.32
	Health	829,123,891.33	922,173,581.39
	Human Settlements	183,421.78	130,867.37
	Office of the Premier	959,684.20	155,510.05
	Provincial Treasury	65,511.58	5,302.19
	Roads and Public Works	1,876,901.37	537,655.44
	Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	4,583,294.67	3,966,340.06
	Safety and Liaison	956,381.49	191,975.32
	Social Development	3,258,168.59	1,348,584.50
	Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture	971,988.92	29,116.44
	Transport	39,490,326.66	44,816,427.05
Free State Provincial Administration	Agriculture	1,406,881.16	1,517,070.60
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	27,482.18	326,724.86
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	3,686,637.87	1,145,811.34
	Education	6,663,922.23	6,077,107.86
	Health	412,804,512.48	448,065,887.45
	Human Settlements	919,669.23	282,820.62
	Office of the Premier	5,841.27	28,560.38
	Police, Roads and Transport	26,522,898.56	26,223,630.44
	Provincial Treasury	193,997.36	129,203.80
	Public Works	1,261,530.82	1,371,970.70
	Social Development	9,747,433.92	6,324,314.36
	Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation	1,029,939.76	116,687.64
Gauteng Provincial Administration	Agriculture and Rural Development	3,992,205.46	836,076.84
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	280,270.04	954,484.62
	Community Safety	26,033,682.97	77,501,930.44
	E-Government	4,989,355.16	6,067,932.15
	Economic Development	14,159.93	40,695.39
	Education	21,995,472.75	24,786,642.54
	Health	2,435,543,294.00	2,763,210,382.50
	Human Settlements	129,667.01	58,370.18
	Infrastructure Development	28,723,049.87	29,295,939.15
	Office of the Premier	713,338.14	2,973,302.02
	Provincial Treasury	441,709.44	256,062.17
	Roads and Transport	2,286,377.10	8,877,497.13
	Social Development	1,435,832.52	1,268,506.95
	Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation	6,240,455.90	706,086.43
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Administration	Agriculture and Rural Development	7,863,906.28	8,384,542.17
	Arts and Culture	221,106.35	11,173.32
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1,130,739.09	563,901.35
	Community Safety and Liaison	260,549.36
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	1,150,064.72	648,309.55
	Education	45,741,563.54	42,181,719.06
	Finance	1,374,313.87	615,340.64
	Health	1,443,466,029.40	1,651,250,447.20
	Human Settlements	1,753,104.14	487,113.17
	Office of the Premier	1,133,266.41	1,083,368.74
	Public Works	1,273,475.07	671,446.33
	Social Development	4,797,599.77	6,104,190.08
	Sport and Recreation	3,602,378.24	1,135,364.42
	Transport	120,146,901.38	114,084,581.30
Limpopo Provincial Administration	Agriculture and Rural Development	10,515,966.75	2,981,688.70
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	4,358,545.18	1,093,578.77
	Community Safety	88,452.17
	Economic Development, Environment and Tourism	21,306,916.98	17,419,216.45
	Education	21,490,655.33	12,084,855.07
	Health	912,828,046.45	834,820,747.92
	Office of the Premier	2,626,255.86	207,299.01
	Provincial Treasury	61,181.02	83,157.58
	Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure	5,185,352.43	1,313,613.05
	Social Development	644,331.84	171,781.02
	Sport, Arts and Culture	381,760.10	19,709.53
	Transport and Community Safety	134,489,211.93	118,715,430.12
Mpumalanga Provincial Administration	Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	2,512,911.27	1,108,970.79
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	535,146.73	448,455.16
	Community Safety, Security and Liaison	21,406,246.29	27,837,333.02
	Culture, Sport and Recreation	3,558,405.69	1,892,291.27
	Economic Development and Tourism	786,429.45	8,047.20
	Education	9,496,317.00	10,047,619.84
	Health	425,888,487.00	495,675,959.89
	Human Settlements	2,742,950.17	1,418,061.16
	Office of the Premier	689,522.46	502,770.65
	Provincial Treasury	867,846.68	62,664.65
	Public Works, Roads and Transport	25,012,772.13	28,574,276.03
	Social Development	1,779,451.45	13,441,056.28
North West Provincial Administration	Agriculture and Rural Development	2,926,869.15	3,070,211.19
	Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation	280,463.39	496,449.11
	Community Safety and Transport Management	48,715,985.02	40,785,276.66
	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1,154,554.32	1,826,152.58
	Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism	815,951.62	509,190.39
	Education	12,774,961.63	7,752,329.84
	Health	493,620,723.57	648,705,462.33
	Human Settlements		29,555.38
	Office of the Premier	916,062.45	1,049,945.94
	Provincial Treasury	3,060,051.70	1,629,648.73
	Public Works and Roads	14,270,996.60	5,642,349.40
	Social Development	1,116,656.03	1,731,924.82
Northern Cape Provincial Administration	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	1,419,518.86	751,237.42
	Education	4,511,565.10	3,364,596.93
	Environment and Nature Conservation	461,153.72	170,158.66
	Health	189,446,067.37	223,175,196.17
	Office of the Premier	891,074.34	549,628.18
	Provincial Treasury	64,866.20
	Roads and Public Works	1,556,828.92	419,632.24
	Social Development	193,823.21	193,274.31
	Transport, Safety and Liaison	1,630,716.95	3,176,554.74
Western Cape Provincial Administration	Agriculture	3,802,633.61	2,770,686.47
	Community Safety	1,857,729.80	1,460,201.91
	Cultural Affairs and Sport	1,686,526.30	135,725.04
	Economic Development and Tourism	131,377.14	174,957.97
	Education	11,463,379.32	5,749,486.77
	Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	326,097.58	63,502.19
	Health	1,157,736,241.00	1,243,312,634.20
	Human Settlements	5,295,675.96	1,742,808.98
	Local Government	943,099.21	851,712.07
	Provincial Treasury	669,139.26	389,753.04
	Social Development	8,378,531.97	9,032,576.23
	Department of the Premier	3,517,839.63	1,247,110.44
	Transport and Public Works	12,378,007.36	9,447,650.95
National Departments	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	17,779,803.32
	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	80,389,519.07	40,098,966.40
	Basic Education	7,897,621.06	5,681,828.67
	Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service	794,037.21	400,803.16
	Communications	541,647.64
	Communications and Digital Technologies	639,577.01	138,099.45
	Cooperative Governance	4,412,709.39	4,270,256.25
	Correctional Services	193,914,775.91	211,578,343.23
	Economic Development	280,232.85
	Employment and Labour	55,125,049.13	53,047,865.35
	Energy	612,460.36
	Environment, Forestry and Fisheries	10,565,727.39	12,219,404.08
	Government Communication and Information System	2,950,394.84	702,593.22
	Health	20,001,395.84	25,895,317.01
	Higher Education and Training	16,976,257.16	9,595,677.26
	Home Affairs	85,684,534.47	50,468,033.79
	Human Settlements	2,257,343.29	1,731,822.84
	Independent Police Investigative Directorate	1,816,320.14	1,339,076.49
	International Relations and Cooperation	11,755,886.85	8,905,729.97
	Justice and Constitutional Development	18,089,042.44	9,119,949.42
	Military Veterans	1,804,463.19	917,236.95
	Mineral Resources and Energy	4,878,887.82	2,823,676.98
	National School of Government	225,216.84	14,284.23
	National Treasury	16,347,923.84	3,179,421.72
	Office of the Chief Justice	2,194,424.04	856,071.81
	Office of the Public Service Commission	380,286.14	118,374.03
	Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	1,099,056.25	408,591.27
	Police	1,058,957,936.40	703,439,233.53
	Public Enterprises	633,577.65	54,097.31
	Public Service and Administration	1,182,159.50	941,606.03
	Public Works and Infrastructure	41,830,007.47	22,785,119.14
	Science and Innovation	634,812.48	176,458.79
	Small Business Development	258,870.39	80,442.36
	Social Development	3,978,318.46	5,318,308.53
	Sport and Recreation South Africa	740,229.15
	Sport, Arts and Culture	2,211,959.45	1,123,723.21
	Statistics South Africa	1,750,411.32	1,208,001.54
	The Presidency	11,214,516.50	4,723,079.39
	Tourism	711,130.74	1,497,175.97
	Trade, Industry and Competition	1,058,217.03	282,276.81
	Traditional Affairs	550,756.28	23,888.86
	Transport	3,285,644.20	2,572,738.80
	Water and Sanitation	33,960,826.74	31,247,215.11
	Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities	190,896.72	44,683.56

Data Source: PERSAL

Compile by the DPSA

Excludes Defence and the State Security Agency

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

1. Not applicable
2. Not applicable

End

Reply:

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

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

(c) The successes of the unit:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

b) Not applicable

c) (i) & (ii) Not applicable

End

Reply:

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

End

Reply:

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

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

National/Provincial department
Provincial	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
	Correctional Services
	Higher Education and Training
	Justice and Constitutional Development
	Science and Innovation
	Social Development
	Trade, Industry and Competition
Eastern Cape	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
	Office of the Premier
	Provincial Treasury
Free State	Social Development
Gauteng	Education
	Health
KwaZulu-Natal	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
	Education
	Health
	Transport
Mpumalanga	Culture, Sport and Recreation
	Health
	Public Works, Roads and Transport
North West	Education
	Health
Northern Cape	Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural
	Development and Land Reform
	Economic Development and Tourism
	Education
	Health
	Roads and Public Works
Western Cape	Health

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

(aa)

(bb)

(cc)

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

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

End

Reply:

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

2. Not applicable.

End

Reply:

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

End

Reply:

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

(bb) Acting Heads of Department – 25.

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

National Departments	Post vacant date	Duration vacant (months)
Department of Social Development	2017-05-31	43
Department of Water and Sanitation	2017-11-30	37
Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	2020-10-31	2
Department of Military Veterans	2018-06-15	31
Small Business Development	2018-09-30	27
The Presidency	2020-08-31	4
Communication and Digital Technologies	2020-06-30	6
State Security Agency	2018-04-30	33
Provincial Department	Post vacant date	Duration vacant (months)
North West Office of the Premier	2019-04-30	20

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

Province	Provincial Department	Post vacant date	Duration vacant (months)
KZN	Provincial Treasury	2020-06-30	6
	Transport	2020-04-30	8
Northern Cape	Provincial Treasury	2014-10-31	74
	Education	2020-08-31	4
	Roads and Public Works	2020-07-31	7
	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	2019-10-31	14
	Environment and Nature Conservation	2020-02-01	11
	Economic Development and Tourism	2014-10-31	74
	Health	2020-02-28	10
Eastern Cape	Health	2020-09-30	3
	Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	2018-09-30	27
Mpumalanga	Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	2018-05-31	31
	Public Works, Roads and Transport	2019-10-31	14
	Economic Development and Tourism	2014-10-31	74
	Education	2019-08-31	16
	Health	2013-06-01	90
	Cooperative Governance	2020-02-29	10
Gauteng	Community Safety	2020-02-29	10
	Health	2020-10-01	3
	Economic Development	2020-11-30	1
Limpopo	Education	2020-01-31	11
	Social Development	2020-05-01	8
North West	Agriculture and Rural Development	2020-10-01	3
	Health	2020-01-13	12
	Social Development	2018-11-30	26

Reply:

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

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

Annexure 1: Building Governance Capacity for South Africa

Annexure 2: Economic Governance

Annexure 3: Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development

 

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

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

b. (i) Zero (0);

(ii) Not applicable.

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

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

b) Not applicable.

c) Not applicable.

d) Not applicable.

End

Reply:

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

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

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

 

Number of Public Servants that retired early by department from 27 March 2020
National/Provincial department	Total
Total	4,884
Eastern Cape	Total	322
	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	8
	Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism	2
	Education	215
	Health	54
	Office of the Premier	3
	Provincial Treasury	4
	Roads and Public works	6
	Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	20
	Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture	2
	Transport	8
Free State	Total	135
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	3
	Education	105
	Health	10
	Police, Roads and Transport	7
	Social Development	10
Gauteng	Total	207
	Agriculture and Rural Development	1
	Economic Development	4
	Education	87
	Health	107
	Human Settlements	6
	Social Development	2
KwaZulu-Natal	Total	502
	Agriculture and Rural Development	15
	Arts and Culture	1
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	2
	Education	368
	Health	101
	Office of the Premier	2
	Public Works	2
	Social Development	3
	Transport	8
Limpopo	Total	360
	Agriculture and Rural Development	5
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	5
	Economic Development, Environment and Tourism	1
	Education	283
	Health	48
	Office of the Premier	1
	Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure	11
	Social Development	3
	Transport and Community Safety	3

Mpumalanga	Total	139
	Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	5
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1
	Community Safety, Security and Liaison	1
	Culture, Sport and Recreation	2
	Education	93
	Health	28
	Provincial Treasury	2
	Public Works, Roads and Transport	7
National	Total	2,879
	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	30
	Basic Education	4
	Correctional Services	382
	Employment and Labour	7
	Energy	2
	Environment, Forestry and Fisheries	1
	Government Communication and Information System	2
	Health	2
	Higher Education and Training	110
	Home Affairs	36
	Human Settlements	2
	International Relations and Cooperation	8
	Justice and Constitutional Development	45
	Military Veterans	2
	Mineral Resources and Energy	4
	National Treasury	9
	Office of the Chief Justice	9
	Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	2
	Police	2,127
	Public Service and Administration	2
	Public Works and Infrastructure	44
	Social Development	1
	Sport, Arts and Culture	4
	Statistics South Africa	3
	Water and Sanitation	41

North West	Total	106
	Agriculture and Rural Development	1
	Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation	3
	Community Safety and Transport Management	4
	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	2
	Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism	1
	Education	69
	Health	20
	Provincial Treasury	1
	Public Works and Roads	5
Northern Cape	Total	34
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	1
	Education	26
	Health	4
	Roads and Public Works	1
	Social Development	1
	Sport, Arts and Culture	1
Western Cape	Total	200
	Agriculture	1
	Community Safety	1
	Cultural Affairs and Sport	1
	Education	119
	Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	2
	Health	60
	Provincial Treasury	7
	Social Development	6
	The Premier	3

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

b) N/A

c) N/A

End

Reply:

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

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

No	Name of Departments	Performance bonus paid	Achievement of APP targets
Directors-General
1	Higher Education and Training	R155,942.16	95%
2	The Presidency	R90,369.00	80%
3	Northern Cape: Office of the Premier	R248,131,95*	99%
4	Western Cape: Office of the Premier	R120,492.00	92%
GRAND TOTAL	R614 935,11

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

End

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End

Reply:

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

End

Reply:

a) According to information from PERSAL as at 15th February 2021, there are currently a total of 9477 Senior Managers employed in the Public Service. Out of this total, 3301 members do not have the required qualifications. However it needs to be stated that many Departments do not capture the qualification information on PERSAL and therefore the information in the tables below are skewed. The information also excludes the Department of Defence and State Security Agency.

b) A total of 5447 SMS members are employed in the National departments, 1987 of them do not have the required qualifications. These are from the following departments :

(i) NATIONAL

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	227
Arts and Culture	1
Basic Education	5
Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service	11
Communication and Digital Technologies	17
Cooperative Governance	34
Correctional Services	67
Education	1
Employment and Labour	79
Environment, Forestry and Fisheries	107
Government Communication and Information System	8
Health	56
Higher Education and Training	52
Home Affairs	56
Human Settlement	46
Independent Police Investigative Directorate	9
International Relations and Cooperation	81
Justice and Constitutional Development	189
Military Veterans	4
Mineral Resources and Energy	31
National School of Government	10
National Treasury	64
Office of the Chief Justice	10
Office of the Public Service Commission	15
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	16
Police	228
Public Enterprises	22
Public Service and Administration	32
Public Works and Infrastructure	67
Science and Innovation	44
Small Business Development	15
Social Development	39
Sports, Arts and Culture	22
Statistics South Africa	24
The Presidency	17
Tourism	23
Trade, Industry and Competition	128
Traditional Affairs	7
Transport	25
Water and Sanitation	78
Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities	20
TOTAL	1987

(ii) Out of a total of 4028 Senior Managers who are currently employed at various provincial government department, 1314 of them do not have the required qualifications as described by the aforementioned Directive and they are from the following departments in the following provinces:

EASTERN CAPE

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	12
Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism	17
Education	25
Health	47
Human Settlement	14
Office of the Premier	5
Provincial Treasury	1
Roads and Public Works	8
Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	15
Safety and Liaison	1
Social Development	15
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture	12
Transport	13
TOTAL	185

FREE STATE

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture	18
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	12
Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	8
Education	14
Health	19
Human Settlement	3
Office of the Premier	7
Police, Roads and Transport	15
Provincial Treasury	6
Public Works	9
Social Development	12
Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation	4
TOTAL	127

GAUTENG

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture and Rural Development	25
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	14
Community Safety	8
E-Government	26
Economic Development	14
Education	42
Health	57
Human Settlement	25
Infrastructure Development	31
Office of the Premier	34
Provincial Treasury	36
Roads and Transport	31
Social Development	22
Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation	16
TOTAL	381

KWAZULU-NATAL

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture and Rural Development	4
Arts and Culture	7
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	17
Community Safety and Liaison	6
Economic Development , Tourism and Environmental Affairs	25
Education	42
Finance	23
Health	28
Human Settlement	8
Office of the Premier	29
Public Works	11
Social Development	16
Sports and Recreation	6
Transport	24
TOTAL	246

LIMPOPO

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture and Rural Development	6
Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs	17
Economic Development, Environment and Tourism	19
Education	23
Health	46
Office of the Premier	6
Provincial Treasury	3
Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure	12
Social Development	4
Sports, Arts and Culture	5
Transport and Community Safety	13
TOTAL	154

MPUMALANGA

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	6
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	5
Community Safety, Security and Liaison	5
Culture, Sports and Recreation	3
Economic Development and Tourism	9
Education	15
Health	31
Human Settlement	15
Office of the Premier	7
Provincial Treasury	11
Public Works, Roads and Transport	16
Social Development	8
TOTAL	131

NORTH WEST

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture and Rural Development	0
Arts, Culture, Spots and Recreation	0
Community Safety and Transport Management	7
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1
Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism	3
Education	0
Health	6
Human Settlement	0
Justice and Constitutional Development	1
Office of the Premier	5
Provincial Treasury	0
Public Works and Roads	2
Social Development	2
TOTAL	27

NORTHERN CAPE

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	1
Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs	1
Economic Development and Tourism	1
Education	4
Environment and Nature Conservation	0
Health	3
Office of the Premier	3
Provincial Treasury	1
Roads and Public Works	0
Social Development	3
Sport, Arts and Culture	0
Transport, Safety and Liaison	1
TOTAL	18

WESTERN CAPE

Name of Department	Number of SMS Members with qualifications below NQF Level 7/ Not captured
Agriculture	0
Community Safety	0
Cultural Affairs and Sport	0
Economic Development and Tourism	4
Education	4
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	6
Health	9
Human Settlement	2
Local Government	2
Provincial Treasury	3
Social Development	5
The Premier	5
Transport and Public Works	5
TOTAL	45

(c) In order to rectify this situation, a Directive on Compulsory Capacity Development, Mandatory Training Days and Minimum Entry Requirements for SMS was issued to departments with effect from 1 April 2017, as determined in terms of Section 3(2) of the Public Service Act as Amended by MPSA. The Objectives of the Directive are:

1. To promote continuous professional development of members of the SMS;
2. To ensure that training on identified skills gap is implemented in departments;
3. To ensure that compulsory training programmes aimed at addressing the developmental needs of senior managers within the Public Service have been identified;
4. To promote and encourage SMS members to be trained in a structured manner;
5. To promote minimum entry requirements for appointment into the SMS through obtaining a compulsory Public Service specific qualification;
6. To achieve a highly competent SMS cadre; and
7. To strengthen the recruitment process at SMS level, inter-alia.

It is therefore, compulsory for the identified development needs of SMS members to be reflected in their Performance Agreements as Personal Development Plans. Departments must ensure that such developmental needs are addressed through ensuring that sufficient funding is made available for such interventions.

End

Reply:

The total number of public servants absent since the Adjusted Level 3 Lockdown as from 29 December 2020 amounts to 322 818. The statistics as provided are up to and inclusive of 31 January 2021 (the latest date for which information is available). The figure is made up of employees utilising approved leave as provided for in the Public Service prescripts and as set out in the table underneath. It is important to note that when an employee is counted, it does not mean that the employee was on leave for the full period, e.g. 29 December 2020 to 31 January 2021. This means the person was on leave within the period indicated. Further, the person may have been on leave on more than one occasion in the period. In accordance with the leave provisions in the Public Service it is incumbent on employees to apply for leave and obtain approval prior to taking leave.

LEAVE TAKEN AS FROM 29 DECEMBER 2020 TO 31 JANUARY 2021
Leave Category	Number Of Employees
Adoption	7
Family Responsibility	13 307
Leave Without Pay	929
Maternity	1 513
Occupational Injuries/Diseases	406
Paternity	272
Permanent Incapacity Leave	28
Pre-Natal	632
Shop Steward/Office Bearer	90
Sick-Full Pay	48 576
Special	13 518
Temporary Incapacity Leave	198
Vacation - Full Pay)	243 342
Total	322 818

End

Reply:

a) The number of employees found to be possibly conducting business with the State was 482 at the end of February 2021, with eight (8) employees reported to be conducting business with the State in an official capacity (thus, having been appointed by a competent authority, as allowed in terms of Public Service Regulations, 2016, regulations 13(c)).

	A	D
	Departments	Number of Public Servants listed on CSD conducting business with an organ of state as at end of January 2021
1	KwaZulu-Natal	39
2	Gauteng	42
3	North West	13
4	Eastern Cape	71
5	Limpopo	41
6	Mpumalanga	43
7	Free State	25
8	Northern Cape	72
9	Western Cape	18
	Total Provincial Departments	364
	Total National Departments	126
	Grand Total	482 (8 in official capacity)

b) The specified:

(i) Employees disciplined:

Referred for disciplinary hearings	37 cases in the South African Police Service (SAPS); One (1) case in the Department of Social Development; Five (5) cases in the Department of Employment and Labour; and 11 cases in the Northern Cape Department of Health.
Outcome of disciplinary hearing	One (1) employee was suspended for three months without pay at the Department of Employment and Labour.
Criminal charges introduced	12 cases were referred for criminal charges in the SAPS.

(ii) hearings resulted in the dismissal of employees: To date there are no employees who were reported to be dismissed from their respective departments due to involvement in the conducting of business with the State.

End

Reply:

The NSG is one of the entities that reports to the Minister for Public Service and Administration and has its own premises that it leases from DPWI (PIC) situated at ZK Matthews, Trevenna Bld, 70 Meintjies street Sunnyside PRETORIA and utilise the following security firms.

(i) Name of the Company	(ii) Purpose	(iii) Contract Value	(iv) Duration of the contract
Phuthadichaba Trading Enterprise cc (Reg 2003/034074/23)	To provide physical security services to safeguard NSG personnel and property	R 17, 538, 566,28	Five (5) years (01 November 2018 – 31 October 2023)
Vox Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd (Reg 2011/000797/07)	To provide management and maintenance service for CCTV surveillance, Access Control and Intruder Alarm System	R2,128,829.36	36 months (01 January 2020-31 December 2023)

REPLY: PSC

The Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) has appointed private security firms for four Provincial Offices as set out in the table below:

i) Name of service provider	ii)Purpose	iii) Value	iv) Duration of each contract
Tyeks Security Services	Alarm Monitoring and Guard Services (day and night) for the Eastern Cape Provincial Office	R614 477.76	01 November 2019 to 31 October 2021
Divergent OPS (Pty) Ltd	Alarm Monitoring for the Mpumalanga Provincial Office	R40 986.00	01 March 2020 to 28 February 2022
National Security and Fire	Alarm Monitoring for the Limpopo Provincial Office	R44 683.35	01 November 2019 to 31 October 2022
Defensor Electronic Security System	Alarm Monitoring for the Free State Provincial Office	R11 098.41	01 October 2020 to 30 September 2021

REPLY: DPSA

a) Yes

Department of Public Service and Administration:

1. Jackcliffy Trading Cc
2. Security guarding services during week days, weekends, Public Holidays and nightshift.
3. R2 589 998.80
4. Two year contract

b) Thusong Service Centre

1. Masutha Training & Security Services (Pty) Ltd
2. Security Guarding Services during week days and on Saturday only.
3. R4 524 399.72
4. Three year contract

REPLY: CPSI

a) The CPSI does not make use of private security firms. The organisation has 3 permanently employed Security Officers on the staff establishment.

(i) N/A

(ii) N/A

(iii) NA

(iv) N/A

End

Reply:

(1) (a) At national government, the average vacancy rate is 9%.

(b) At provincial government, the average vacancy rate is 12%.

Disaggregation per department is as per the attached Excel Spreadsheet.

(2) The vacancy rate does impact negatively on service delivery and this is not unique to the Public Service. Posts that remain unfilled do have an impact on the operational efficiency of an organisation. The average vacancy rate in the Public Service is approximately 12% which is above the set 10% target. The Department of Public Service and Administration monitors the vacancy rate and communicates with departments on the urgent need to fill vacant posts.

The Minister for the Public Service and Administration has addressed FOSAD on this matter and the Director-General of the Department of Public Service and Administration has presented the compliance report regarding the vacancy rate. Presentations made to FOSAD as well as the GSCID Cluster articulate the impact of vacant posts on service delivery and the non-compliance with legal prescripts, norms and standards on the filling of vacant posts.

The 2020/21 APP highlights Annual Compliance Report as one of the deliverables. This report identifies areas of compliance and non-compliance and most importantly, design technical intervention measures to support struggling departments. A partnership is being sought with the Auditor-General of South Africa to include vacancy management in the areas being audited as part of elevating the matter.

REPLY ORIGINATOR

Name: Mr M Wilson

Designation: Acting Deputy Director-General: Human Resource Management Development

Contacts: 082 903 0552

Recommended / Not recommended

Recommended / Not recommended

_________________

Ms Yoliswa Makhasi

Director-General: Department of Public Service and Administration

Date:

Recommended / Not Recommended

______________________

Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga, MP

Deputy Minister for the Public Service and Administration

Date:

Approved/ Not approved

____________________

Mr Senzo Mchunu, MP

Minister for the Public Service and Administration

Date:

Reply:

(1) (a) The total number of Directors-General in national departments who are currently acting is ten (10).

(b) National Departments with acting Directors-General:

1. Department of Social Development
2. Department of Water and Sanitation
3. Department of Military Veterans
4. Small Business Development
5. The Presidency
6. Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
7. Communication and Digital Technologies
8. State Security Agency
9. International Relations and Cooperation
10. Office of the Public Service Commission

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

(a&b) The names of the acting Directors-General and the Departments in which they are acting:

1. Department of Social Development: Mr L Mchunu
2. Department of Water and Sanitation: Mr T Belzar
3. Department of Military Veterans: Mr DM Mgwebi
4. Small Business Development: Mr L Mkhumane
5. The Presidency: Ms L Mxenge
6. Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
7. Communication and Digital Technologies: Ms N Jordan-Dyani
8. State Security Agency: Mr L Jafta
9. International Relations and Cooperation: Nonceba Losi
10. Office of the Public Service Commission: Ms IL Mathenjwa

End

Reply:

1. Yes, the DPSA has mechanisms to ensure Batho Pele principles are entrenched in the Public Service.

Chapter 10 of the Constitution mandates the MPSA to ensure professionalization of the Public Service with high standards of the professional ethics. To this effect, MPSA launched the Public Service Professionalization Consultation Process led by the National School of Government.

The Public Service Act 1994 empowers the MPSA to ensure transformation, reform, innovation as well as any other matters that improves the efficacy of the Public Service. Policy Frameworks such as The White Paper on Transformation of the Public Service (1995), The White Paper on Transforming the Public Service Delivery (1997) are central to the implementation of the Batho Pele Principles approach in the public service.

2. Amongst others, mechanisms to ensure Batho Pele principles are entrenched in the Public Service are:-

2.1. Public Service Charter (2013) which accelerates the Batho Pele policy as a social contract between the Public Service and organised labour in ensuring quality services to the citizenry.

2.2. National Batho Pele Forums consisting of both national and provincial departments coordinators.

2.3. Implementation of the “Khaedu” programme that is centred on the deployment of Senior Members Service employees to various frontline government department to monitor, ensure compliance and redress of the delivery of services to the people.

2.4. National Batho Pele Excellence Awards is one of the key mechanism that the DPSA host annually to celebrate those employees who has mastered the implementation of the Batho Pele principles.

3. Impact of the specified measures and/or mechanisms on the public service and its ability to deliver services to our people

3.1. The Department host the Integrated Government-Wide Public Service Month in September annually to lead the entire government in assessing the impact of public service delivery in line with the Batho Pele principles.

3.2. The major impact was demonstrated currently during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the public servants who are working in the front line were able to deliver quality public service by living the ethos of Batho Pele principles

END

Reply:

(1) The quarterly (October 2020 to December 2020) turnover rate is 5,7%.

(2)(a) Turnover does have an impact on the delivery of services however there when a Head of Department exits office, an official is appointed in an acting capacity for business continuity.

(b) The departmental impact is that there is a required transition period in which the acting official needs to be briefed on the deliverables of a department to manage the responsibilities whilst in an acting capacity.

Regarding mechanisms, research has been undertaken on the turnover of Heads of Department and includes recommendations on their retention. The recommendations are to be presented to Cabinet once finalised.

End

Reply:

The National School of Government reporting to the Minister of Department of Public Service and Administration

(a) Spent a total amount of R15,089,360.38 on consultants for the period between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. It should be noted that whilst the details below are reflected as payments to consultants, they do not necessarily represent the outsourcing of services for which the NSG employs people to render. For example, internal audit services are outsourced hence they appear below, inclusive of fees paid to external members of the audit committee.

Further, it should be noted that the NSG operates a Training Management IT

system which requires specialists to manage linked to the term of the contract of the software solution. Also included are the services of a temporary nurse who was contracted to provide screening services for COVID-19. Finally, we also reflect fees paid to independent contractors who are an extension of training arm. Money paid to these independent training contractors are recovered through the training fees charged to learners.

i.e. 2019/20 – 01 January 2020 – 31 March 2020 = R 9 667 710,85

2020/21 – 01 April 2020 – 31 December 2020 = R 5 421 649,53

(b) Relevant details: IT Related – Outsourced services

(i) Name of Consultant	(ii) Work done	(iii) Amount paid	2019/20 January – March 2020	2020/21 April – December 2020
The Training Room online	Management of the Moodle eLearning platform	R1,467,226.18	R290,151.17	R1,177,075.01
Esoftware Solutions	Management of the Training Management System	R736,894.16	R383,523.86	R353,370.30
Bytes System Integration	Outsourced ICT services	R2,021,343.81	R500,656.89	R1,520,686.92

(b) Relevant details: Professional Services

(i) Name of Consultant	(ii) Work done	(iii) Amount paid	2019/20 January – March 2020	2020/21 April – December 2020
Lunika Incorporated	Internal auditing services	R587,867.36	R222,701.39	R365,165.97
Nkosi	Audit Committee Member	R39,861.00	R12,978.00	R26,883.00
Peense	Audit Committee Member	R81,576.00	R81,576.00	R0.00
Shikwane	Audit Committee Member	R54,721.00	R54,721.00	R0.00
Van Der Nest	Audit Committee Member	R12,978.00	R12,978.00	R0.00

(b) Relevant details: Research

(i) Name of Consultant	(ii) Work done	(iii) Amount paid	2019/20 January – March 2020	2020/21 April – December 2020
Blue Oceans Information Solution	Research and Development Consultants	R338,100.00	R0.00	R338,100.00
De Waal Research	Research and Development Consultants	R18,960.00	R0.00	R18,960.00
Kula Development and Business	Research and Development Consultants	R149,130.00	R0.00	R149,130.00
Lokisa Human Development Solution	Research and Development Consultants	R21,000.00	R0.00	R21,000.00

(b) Relevant details: Nurse – Covid-19 screening

(i) Name of Consultant	(ii) Work done	(iii) Amount paid	2019/20 January – March 2020	2020/21 April – December 2020
Revolution Human Capital	Professional nurse – covid-19 screening at the department	R117,142.19	R0.00	R117,142.19

(b) Relevant details: Training related (recovered from training fees)

(i) Name of Consultant	(ii) Work done	(iii) Amount paid	2019/20 January – March 2020	2020/21 April – December 2020
Various Experts as per attached spreadsheet (attached)	Training of National and Provincial departments and Local Government	R9,387,290.68	R8,107,934.54	R1,279,356.14

(b) Relevant details: Verification Agencies

(i) Name of Consultant	(ii) Work done	(iii) Amount paid	2019/20 January – March 2020	2020/21 April – December 2020
Honeycomb Bee Rating	Verification of B-BBEE status	R51,750.00	0.00	R51,750.00
SA Qualifications Authority	Verification of qualifications	R3,520.00	R490.00	R3,030.00

End

Reply:

Introduction:

The Centralised Early Retirement initiative in 2019 was considered in response to managing the wage bill as well as a need identified for employees wishing to exit the Public Service before the official retirement age. Eligible employees must have turned 55 but not yet 60 years of age, during the financial years 2019 to 2021. National Treasury was to be approached by departments for the provision of additional funding, in cases where departments could not pay the liability attached to early retirement, on behalf of eligible employees. This meant that an employee taking early retirement would be treated as if he/she would be retiring normally. As National Treasury was providing funding for this initiative, the response to the question is based on the information supplied by National Treasury.

(1)(a)(i) The number of applications, for early retirement, received by National Treasury for processing by December 2020 from both national and provincial departments was 5 289.

(1)(a)(i)(aa) The available information is not disaggregated by departments or specific provinces. From the total number of applications for early retirement, 3 332 applications were from National Departments, and

(1)(a)(i)(bb) 1957 applications were from the Provinces.

(1)(a)(ii) 2 964 applications were recommended for funding and communicated to the respective national departments. Approval for early retirement vests with the relevant Executive Authority. The Technical Committee on Finance (TCF) decided that all applications from provincial departments be referred to the provincial Treasuries to process. The Applications from Provincial Departments were therefore processed and financed through the relevant provincial treasury.

(1)(a)(iii) all eligible applications submitted for central funding were processed and feedback provided to the relevant national departments. Each Provincial Treasury processed applications for the respective province and has such information.

(1)(b) no decision was taken not to process any eligible application made at the national level.

(1)(c) refer to (1)(b) above.

(2) Various measures are considered to better manage personnel expenditure in the Public Service. At this point in time there are no plans to re-introduce a centrally funded Early Retirement Incentive, similar to the incentive that applied in 2019. Early Retirement is regulated and is vested with the relevant Executive Authority. Nothing prohibits departments from encouraging their employees to take early retirement in terms of the current provisions. In August 2020, National Treasury issued Guidelines for Costing and Budgeting for Compensation of Employees for the preparation of estimates of expenditure for the 2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). The Guidelines encouraged departments to implement compensation containment measures, such as Early Retirement without penalisation, among others.

(3) There is no evidence that older employees are necessarily less productive than younger employees or vice versa. Experience, institutional memory and maturity are highly valued by employers. Incentivising exits, is therefore not a mutually exclusive process from considerations such as service delivery continuity, human resource planning, recruitment, utilization, development and retention.

The process of applying for early retirement is the same as applying for normal retirement with the additional consideration of penalties for early retirement. The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) applies the same formula to both normal and early retirement. Any changes to the process may affect the Government Employees Pension Law and Rules as there is an adjustment factor applicable to early retirement.

End

Reply:

1(a) As at 31 January 2021, the number of government employees receiving the housing allowance was 958 705. The breakdown is as follows: 710 173 employees are for home ownership, 240 194 employees are tenants and 8338 are employees still receiving the old housing allowance.

1(a)(i) The table hereunder provides aggregate information, as at 31st January 2021, on employees that are receiving the housing allowance per province and in national departments.

Province and National	Number of employees
Eastern Cape	95 040
Free State	41 006
Gauteng	122 960
KwaZulu Natal	145 358
Limpopo	86 588
Mpumalanga	59 428
North West	45 060
Northern Cape	16 250
Western Cape	49 009
All Provinces (Sub Total)	660 699
National	298 006
Grand Total	958705

1(a)(ii) Information on employees receiving the housing allowance per department (National and provincial departments) is reflected on Annexure A.

1(a)(iii) Information on employees, per salary level 1 to 10 including 11 to 12 for the Occupational Special Dispensation (OSD), is reflected on Annexure B. Employees who are not owning nor renting any accommodation do not receive the housing allowance. Employees who are on middle management (MMS) and senior management service (SMS) levels (11 – 16) respectively and are on Total Cost to Employer salary packages do not receive a separate housing allowance. However, they are able to access other services of the Scheme, such as education and counselling, housing loans and housing stock facilitation, and enrolment.

1(b) As at 31st December 2020, the amount currently saved in the Individual-Linked Savings Facility (ILSF) is R 9.6 billion.

2. The DPSA has established that eligible public service employees are accessing the housing allowance benefit and that this has improved since inception of the GEHS benefits. This is demonstrated by the fact that the qualifying number of employees has almost doubled from 352 103 in July 2015 when the GEHS benefits were implemented to 710 173 employees as at 31 January 2021., A further improvement is on the reduction of the number of employees who were eligible for the historical housing allowance from 44530 in July 2015, to 8 338 employees, as at 31 January 2021.

At an employee/individual level factors, ranging from poor financial health, decisions on appropriate home locations, respective housing stock supply and affordability price ranges affect the ability of employees to obtain finance for housing loans or where to purchase, within their affordability criteria.

The access to and provision of decent housing is a national imperative and the DPSA is acutely aware of its role in acting as a catalyst for disrupting the status quo.

End

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is provided in Annual Reports tabled yearly in Parliament by departments and public entities.

Reply:

The Department received the question, reviewed its contents against its mandate and has determined that the most appropriate respondent should be the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

Reply:

(1) The qualifications required for a post of Deputy Director-General (DDG) are regulated in the Directive on compulsory capacity development, mandatory training days and minimum entry requirements for the Senior Management Service which was implemented on 1 April 2015. The qualifications for a Deputy Director-General post is an undergraduate qualification and a post graduate qualification (NQF level 8) as recognized by SAQA.

(2) All Deputy Director-General posts at National departments serve at Cabinet and the Minister for the Public Service and Administration performs an oversight. Should a candidate not meet the requirement, the Cabinet Memorandum does not serve at Cabinet so the appointment is not effected. Departments are often advised through circulars not only on the requirements for post but all regulatory requirements to fill posts including DDG level.

(a) The relevant details of all DDGs in National departments according to PERSAL indicates that there are currently 201 DDG posts in National government of which 135 are filled and 66 are vacant. Prior to 1 April 2015 there was no prescription on the educational requirements. In terms of professionalization, and the expected requirements, mobility is linked to the said qualifications. An individual will not be able to progress to higher levels without the said qualifications. Should a DDG have been appointed prior to 1 April 2015 such a DDG cannot be discriminated against if they currently occupy a DDG post. Should such DDGs apply for another DDG post or a Head of Department post they will not qualify in the event that they have not met the inherent requirements.

(b) The current qualification requirement is an undergraduate qualification and a post graduate qualification (NQF level 8) as recognized by SAQA as well as the inherent requirements of the post. All DDGs appointed with effect from 1 April 2015 must be in possession of those requirements. The information on qualifications for DDGs in posts is based on the data captured by departments may be incomplete or not captured and or updated on PERSAL. Where no information is reflected the department has not captured the qualification, Annexure A.

(c) An employee at a level below a DDG or at the level of a DDG can be appointed to act in a DDG post, therefore there are circumstances where employees are acting laterally. Acting in a post is not captured on PERSAL as the period are generally short. However, when an employee is receiving an acting allowance such acting in a higher post is captured on PERSAL. Based on PERSAL, there are currently six (6) Chief Directors receiving an acting allowance in DDG posts.

END

Reply:

The difference between salary level 11 and 13 is R324 069.

End

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration is mandated by section 94 of the Public Service Regulations toissue the information security standard for the public service, after consultation with the relevant Ministers.

On the 2nd of June 2017 the DPSA and GITOC Security Committee (SCISS) issued the ICT Security Guidelines for implementation by the national and provincial departments within their respective departments.

The purpose of these ICT Security guidelines is to create an enabling ICT security environment and to address the security risks and weaknesses in e-governance systems.

Section 11 of the DPSA ICT Security Guidelines particularly covers the aspects of access management and acquisition of information systems as they relate to securing e-governance systems.

The ICT Security Guidelines cover a number of areas in relation to securing e-governance systems. Those include:

Section 11.7 – Information Systems Acquisitions, Development & Maintenance

Section 11.6 – Access Management

Section 11.10 – Third Party Management

Section 11.11 – Compliance

Section 11.12 – Intellectual Property Rights

The DPSA ICT Security Guidelines are currently being converted into a Public Service Information Security Standard to strengthen compliance.

End