ATC231019: Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR) of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration: Vote 12 of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Annual Report for the 2022/23 Financial Year, Dated 18 October 2023

Public Service and Administration

Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR) of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration: Vote 12 of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Annual Report for the 2022/23 Financial Year, Dated 18 October 2023

 

1. BACKGROUND

 

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration (hereinafter referred to as the Portfolio Committee) having considered the directive of the National Assembly, which is in line with Section 5 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, No. 9 of 2009 to consider and report on the Annual Report of the Public Service Commission (an independent body), reports as follows:

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

Parliament represents the people of South Africa and it has a responsibility to keep the government accountable to the people. Parliament derives its mandate from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. According to Section 55 (2) of the Constitution “the National Assembly must provide for mechanisms (a) to ensure that all executive organs of state in the national sphere of government are accountable to it; and (b) to maintain oversight of the exercise of national executive authority, including the implementation of legislation and any organ of state.  

 

Parliament developed and approved its Strategic Plan for the 06th democratic Parliament. The 6th Parliament reaffirmed its commitment to law making, oversight and public participation but also to its vision of being an activist and responsive people’s Parliament that improves the quality of life of South Africans and ensures enduring equality in our society.

 

The strategic objectives of the Portfolio Committee are informed by five strategic goals of Parliament. The functions of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration are as follows:

• Participating and providing strategic direction in the development of the legislation and thereafter passing the laws.
• Conducting oversight over the Executive to ensure accountability to the Parliament towards achieving an effective, efficient, developmental and professional public service.
• Conducting public participation and engaging citizens regularly, with the aim to relating to the public sector.
• Monitoring the financial and non-financial aspects of departments and its entities and ensuring regular reporting to the Committee, within the scope of accountability and transparency.
• Supporting and ensuring implementation of the Public Service Commission (PSC) recommendations in the entire public service.
• Participating in international treaties which impact on the work of the Committee.

 

1. PURPOSE OF THE BUDGETARY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS REPORT

 

In terms of Section 5 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, No. 9 of 2009, the National Assembly, through its Committees, must annually compile Budgetary Review and Recommendations reports (BRRR) that assesses service delivery and financial performance of departments and may make recommendations on forward use of resources. The BRRR is also a source document for the Committee on Appropriations when considering and making recommendations on the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.

 

The Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, section 5 (3) highlights focus areas on the budgetary review and recommendation report as:

• Providing an assessment of the department’s service delivery performance given available resources.
• Providing an assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the departments use and forward allocation of available resources; and
• Including recommendations on the forward use of resources.

 

 

 

3.1 Method

 

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration compiled the 2022/23 BRRR using the following documents:

• The National Development Plan: Vision for 2030.
• Medium Term Strategic Framework 2019 - 2024.
• State of the Nation Address 2022/23.
• Strategic Plan of the PSC.
• National Treasury (2023) 4th Quarter Expenditure 2022/23 Financial Year.
• Annual Performance Plan (2022/23) of the PSC.
• Annual Report (2022/23) of the PSC.
• Auditor-General South Africa’s outcomes of audit findings 2022/23.
• The Portfolio Committee also met with the leadership and management of the PSC.

 

1. OVERVIEW OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

 

The PSC is an independent institution established in terms of Chapter 10 of the Constitution. It derives its mandate from Section 195 and 196 of the Constitution, 1996, which set out the values and principles governing public administration, which should be promoted by the PSC, as well as the powers and functions of the PSC. The PSC is required by the Constitution to exercise its powers and to perform its functions without fear, favour or prejudice. The Constitution links the PSC’s independence firmly with its impartiality and no organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the PSC.

 

The PSC is vested with custodial oversight responsibilities for the Public Service and monitors, evaluates and investigates public administration practices. It also has the power to issue directions regarding compliance with personnel procedures relating to recruitment, transfers, promotions and dismissals. The PSC is accountable to the National Assembly and to Provincial Legislatures and must annually report on its activities and performance to these two institutions.    

 

 

1. LEGISLATIVE MANDATE

 

The PSC is a constitutional oversight body, established in 1996, primarily to promote “a high standard of professional ethics in the public service”. The PSC operates in terms of the PSC Act 1997. The Act provides for the regulation of the PSC with regard to:

1. The constitution of the PSC.
2. Appointment of Commissioners.
3. Designation of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson.
4. Conditions of appointment of Commissioners.
5. Removal from office of Commissioners.
6. Functions of the PSC (inspections, inquiries, etc.)
7. Rules according to which the PSC should operate.
8. The Office of the PSC (OPSC); and
9. Transitional arrangements with regard to service commissions (created under the Interim Constitution).  

 

1. STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

 

The key priority identified in the SONA 2022 for the PSC was: Government’s commitment to addressing issues of State capture emanating from the Commission’s report on Inquiry into State Capture. To this end, the President promised to present an action plan to respond to the Commission’s recommendations by latest end of June 2022. President Ramaphosa’s response to the Commission’s recommendations was submitted to the Executive Authority of Parliament on 22 October 2022.

 

Also, SONA 2022 addressed possible shortcomings in the legislative framework to ensure the safety of whistle-blowers. It thus committed Government to, through its law enforcement agencies, take the necessary steps to address this concern. This includes a review of all applicable legislation, as well as a comparative study on the protection of whistle-blowers in other jurisdictions.

 

 

 

 

1. STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR 2022/23

 

7.1 The policy priorities, as outlined in the Annual Performance Plan for 2022/23, were as follows:

 

7.1.1 Improvement of organisational performance

 

The PSC has placed emphasis on the improvement of organisational performance, doing more with less through various efficiencies, and improving on its audit outcomes. Over the past few years, much emphasis was placed on improving the turnaround time in dealing with grievances and public administration investigations through the review of standard operating procedures. The PSC will make significant efforts to improve the functionality of the Integrated Grievance and Complaints Management System, which is an automated case management system. The main advancement in 2022/23 was that analytical reports could be generated from the Data Warehouse where data is systematically collected in standardised formats for all departments. Vacancy rate was at 7.7%.

 

1. Gender and Disability Mainstreaming

 

The Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) annually reviews and submits the Gender and Disability Mainstreaming Programme of Action to the DPSA. As at 31 March 2023, the representation of females in the Senior Management Service (SMS) of the OPSC was 50%. People with disabilities were reported at 1.95% during the same period.

 

7.1.3 Addressing challenges with office accommodation

 

The PSC has provincial offices in all the provinces, with a small complement of around 10 employees, supporting Provincially Based Commissioners in executing the mandate of the PSC in the provinces. The ergonomics of some provincial offices are not conducive to the occupational health and safety of employees, which is compounded by the additional COVID-19 requirements, yet the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has been unresponsive to the PSC’s attempts to address these issues. Some of the PSC’s offices are also not in all respects compliant with the mandatory Minimum Physical Security Standards, due to a lack of responsiveness of the DPWI/ Landlords and a lack of financial resources.

7.1.4 Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment

 

The PSC has, since 2018/19, set performance standards in its Annual Performance Plan to measure the appointment of service providers who meet the B-BBEE requirements and have exceeded its target in this regard. When the PSC tabled its Adjusted Annual Performance Plan to Parliament in July 2020, the indicator was adjusted upwards from 10% to 40% of B-BBEE suppliers appointed to ensure that the PSC promotes the appointment of the B-BBEE suppliers in its procurement. As at 31 March 2023, B-BBEE compliance was at 87.07%.

 

7.1.5 Looking into the impact on the operations of the Public Service

 

The COVID-19 experience has demonstrated that the Public Service can adopt hybrid modes of working and service delivery, thus reducing the need for daily commuting to the office by all employees. This also contributes towards reduced traffic, as well as water and electricity consumption at the office. On the contrary, the savings from the employer are likely to result in increased expenses for employees who work from home. In addition, hybrid modes of working highlight possible challenges on issues of employee health and safety for employees and the safety of the employers' assets whilst working from home and commuting with assets, such as computers, between home and the place of work. These issues necessitate the need to review various Public Service frameworks and policies.

 

7.1.6 Promoting ethical leadership and anti-corruption

 

The NDP Vision 2030 addresses the need for a developmental state that is capable, built on strong leadership, sound policies, skilled managers and workers, accountability and observance of the rule of law. The NDP adds that the capable state cannot materialise by decree, but that it has to be built, brick by brick, institution by institution, and sustained and rejuvenated over time.

 

The PSC continued with its responsibility of monitoring the implementation of ethics frameworks focusing on three categories, namely management of conflict of interest, investigations and / or referral of complaints, and Research and promotion of professional ethics. The PSC has produced three overview reports aimed at providing a bird’s eye view picture of the extent to which the public service is adhering to the prescribed legislative frameworks and or policies. The three overview reports include:

a) The Financial Misconduct aimed at monitoring consequence management in respect of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

b) The overview of Financial Disclosures aimed at identifying potential and actual conflicts of interest by senior managers and making recommendations for the Executive Authorities to take action; and

c) The overview report on complaints received through National Anti-Corruption Hotline, walk-ins and through e-mails, and focusing on statistics relating to the number and nature of the cases investigated by the PSC and those referred to departments for further investigation.

The PSC ensured that issues of financial misconduct were attended to within the Public Service as part of monitoring the ethics implementation framework. For the year under review, the PSC has focused on enhancing the value-add of the annual Overview Report on Financial Misconduct, by monitoring consequence management in respect of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures. In addition, the PSC developed a report on “The Assessment of the Extent of Leadership Commitment by Heads of Departments and Executive Authorities in Promoting Ethics within the Public Service.”

 

1. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION PROGRAMME PERFORMANCE

 

1. Budget Allocated and Expenditure 2022/23

 

The PSC’s overall budget was R295.5 million. This downward adjustment affected Goods and Services (reduced by R10 million) and Compensation of Employees (reduced by R13 million). The PSC spent R278.9 million of its overall budget, which represents 94.38%. The main cost drivers under this Vote were Programme 1: Administration (R135.6 million), followed by Programme 4: Integrity and Anti-Corruption (R61.0 million) and Programme 2: Leadership and Management Practices (R51.5 million). It may be highlighted here that the amounts allocated to these cost drivers were bigger than others in the same manner as the spending on them.

 

The PSC had not incurred unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred during the period under review ending 31 March 2023. The lower than projected expenditure was mainly on Compensation of Employees due to vacant posts which included three Commissioner posts. As at the end of the 2022/23 financial year, three (3) of the (14) fourteen posts of Commissioner were vacant. The PSC has no control over the filling of the Commissioner posts as the responsibility for the recruitment and selection process lies with the National Assembly and the relevant provincial legislatures. The current organisational structure was reviewed and a business case for organisational re-design was developed. It is envisaged that the support structure for the PSC will undergo a process of re-design.

 

The number of posts on the establishment of the OPSC increased from 251 in the 2021/2022 reporting year (of which 10 were employees employed additional to the establishment) to 337 in the 2022/2023 reporting year (of which 44 were employees employed additional to the establishment), with 311 of these posts filled. For the year under review, critical SMS posts were filled, and the target of 50% women in the SMS in the Office was achieved. The vacancy rate was 10.2%. As at 31 March 2023, the OPSC had a total of 44 employees employed additional to the establishment, included in the total number of 311 employees. The OPSC vacancy rate of 10% for the 2021/2022 financial year decreased to 7.7% in the 2022/2023 financial year.

 

The final appropriation budget for the PSC for the 2021/22 financial year was R273.8 million and actual spending amounted to R261.2 million which represents 95.4 per cent. For the year under review, the final appropriated budget was R286.3 million and actual spending amounted to R265.8 million or 92.8 per cent of the budget.  The spending variance between the final appropriation and the actual expenditure was mainly due to vacant posts that drove underspending on the Compensation of Employees. On Goods and Services, there was underspending due to reasons attributed to savings generated on operational costs as a result of the Commissioner’s vacant post and rotational work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

As at the end of the 2021/22 financial year, six of the fourteen posts of Commissioner were vacant. The details of these positions are as follows: a) Four posts at national level, 1 vacant from 25 April 2019 and 3 becoming vacant in January 2022) Two posts at provincial level: Mpumalanga, vacant from 1 April 2019; and Gauteng, vacant from 28 February 2022. Although the positions have been vacant for extended periods, the PSC has no control over the filling of these posts as the responsibility for the recruitment and selection process lies with the National Assembly and relevant provincial legislatures. The PSC has consistently engaged with The Presidency regarding these vacancies. The vacancies impact negatively on the operations of the PSC, as Commissioners are closely involved in the implementation of the mandate of the PSC in departments/ provinces.

 

For the year under review, critical SMS posts were filled, and the target of 50% women in SMS in the Commission was achieved. The OPSC has in the past experienced an increased staff turnover resulting in an exodus of five (5) Deputy Directors in the last financial year who left the Office due to promotions to other Public Service departments, retirement and resignations. The OPSC prioritises the employment of women and people with disabilities (PWDs) at the SMS levels. As at 31 March 2023, the OPSC had 44.4% representation of women at SMS level and 1.95% representation of PWDs.

 

Appropriation per programme (R’000) 

2022/23				2021/22
Programme	Final Appropriation R’000	Actual Expenditure R’000	(Over)/Under Expenditure R’000	Final Appropriation R’000	Actual Expenditure R’000	Over)/Under Expenditure R’000
Administration	135 693	127 928	7 765	134 559	121 947	12 612
Leadership and Management Practice	51 553	48 634	2 919	49 773	49 728	45
Monitoring and Evaluation	47 221	45 228	1 993	44 267	41 668	2 599
Integrity and Anti-Corruption	61 074	57 136	3 938	57 672	52 428	5 244
TOTAL	295,541	278 926	16 615	286 271	265 771	20 500

PSC: Annual Report 2022/23

 

1. PROGRAMME PERFORMANCE

 

The PSC had 25 targets, 24 of which were achieved. This represents 96 per cent achievement of targets. The Leadership and Management Practices Programme experienced some challenges in the area of a four per cent reduction of grievances lodged by departments with the PSC. The PSC witnessed rather a slight increase in grievances lodged during the year under review.

 

The PSC has four programmes which performed as follows:

 

1. Programme 1: Administration

 

The Programme covers all the functions of the PSC that support its core business, such as support to the PSC, governance and policy, financial management, supply chain and facilities management, communications, information technology and security services.

This programme’s allocation was R135.6 million for 2022/23. It reported expenditure of R127.9 million (94.3 per cent) of its available budget as at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022/23. The main cost drivers were: Chief Financial Officer (R40.0 million), due to ensuring financial management compliance with various pieces of legislation including the PFMA, the Public Audit Act, 25 of 2004, and Treasury Regulations; efficient and effective supply chain management; and provision of information technology services; followed by Peoples Management Practices (R 30.6 million) due to the implementing, providing and developing the human capital in the PSC. The Directorate: People Management Practices provides detailed information of human resources in the PSC under Part D of the Annual Report; and the Public Service Commission (R24.3 million), which deals with ensuring that administrative, including secretarial, liaison and logistical support is provided for the effective functioning of the governance structures of the PSC, overseeing strategic and operational planning, and reporting on institutional performance.

 

The PSC set seven targets for itself under Programme 1, all of which were achieved as planned. This translates into 100 per cent achievement. Among the achievements were these targets:

• 87.07% of B-BBEE suppliers appointed.
• Four reports on stakeholders’ outreach programmes coordinated.

 

1. Programme 2: Leadership and Management Practices

 

The Leadership and Management Practices (Programme 2) is responsible for promoting sound Public Service leadership, human resource management, labour relations and labour practices. The programme has two sub-programmes, namely: Labour Relations Improvement, and Leadership and Human Resource Reviews.  

This programme reported actual expenditure of R48.6 million or 94.3 per cent of its 2022/23 budget allocation of R51.5 million as at the end of March 2023. The main cost driver is the sub-Programme Manager: Labour Management Practices (R26.6 million), which regulates management practices regarding labour peace. The other cost driver is Labour Relations Improvement (R14.9 million), due to the caseload of grievances and resolution to be dealt with. The programme achieved 83% of the set APP targets. The one target that could not be achieved was found to be outside of the control of the organisation.

 

The complexity of the Public Service labour relations environment and the underlying factors are a contributor to the existence of a large number of grievances that are lodged with departments, and the referral of some to the PSC, as well as the prevalence and poor management of disciplinary cases in the Public Service. The PSC continued to play a critical role in investigating referred grievances that could not be resolved between departments and their employees and making recommendations. The PSC had 591 grievance cases registered on its database, which is a 6% increase when compared with the 2021/22 statistics and 12.7% reduction in relation to 2020/2021 figures. The slid increase in the number of grievances lodged with departments and those referred to the PSC can be attributed to the fact that public servants are no longer working hybrid.

 

1. Programme 3: Monitoring and Evaluation

 

The main purpose of the programme is to improve the functionality of the Public Service through institutional and service delivery evaluation. This programme reported actual expenditure of R45.2 million or 95.7 per cent of its 2022/23 budget allocation of R47.2 million as at the end of March 2023. The main cost driver is the Programme Manager: Monitoring and Evaluation (R27.1 million), which monitors service delivery culture within the Public Service. Also, the Service Delivery and Compliance Evaluations (R10.6 million), which evaluates service delivery from the perspective of citizens, observes conditions and processes, and identifies service delivery challenges to be addressed.

 

The programme had a total of seven planned targets for the financial year, all of which were achieved. This translates into a 100 per cent achievement. Among the achievements were these targets: Conducting 20 assessments on service delivery and holding 20 Constitutional Values and Principles engagements. During the year under review, further work was done in evaluating the application of the development-orientation principle of public administration in the context of social welfare services at both national and provincial departments. The findings of the research show that the programme structure is different at national and provincial offices with the former pegging all social welfare programmes at programme 4 and the latter at programme 2.

 

During the financial year under review, engagements were held with the Ministers of Basic Education, Home Affairs, Defence, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. The purpose of the engagements was to provide feedback on the PSC’s assessment of the performance in their portfolios, highlight areas of urgent attention and build working rapport.

For the 2022/23 financial year, inspections were conducted at all the South African Police Station (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs). Given the extent of the forensic science backlogs during 2021/22, the impact of the backlogs on the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and society at large, and the prominence in media reports of these soaring number of backlogs, the PSC decided to conduct inspections at all the FSLs across the country, namely, those based in Eastern Cape (Gqeberha), Kwazulu-Natal (Amanzimtoti), Gauteng (Arcadia and Silverton), and the Western Cape (Plattekloof).

During this financial year, the PSC embarked on a citizens-focused and community outreach programme and successfully conducted nine Citizens Forums across all provinces. The PSC Citizens Forum (CF) is a distinctly South African method of engaging citizens and focuses on the delivery of a particular programme at a given point. It involves the government working with citizens to propose practical measures to improve service delivery. Under the leadership of the Provincial Commissioners.

 

1. Programme 4: Integrity and Anti-Corruption

 

The Integrity and Anti-Corruption programme is responsible for undertaking public administration investigations, promoting a high standard of professional ethical conduct amongst public servants and contributing to the prevention and combating of corruption.

This programme reported actual expenditure of R57.1 million or 93.6 per cent of its 2022/23 budget allocation of R61.0 million as at the end of March 2023. The main cost drivers are the Programme Manager: Integrity and Anti-Corruption (R26.6 million), which monitors corrupt practices within the Public Service and the Professional Ethics (R22.3 million) promoting professional ethics in the Public Service by managing integrity systems and conducting research on the effectiveness of ethics promotion in the Public Service.

The programme had a total of five planned targets for the financial year, all of which were achieved. This translates into a 100 per cent achievement.  Among others, the achieved targets were: 90% of investigations finalised within 90 working days upon receipt of a valid complaint, three own accord investigation reports as contemplated in section 194 (4) (f) (i), (iii) and (iv) of the Constitution, 1996 finalised and three oversight reports on the implementation of the ethics framework.

 

In adherence to its constitutional mandate, the PSC continued to actively pursue the promotion of good governance and the promotion of professional ethical conduct of public servants by conducting investigations into personnel and public administration practices. Mechanisms at the disposal of complainants, for example members of the public, public servants and whistle-blowers) wishing to lodge complaints with the PSC, include completing Annexure A of the PSC Rules on Conducting Investigations, submission through letters and emails to the PSC, and contacting the NACH Call Centre telephonically or verbally in person (i.e. walk-ins).

 

As at 31 March 2023, there were 430 complaints on the database, of which 293 (68%) were finalised and the remaining 137 cases (31%) were in progress. From the 293 finalised complaints, 263 (90%) were finalised within 90 working days upon receipt of all relevant information. Furthermore, 231 of the 430 complaints reported in the 2022/23 financial year are related to personnel practices (i.e. functions and activities executed to provide a service to employees such as recruitment, selection, appointment, transfer and other career management objectives aimed at enhancing the well-being and effectiveness of public servants), whilst the remaining 199 complaints relate to Public Administration Practices (i.e. functions and activities executed to provide effective and efficient services such as financial management, Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes and service delivery).

 

The PSC has continued to monitor the implementation of the Financial Disclosure Framework and manage the anti-corruption system designed to promote and strengthen integrity in the Public Service. This entails the management of conflicts of interest through financial disclosures by senior manages. The total number of financial disclosure forms that the PSC received as at the due date of 31 May 2022 was 9337. A comparison of the overall submissions by the national and provincial departments indicated a consistent lack of compliance to achieving a 100% submission rate over the past five financial years. During the period under review, a total of 554 SMS members (354 from national departments including national government components and 200 from provincial departments) did not disclose their directorships or interest in companies. This is in contravention of Regulation 19 of the PSR. Among these were four (4) Directors-General (DGs) in national departments and seven (7) HoDs in provincial departments.

 

1. AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT

 

9.1 Auditor-General Opinion

 

The Auditor-General (AG) audited financial statements of the PSC set out on pages 140 to 197, which comprise the appropriation statement, statement of financial position as at 31 March 2023, the statement of financial performance, Office of the Public Service Commission statement of financial performance, statement of changes in net assets, and cash flow statement for the year then ended, as well as notes to the Office of the Public Service Commission financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

 

The AG audited the financial statements, and they present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the PSC as at 31 March 2023, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the Modified Cash Standard (MCS) as prescribed by National Treasury and the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 (PFMA).

 

9.2 Compliance with legislation

 

The accounting officer is responsible for the Department’s compliance with legislation. Legislation was complied with, but there were matters of consideration.

 

9.3 Internal control

 

The Auditor-General considered internal controls as a challenge in the performance of the Department.

 

1. FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

 

The Committee made the following observations:

 

1. The Committee notes that the Public Service Commission received clean audit outcomes in consecutive years, including the 2022/23 financial year.

 

1. The Committee notes and compliments the PSC for achieving almost all set targets of the Annual Performance Plan for 2022/23 financial year. The PSC had 25 targets, 24 of which were achieved. This represents 96 per cent achievement of targets. The Committee further notes and compliments the PSC for spending 94.34% of the overall budget, which matches the set targets achieved in 2022/23.

 

1. The Committee notes the anomalies in the budget allocation of the Commission with regards to the allocation across four programmes. The Committee was of the view that critical programmes at the Commission have to be prioritised when allocating budget.  

 

1. The Committee notes the PSC’s initiative on the legislative reform to introduce to Parliament a Bill that will enable the Commission to be supported by a Secretariat independent of government in order to strengthen its independence. The Committee further notes that on 13 September 2023, Cabinet approved the Public Service Commission Amendment Bill, and it has been submitted to Parliament for further processing.

 

1. The Committee notes that the PSC’s review of organisational structure to strengthen capacity in the provincial offices is underway. The process would be complemented by conducting skills audit to assist and inform the review of the organisational structure. 

 

1. The Committee was concerned about the prolonged vacancy of the provincial Commissioner: Mpumalanga, which was vacant since 01st April 2019. The Provincial Legislature and Office of the Premier have to engage by writing a formal letter signed by the Speaker of the National Assembly to conscientise them about the importance of filling the Commissioner post.

 

1. The Committee further notes the vacancy of the provincial commissioner of the Western Cape.

 

1. As per Section 196 (10) concerning one renewable term of the Commissioners, the Committee notes that there are challenges experienced by Parliament to decisively make a determination on the renewability of individual Commissioner contracts.

 

1.   The Committee notes that there is a need to monitor and conduct oversight on the recruitment of Accounting Officers in the public sector by the PSC.  There is also a need to monitor the occurrence of irregular appointments at middle management and senior management.

 

1. The Committee notes a need for the PSC to build direct relationship with Human Resource Management Directorates/Units of departments to address and identify ongoing loopholes in terms of the human resource practices in the public sector.   

 

1. RECOMMENDATIONS

 

The following recommendations are proposed:

 

1. The Public Service Commission in collaboration with Parliament Support Staff should swiftly develop the “Framework on the Renewability of the Commissioner Contract” as stipulated in Section 196 (10) of the Constitution for the approval by the National Assembly. The Public Service Commission in collaboration with Parliament Support Staff must develop a framework to measure performance of individual commissioners in order to have a record of performance for a possibility of renewing a contract of commissioners in both national and provincial offices. The latest to develop the framework should be the end of April 2024.

 

1. The Public Service Commission should continue providing updates to the Committee regarding the review of organisational structure to beef up capacity in the provincial offices. 

 

1. The Committee should request the Speaker of the National Assembly to direct the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature and by default the Office of the Premier to fill the position and give timeframes to her on when the process would be finalised.

 

1. The Western Cape Government should speed up the filling of a vacancy of provincial commissioner.

 

1. The PSC should proactively play a role in monitoring personnel practices in order to minimise irregular appointments in the middle and senior management positions as one of the measures towards professionalising the public sector.

 

1. The Commission should develop a monitoring and oversight tool to monitor recruitment processes undertaken by various government departments comprising of various indicators to scrutinise and test the validity of the appointments made on an annual basis.

 

1. The Commission should build a direct relationship with the Human Resource Management Directorates/Units of departments to address and identify loopholes in terms of the human resource practices in the public sector in order to administratively and technically monitor and guide on the loopholes.

 

1. A revised disciplinary management strategy has to be presented to the Committee in a template form devised by both the PSC and the DPSA to monitor whether or not progress is being made in transforming the discipline management process. The template should state the offence, the period and the intervention, and other relevant facts. This is to ensure that officials on suspension do not stay at home beyond the regulated period while drawing a salary.

 

1. The PSC should play a role in the Professionalisation of the Public Sector Framework. To closely monitor the implementation of the framework there needs to be timeframes for each area of performance and the report to be submitted to Parliament twice in a year by the NSG and the DPSA, and also by the PSC on how it assessed progress and impact of the framework.

 

 

12. CONCLUSION

 

The PSC was able to spend almost its entire allocated budget whilst achieving almost all its targets, which is commendable. Its performance during the year under review was thus proportionate to the budget spent. Accountability within the PSC has improved with responsible leadership and management. The PSC should ensure that the investigation into irregular expenditure is completed so that there are no material matters during the audit process.

 

Report to be considered.