Director General on Transformation in the Department

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
21 June 2000
TRANSFORMATION IN THE DEPARTMENT

Documents:
Presentation by Foreign Affairs Director General on transformation

SUMMARY
The Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr S Pityana, presented to the committee on the status of the transformation of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In the delegation from the department were also representatives from the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), the Public Servants Association (PSA) and the South African Public Servants and Allied Workers Union who also made comments to the committee. Concern was expressed by a number of committee members about the pace of the transformation of the department in terms of its racial and gender make-up. The Director General's comments went some way towards addressing the concerns of the members. There was agreement that his presentation was excellent and informative.

MINUTES
The acting Chairperson welcomed the committee members and the delegation from the Department of Foreign Affairs, including the Director General, to the meeting. He said that the chairperson was in Zimbabwe and that some members of the committee were at a briefing by the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, but that the meeting should nevertheless begin.

The Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr S Pityana, explained that the process of transformation within the department had begun with a meeting with the senior management of the department. The process of rationalisation had outstanding issues, which needed to be resolved, such as the re-integration of the former homeland administrations. The restructuring and transformation process started late in the day, and the work that had been done in the last five years, was incomplete. It focused on the ways South Africa was viewed internationally and as a result, would need to focus more on making better use of resources, in the coming years.

The work of foreign affairs could not look at short-term gains but needed a long term structured approach which included full consultation. This consultation should include trade union groups, and for this reason, the department had already had an audit conducted by the Public Service Commission. There was also an executive committee chaired by the Minister, which focused on policy issues. General administrative issues were also being dealt with. In an environment of mistrust, the department had managed to encourage widespread participation and in line with performance management goals, had been able to make adjustments and had held regular progress reviews.

The department had also established a steering committee, which included representation by staff groups. The Director General said that he personally chaired the transformation committee, which included various task teams, such as one on the African renaissance and one on organisation and establishment. With regards to the first task team, the broader vision of the Department was in fact the renewal of the African Continent and this could be seen as the department's starting point. The department had looked at all countries on the African Continent in terms of a number of different criteria, which would guide its strategy, and the results would be positive.

In terms of South Africa's missions abroad, it needed to be determined whether they were the right size and in the right place, and in this regard the Department was looking at a number of options with the goal of maximising its presence abroad. There were currently 91 missions abroad. Five missions had been closed in recent years due to budget constraints. In some parts of the world, the department's representation was limited to just two or three people, and such a small presence may not be sufficient to deliver the service which was needed in those areas. There was a need to also second people from other departments, such as the Department of Trade and industry and the Department of Home Affairs, to overseas missions, but unfortunately the system did not currently allow this.

The department had a communication and marketing strategy, which was busy with telling people what the Department was doing, and this strategy was proceeding well. On the issue of human resources, it had to be noted that foreign affairs was a very labour intensive area. One thing that had to be given consideration was the fact that the career development among members of staff had to be made provision for. There was currently a high level of mobilisation among staff in the department. There were also other administration issues which also were important in the management of the department.

In examining the profile of the department, it was unfortunate to note that the management staff at the head office were still predominantly white and unfortunately, over 80 percent male. At lower levels, the same staff profile was true and was even worse at some levels i.e. higher levels of whites and males. As far as all the posts abroad were concerned, 61% were occupied by whites. Some people had said that the days of white diplomats were numbered, but in the department no one had said such a thing. However, the reality of the situation had to be considered and further progress towards the goal of a representative department had to be made. As far as heads of missions abroad were concerned, over 50 percent of these people were black. The generally poor figures presented the department with a serious challenge in terms of the government's commitment to affirmative action.

The chairperson said that there had been some distortions in the press on the transformation of the department. Also, there had been some who had used the transformation process within the department for narrow political gains and the Director General's briefing had been very informative in this regard.

Discussion
Dr Pallo Jordan (ANC) said that the transformation of the department encompassed much more than what one would believe just from reading the media, and although the figures on the race and gender breakdowns were disturbing, in some areas there were improvements in representivity. However, in other areas there were disturbing figures. It had been suggested by some that the transformation of the department would amount to a loss of skilled people. In this regard, it had to be noted that up to 1994, the ANC had more overseas missions than the old South African Diplomatic Service and these people out performed the old South African Diplomatic Corps. What were the Director General's comments on this matter, that the old diplomatic corps was a repository of talent? Mr Jordan said he personally doubted that this was the case.

The Director General said that he had the same response to these figures as a lot of the members had. The department's commitment to affirmative action, was not a commitment to mediocrity. A number of people of quality from outside of the department had even been overlooked. It was wrong to say that there was a skills flight from the department, no department would allow that. Those who were skilled workers were being encouraged and the department would still get rid of those who had under-performed. There were currently a number of vacancies and this gave the department a great opportunity to improve its profile in terms of its representivity, abroad. There were some who had been targeted for fast-track promotion and although there was not an affirmative action plan which had been submitted till present, one was being developed. An accelerated training programme was also needed.

Dr B Geldenhuys (NNP) said that he supported the view that the department should be representative of South African society. How many white males were currently being trained as diplomats? What was the Director General's view on political appointments? Were the yardsticks of economic criteria in terms of opening and closing missions, still valid?

The Director General replied that regarding political appointees, it was important that there should be a balance between political appointees and career diplomats, if for no reason other than continuity. However the department did have to make use of all people of quality who were available and hence political appointees had been used. The policy that informed the opening and closing of missions abroad, would remain in place. Recently though, there had unfortunately been a need to reduce the department's staff in some missions to levels where they were actually below capacity.

Rev. K Zondi (IFP) asked whether there were any prospects for large missions on the African Continent? The Director General replied that in Africa, the department was likely to see a major revision of the profile of its missions. As things stood currently its representation was grossly inadequate. However, it was not possible to increase its presence in every part of the continent.

Ms F Hajaij (ANC) said that she thought that the loss of expertise in the department was an absolute myth. In one particular West African country, she had asked what was the current political situation in that country, and an official of the department, who was from the old diplomatic corps, did not know what was happening. She therefore found it very difficult to defend this position, on the so-called loss of expertise. Six years down the line, the same questions had been asked every year. What was the department doing to promote transformation in terms of the racial make-up of overseas diplomats? In one prominent West African country, the department did not have any trade representatives and this was a cause for concern. Finally, with respect to black women in the department, Miss Hajaij said that she was particularly disgusted.

The Director General replied that the view informing what representatives the department had in each country, needed to be consistent. The gender profile was one of the worst areas in terms of representivity and this was being looked at. The same thing applied to having trade representatives in a large number of countries, as to its overall presence in Africa; i.e. it was not possible to increase its presence everywhere.

Mr: C Eglin (DP) said that he thought that the robust response in the press to the director General's earlier comments had been a good thing because it had initiated this excellent explanation from the department. He said that he would like to see a focus on ability, rather than skills or any other criteria. What training programmes were currently in place in the department? Was the department liasing with tertiary institutions and using the skills that were present there, and what was the status with respect to donor countries?

The Director General replied that the training programme needed to be addressed but the department had embarked on a comprehensive skills analysis programme. There was a legislative requirement that the department submitted its training programme, but it hadn't been able to do this yet. It was working on it though. With respect to donor countries, the department needed to give them detailed information, which it did not have at the moment, but it was significant to note that these donor countries were waiting in the wings to assist the department. There was excitement in the department on the process of transformation.

Prof. M Mabeta (UDM) said that he would like to add to the issue of levels of skill, by referring to the very important issue of levels of commitment. It would be proper if the training manuals that were used in the department addressed the racialisation of the issue and that white people acknowledged that transformation was in fact not just about race. Did the figures of the numbers of people abroad, refer just to countries or also to international organisations, such as the OAU, SADC etc? Were the skills of personnel of former ANC overseas missions being used?

The Director General replied that on the international organisations, yes, they were included in the comments about overseas representivity, but not South Africans who were employed by these organisations. On the use of ANC people from overseas missions, this had not been handled very well. The previous rationalisation programme was not adequate and these ANC people were often given very low positions. The people from the TBVC countries were handled the same way. There was injustice in this and it needed to be addressed.

Mr D Sithole (ANC) asked with respect to training, whether the issue of producing more diplomats than was currently the case was being addressed? Also, with respect to people who were no longer need in the department, how was this been addressed? To what extent had the PFMA affected the department? On the PFMA, the department had been doing a lot of work although it was still likely to fall foul of some of the requirements. There had been tussles between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the department of Finance, but this was being addressed.

The chairperson noted his agreement to what Mr Mabeta had said and added that he would like to see an audit of all the recruits that the department had taken on between 1990 and 1994. The Director General said that such figures would be made available to the committee in due course.

Mr T Tsholetsane who represented the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), said that since 1994 they had been making noises that the transformation process was inadequate, favouring minorities. He said that he believed that the Director General had identified where the problems were. How was it possible to promote transformation, when the vehicle for transformation was itself sick? The short-term measures for transformation were to some extent corrupted. At present however, people did at least know what was expected of them.

Mr D Du Buisson, representing the Public Servants Association (PSA) said that with regards to the commitment to the department, this was a very good question. Transformation was much more than just addressing be racial and gender make-up of the department. The PSA represented a very large cross section of people. They found it encouraging that the director General had said that no one would lose their jobs on the grounds of their race or gender and this was encouraging. More did need to be done to address the gender issue. The world had changed, and the requirements of foreign services for all countries was changing in line with this. As a result, training was incredibly important. It was necessary for the department to equip itself for the future. South Africa wanted to have a Foreign Service which was highly professional and this required adequate training. For this a sufficient budget was required. The members of the PSA were not opposed to such transformation.

Mr N Salman representing the South African Public Servants and Allied Workers Union said that he welcomed the transformation of the department which the Director General had made great strides in, in a short period of time. What was the number of people who were additional to what was required in the establishment? Some people had been promoted illegally in their line functions by the previous administration and these were all white. Of one set of promotions of some 66 people, only one post was advertised. Also, of 14 deputy directors who were promoted, all were white and only one post was advertised. This was how the people who were additional to what was required in the establishment had come to be there. Mr Salman said that he commended the Director General and noted that people were being put in positions to amend the imbalances.

An ANC member noted that there was just one women in the departmental team and asked if there could be greater representation by women than this. The Director General said that he had asked for delegates from the organisations which were represented on his team and they had all sent men.

The chairperson said that this was the first time that staff associations had been represented here and he thanked the Director General for this and for his excellent presentation of the current status of the transformation programme within the department which was very informative.