STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION

REPORT

1. Introduction

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration (PC on PS&A) held a planning workshop session from 23 – 25 February 2005. The objective of the workshop was to provide the PC on PS&A with the opportunity to decide on priority issues and develop a programme of action for the current year.

The Speaker of the National Assembly gave an input to the workshop. She emphasised the basic values and principles enshrined in section 195 (1) of the Constitution which should underpin public administration, which stipulates that: "Public Administration must be governed by the democratic values and principles enshrined in the Constitution, including the following principles:

AND THAT:

"The above principles apply to:

The portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, thus, has a responsibility to hold the performance of the public service those values and principles.

The workshop received further inputs from the following:

Minister of Public Service and Administration

Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA)

Public Service Commission (PSC)

South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI)

State Information and Technology Agency (SITA)

The Minister of Public Service and Administration (Minister), Ms GJ Fraser-Moleketi, and the Director-General of the DPSA briefed the workshop on priorities of the Governance and Administration (G&A) cluster, and the DPSA. They informed the workshop that government is undertaking a review of the functioning of the State, as announced by the President in his State of the Nation Address on 11 February 2005.

2. Workshop in details

2.1 Guided by the inputs from the Speaker, the Minister and the Department of the Public Service and Administration

(a) Capacity of the State

Parliament should put in place or strengthen a system that tracks the implementation of its decisions referred to the Executive.

The Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD) has been mandated to conduct a review of the capacity of the machinery of government and make proposals regarding:

The capacity of implementing agents,

Skills and competence in the public sector,

Alignment of planning and implementation, and

Mobilisation of the public sector to speed up transformation.

 

The government is in the process of strengthening Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD), which will bring more clarity on the roles and responsibilities of HRMD. Government is to create a public sector-wide database that will store and analyse training information need, and use it for modelling and forecasting.

The President announced that the government is to conduct an audit of gender balance and representation of people with disabilities in the public sector. The review will be conducted against the targets that were set by government.

(b) Unified System of Public Administration

The government is to work towards a synergy between spheres of government to facilitate mobility between them, streamline conditions of service and create an enabling environment to create a unified system of public administration that is able to deliver integrated services. It is expected that a draft piece of legislation will be submitted to Cabinet in 2006.

 

© Government Systems

Policies and legislation are in place, however, there is a need to develop mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the impact of such policies and legislation across government as a whole. The issue of monitoring and evaluation is of primary concern to governments. It will provide government with the means to assess the efficacy and progress made in implementing government programmes. The President reported to the Joint Sitting of Parliament that a Government-Wide Monitoring and Evaluation System are in the process of finalisation.

The government has recently introduced a report card system that will enable the public to assess the performance of government on service delivery. The report card system will be extended to the provincial governments.

(d) Integrated Service Delivery

The government continues to integrate the delivery of services in a manner convenient to citizens. It intends to expand the Multi-Purpose Community Centres to cover every district and metropolitan municipality by the second half of 2005. T

The Batho Pele Getaway continues to provide Internet access to information on government services. The limitation is the limited access by the majority of citizens to Internet. The government is planning to develop the capacity to conduct transactions on the Internet.

 

(e) Batho Pele and participatory governance

Government is to revitalise the Batho Pele campaign. Cabinet Ministers and MEC’s will be making unannounced visits to points of service delivery in the public service. It will also deploy Senior Management to the delivery points as part of providing them with practical experience in the implementation of government programmes.

(f) Intergovernmental Relations

In November 2004, the Cabinet approved the Intergovernmental Relations Bill. It was submitted to Parliament in February 2005. The Bill aims to promote a more effective co-ordination between the various spheres of government, and eliminate unnecessary and laborious decision-making processes.

(g) Improving local government performance

The government has identified the local government sphere as a priority area. There is an urgent need to improve its performance. In the first instance, government has to ensure successful elections in 2005/06.

The National Departments will participate in a campaign to mobilise public participation in the 2005 IDP review, which are planned for the first half of the current year.

Government is to focus to the local development in order to ensure job creation, municipal infrastructure development and Project Consolidate. It will create an enabling environment for the private sector to participate in Project Consolidate.

2.2 The Public Service Commission added a voice

The mandate of the Public Service Commission (PSC) is to promote the values and principles enshrined in the Constitution regarding the administration of the public service. The PSC performs a supportive role. It provides Parliament with reports to support it in its oversight function. In addition, the (PSC) advises the Executive on good administrative practices. The PSC has prioritised the following areas:

(a) Governance monitoring

It monitors and evaluates the performance of government departments to determine the extent of their compliance with the values and principles contained in the Constitution. The information obtained has formed the basis for the annual State of the Public Service Report.

 

(b) Service Delivery and quality assurance

The PSC has prioritised the monitoring of quality assurance of services delivered by government. It has hosted over the years Citizens Forums and Citizens Surveys to gauge the satisfactions levels of the public with government services. However, it intends to withdraw from the Citizens Forums due to lack of financial resources, and the realisation that the emergence of forums such as Imbizo’s and Radio Forums are perfect substitutes.

© Leadership and performance improvement

The PSC is mandated to evaluate the performance of Heads of Departments (HODs) to provide a comprehensive feedback to the Executive on the performance of their HODs.

 

(d) Labour Relations improvement

The PSC is charged with the task to adjudicate employee grievances in the public service. It has been responsible for the introduction of new grievance rules and procedures, which have improved the manner in which grievances are held.

(e) Investigations

The PSC has the powers to conduct investigations into systematic mal-administration and corruption, quality of service rendered and impropriety. It focuses on practices of mal-administration rather than individual misconduct. It works in collaboration with the Auditor-General and the Public Protector where appropriate.

(f) Professional ethics and human resources

The PSC has to ensure that public servants abide by professional ethics. It has undertaken studies to identify the extent to which there is compliance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Public Servants, Remunerated Work outside the Public Service and Financial Disclosure.

The PSC strives to promote affirmative action, equity and representation in the public service. It has conducted research to monitor compliance with Employment Equity Act in the public servile.

 

 

2.3 Consideration of the South African Management Development Institute’s contribution

The South African Management Development Institute has sought to align its work in line with aforementioned priorities of government. Its input focused on the role of SAMDI in the implementation of the governance and administration cluster.

Building capacity to accelerate policy implementation in the public Service is the key focus area for the South African Management Development Institute.

SAMDI plans to deliver quality skills development solution to all three spheres of government. It will manage the rollout of compulsory induction and orientation programmes.

It has prioritised the development strategic partnerships with institutions that are able to deliver on best practise training and development interventions.

SAMDI is involved in the promotion of capacity of Management Development Institutes on the continent. It works with the Support to Public Sector Development within the NEPAD/AU programme.

SAMDI has the following specific training programmes:

Community Development Workers;

Social security – service delivery improvements;

Induction and orientation;

Project and financial management;

Integrated Management Development Programme to support sustainable pools;

Senior Executive Programme; and

Local Government capacity building.

 

2.4 The role of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA)

The mandate of SITA is to deliver to government an efficient, secure and cost-effective ICT products and services. The organisation is confronted with the following challenges:

Different visions, values and cultures;

Internal business processes;

Exodus at Executive Management;

Cumbersome ITAC processes;

Complaints regarding its pricing, services and management.

However, the turn-around strategy has managed to reverse some of the negative trend and stabilise others. It has managed to achieve equity targets of 68% black employees and 38% females. It has set itself a 45% target for females.

 

 

 

 

3. Conclusion

The workshop provided a platform for a fruitful and rewarding interaction between the PC on PSA and the Minister, DPSA, PSC, SAMDI and SITA, as it was appraised of priorities of the sector. Accordingly, and due consideration taken of other developments, the Portfolio Committee decided on the Annual Programme for the year 2005/2006, as attached hereto.