DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATION
PHASE 4: TOWARD LEGISLATION FOR THE
SINGLE PUBLIC SERVICE (SPS)
PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
ON GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
16 August
2006
1. Introduction and Background
The
development state
1.1
Building an effective developmental
state is a central objective of the current government in South Africa. A
developmental state is pro-poor and must intervene decisively and coherently in
the economy and society to address social and economic developmental goals.
These fundamentally include bridging the historical racial-based divide between
the developed first economy and the underdeveloped second economy.
1.3
Government, through
Cabinet, is calling for the establishment of a common system of public
services. This common system, currently expressed as a single public service,
has as its central objective improved and integrated service delivery, which in
turn is a central goal of the developmental state. Hence, it is argued, that
the imperatives of integrated service delivery and mobility between the spheres
underpin the impetus for the evolution toward a SPS. Initially the development
of this system requires the harmonisation of conditions of service between the
public service and local government, but it will ultimately find expression in
overarching framework legislation that will establish common norms and
standards for public administration, management and service delivery.
1.4
Research
has shown that many people have difficulty accessing government services, often
because transport costs are prohibitive.
To respond to these challenges, it is necessary that government
organises itself in such a way that as many government services are
concentrated in a single location, and that the single location be as close to
the people as possible. In this
respect, there have been many ground breaking initiatives aimed at bringing
government closer to the people such as the Community Development Worker (CDW)
Programme, MPCCs, and Batho Pele
Gateway.
1.5
The
establishment of these initiatives aimed at integrated service delivery gives
rise to the need for cooperative institutional arrangements. For instance, officials staffing MPCCs will
in time need to take responsibility for delivering services other than those of
their immediate department. Another
important requirement is a financing system for jointly run service delivery
institutions. Plans are currently in
the process of being designed to roll out additional MPCCs, with the objective
being to have one MPCC operational in every municipality by 2014. Plans to establish urban government service
delivery malls to complement the MPCC initiative are also currently
underway. Such innovations in service
delivery will be facilitated by institutional integration, especially between
the spheres of government.
1.6
Given
the potential for integration offered by information and communication
technologies, it may in future be possible to apply for an ID book at a clinic,
for example, or to pay your traffic fine at a supermarket. The technology already exists for many of
these innovations and there have been isolated breakthroughs in the public and
private sectors. The aim, as already
mentioned, is to provide as many services as possible in one place, and then to
locate the service delivery point close to the people.
1.7
To
ensure that government’s thinking on access to services is well aligned, the
dpsa is currently working on developing a comprehensive 2014 Government-wide
access strategy and vision. The
strategy will focus on a range of key factors including, amongst others:
·
The
identification of a range of service delivery platforms including the use of
intermediaries such as retail outlets, ATMs that government should be using and
leveraging to accelerate service delivery;
·
The
ANC’s 2004 Election Manifesto, The
People’s Contract, calls for the
·
Identifying
the services that could be delivered through the various service delivery
channels;
·
Human
resources and funding models; and,
·
Mechanisms
for entrenching roles and responsibilities.
1.8
One of the strongest arguments for a SPS is the
facilitation of mobility between the institutions of government. Greater mobility facilitates the transfer of
functions between spheres, to allow services to be delivered at the most
appropriate level, and also enables the deployment of managers to where they
are most needed in government.
1.9
The
Constitution provides that national and provincial governments must assign
functions to a municipality, by agreement, functions that would be more
effectively administered locally, in cases where the municipality has the
capacity to administer the functions.
The Constitution and legislation also require the transfer of specific
functions, as in the cases of the Departments of Health and Water Affairs and
Forestry. One of the implications of a
transfer of functions between the spheres is that the personnel who perform
that function must also be transferred.
In terms of the Labour Relations Act, the function and the personnel
must be transferred as “a going concern”.
In addition, the conditions of service of transferring staff may not be
reduced in the process.
1.10
Numerous
complications have arisen in transferring personnel between the spheres. The conditions of service in the public service
and local government are significantly different. In the public service, a job is evaluated and calculated to have
a certain job weight, which corresponds to a salary grade. The job weight determines the salary, and
the salary grades are uniform throughout the public service, with some sectoral
exceptions. In a municipality,
remuneration is determined in line with the revenue collected by the
municipality. Affordability to a large
extent determines the salary level. In
practice this means that there are a multiplicity of pay scales in local
government.
1.11
This
makes the transfer of staff very complex, given that overall conditions of
service must be retained. Add to this
the fact that transferring employees are likely to have to resign from their
pension funds, to their detriment, and may have to join a different medical
aid. Their union might not be
represented in the bargaining council of the sphere to which they have moved. Two strategies must be employed. Firstly, mechanisms must be found in the
short term to make the transfers easier within the existing constraints. Secondly, conditions of service must be
harmonised as far as possible to ensure mobility. In this regard progress was made in the establishment of a
framework for the assignment of functions to local government as well as a
framework for the transfer of staff between spheres.
1.12
The
challenge is to create a more cohesive workforce consisting of all spheres of
government, to facilitate the process of the devolution of powers and functions
and the deployment of staff to where they are most needed. A ‘Single Public Service’ envisions,
ultimately, a uniform cadre of public servants in national and provincial
departments and municipalities who are multi-skilled and are able to deliver
integrated services from one-stop shops, and who may move seamlessly between
the spheres as service delivery needs dictate.
1.13
The
harmonisation of conditions of service requires initially that local government
rationalise its conditions of service.
This is already happening, and there have been many positive
developments. Local government is now
working towards a single medical aid and a single pension fund. In the public service there is a single
pension fund and the recently created single medical aid fund, GEMS. SALGA has instituted 10 categories of
municipality, limiting the number of pay scales, and has instituted a job
evaluation system. Despite these
efforts, public service and local government conditions are still very far
apart.
1.14
In
this regard, the dpsa, together with key strategic partners, will undertake a
review of conditions of service (pension, medical aid, remuneration and other
conditions of service) across the public service, at local government level and
in public entities and develop a policy framework for the SPS. Dpsa has already commenced with a Personnel
Expenditure Review that will ultimately inform the development and
implementation of a new remuneration policy for the SPS. Existing HR practices will also be reviewed
with the objective of developing common norms and standards to cover the SPS.
The President’s Directive
1.15
In
his State of the Nation Address on 11 February 2003, the President announced:
“We will this year also finalise the proposal for the harmonisation of systems,
conditions of service and norms between the public service in the national and
provincial spheres on the one hand, and the municipalities on the other.” In response to this call, proposals were
made to Cabinet that resulted in the work plan of the G&A task team being
approved in July 2003. The proposal
outlined a ‘four-phased’ approach toward the creation of a SPS, namely:
·
Development of an assignment framework (powers and
functions from the national to the local govt level)
·
Transfers framework
·
Rationalization of local government conditions of
service
·
Development of framework legislation for the SPS
1.16
In August 2004, progress was reported on the first three phases
which included the design of an assignment framework, a transfers framework and
progress with the rationalization of local government conditions of service.
1.17
The
Assignment Framework deals with the identification, process and
procedure for the transfer/assignment of powers and functions to local
government. Linked to the framework is
the review of the allocation of powers and functions contained in Schedules 4
and 5 of the Constitution. These
activities were driven by DPLG.
Using the experiences of DWAF and Health as case studies, the DPSA has developed a framework to facilitate transfers (mobility) of staff between the three spheres of government. The framework provides guidelines on the application of section 197 of the LRA (transfer of a business as a going concern). The framework outlines the principles in which transfers must take place, including LR requirements and funding arrangements. This framework should serve as an interim mechanism in the absence of legislation. The Minister for Public Service and Administration issued the framework covering public service employees and simultaneously requested the Minister for Provincial and Local Government to do the same to cover municipal employees.
1.19
The
SALGA is currently reviewing and rationalising from within, the conditions of
service and bargaining arrangements applicable to the local government
sphere. The Task JE system has been
adopted and 28 job evaluation regions have been determined. The catergorisation of municipalities into
10 categories and wage curves within the categories have been determined. A collective agreement has been entered into
resulting in the accreditation of a reduced number of medical and
schemes.Government is currently in the fourth phase that involves the development of
legislation for the SPS.
1.20
Government
is now in the fourth phase of work toward a SPS, namely the design of
legislation. In May 2006, the MPSA
proposed to Cabinet that a one-stage legislative process be undertaken which
will create a SPS (SPS) of national, provincial and local governments. This
legislation (regulating organisational and human resource matters, conditions
of service, labour relations, anti-corruption, service delivery and ICT for the
SPS) should be introduced and administered by a single authority, the Minister
for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA).
1.21
It
was further proposed that the Personnel Expenditure Review (PER), currently
being conducted by the dpsa, should inform the development and implementation
of a new remuneration policy for the public sector. The aim of the project is
to review current remuneration practices within the Local Government and Public
Service and inform the development of an adequately benchmarked remuneration
framework. The legislation will create
an enabling environment for key initiatives relating to conditions of
service.
1.22
In sum,
the MPSA recommended that Cabinet approve that –
(a)
a
‘one-stage’ approach be adopted in relation to the development of the proposed
legislation;
(b)
the
scope of the proposed legislation include the Public Service and Local
Government;
(c)
the
proposed legislation be introduced and administered by a single authority, the
MPSA;
(d)
measures
to be taken relating to remuneration and conditions of services will be
informed by the PER;
(e)
the
implementation strategy and the workplans guide the next steps in the project.
1.23
In
its decision, Cabinet:
(a)
Reaffirmed
that the SPS has as its goal to: -
(i)
improve
integrated service delivery; and,
(ii)
establish
a more cohesive workforce;
(b)
noted
that the realisation of the SPS must take place within the Intergovernmental
Relations Framework Legislation and that the dplg would play a pivotal role;
(c)
noted
that whilst maintaining the independence of the spheres of the Government,
synergies and co-ordination of efforts towards achieving the SPS, need to be
established;
(d)
needs to consider the establishment of
transitional arrangements to ensure continued service delivery and guard
against the possibility of financial and other implications of contracts being
entered into just prior to the realisation of the SPS; and,
(e)
noted
that the labour unions have been consulted and that they seem to be ambiguous
toward the concept of the SPS, possibly with a view to the impact that such a
step could have on their membership.
1.24
Following
the Cabinet decision, on the 11th July 2006, a workshop was convened
of all the key role players. The
objective of the workshop was to: give
effect to the Cabinet decisions; extend
current task teams to include all role players; provide a comprehensive briefing to all role players to ensure
that they are all at the same level of understanding; establish smaller work groups based on the work streams; ensure that the work groups take the process
forward within the Cabinet approved work plan.
1.25
In
conclusion, service delivery and the institutions in national, provincial and
local government responsible for delivering services are not sufficiently
integrated. Legislation is thus
proposed to create a SPS, which would create norms and standards in relation to
human resource matters, conditions of service, labour relations, service delivery,
anti-corruption and information technology.
The scope of the legislation includes the public service and
municipalities. The legislation will be
introduced and managed by a single authority.
Measures regarding conditions of service and other aspects will be
phased in within the enabling environment created by the legislation. Related work on the front-office and
back-office integration will continue in parallel.
2. Framework legislation for a Single Public Service
2.1
Achieving
the vision of a SPS presents many challenges, given the disparities and
fragmentation that currently exist.
Legislation is therefore proposed to establish the framework for a
SPS. An Implementation Strategy and a Legislative Workplan will guide the
drafting of the legislation.
2.2
The
objectives of the proposed legislation are as follows:
2.2.1
to
create a common culture of service delivery, based on the precepts of Batho
Pele, in order to ensure a consistently high standard of service from the
public service corps;
2.2.2
to
stabilise and strengthen intergovernmental relations, recognising the
distinctiveness of the spheres while emphasising their interdependence and
interrelatedness;
2.2.3
to
achieve more coherent, integrated planning, budgeting, implementation and
monitoring and evaluation within a SPS, in general and specifically in relation
to joint programmes;
2.2.4
to
establish uniform norms and standards for employment in the SPS, including
employment practices and employee relations frameworks and mandating
arrangements;
2.2.5
to
create a single senior management service cadre, where appointment would be to
the service rather than the post, facilitating the mobility of these managers
within the SPS;
2.2.6
to provide a framework for remuneration and
conditions of service for the SPS, recognising that any changes to existing
medical aid and retirement fund arrangements will be subjected to an impact
study and actuarial evaluation;
2.2.7
to
provide for a human resource development strategy for the SPS and the
development of an integrated skills database to support human resource
planning;
2.2.8
to
provide a mechanism for the approval of deviations from the norms and standards
in exceptional circumstances or in the case of certain categories of employee;
2.2.9
to
provide a mechanism for the transfer of functions and staff between
institutions or spheres of government, within the framework provided by the
Constitution and the Labour Relations Act;
2.2.10
to
provide for the application across the spheres of government of the national
e-government programme framework; and
2.2.11
to
provide for an anti-corruption strategy and standards of conduct for the SPS.
2.2.12
The
scope of the proposed legislation would include the current public service and
municipalities. Public entities will be
regulated by separate legislation that will strengthen corporate governance and
regulate human resource matters for public entities.
2.2.13
The
legislation will create the enabling environment for the SPS and will ensure
compliance with the implementation of revised human resource policies and
practices including conditions of service.
3. Progress
3.1
Work
on the SPS project is being undertaken in terms of three main work streams:
·
the
integration of the front office (points of service delivery);
·
the
integration of the back office (ICT and Information Systems); and,
·
the
integration of the institutions that deliver services to the people.
3.2
In
relation to the front office, international experience (eg Brazil and Canada)
has shown that the achievement of an integrated front office may precede back
office integration, which is a longer-term undertaking. In South Africa some groundbreaking work has
already been done in this regard: MPCCs, Batho Pele Gateway and CDWs. Back
office integration will take place within a comprehensive e-Government
Programme Framework. Institutional
integration focuses on the harmonisation of conditions of service and norms and
the development of overarching framework legislation for public
administration. A work plan outlining
the detailed projects that will see the realisation of the objectives of the
SPS has also been compiled and is in the process of being implemented.
3.3
As
part of the implementation of that workplan, key partners have been identified
for each of the five work areas to ensure full government participation in the
different work streams, which are as follows:
·
Service
delivery: Access and Cascading Batho
Pele to Local Government (integration of the front office);
·
ICT
enablement of the SPS (integration of the back office);
·
Human
Resources Management and Development (institutional integration);
·
Anti-corruption; and
·
Framework
Legislation for the SPS.
3.4
The
key partners identified for the work streams include the following
institutions: the Presidency; the dplg; DHA; DWAF; Education; DoC; NT; GCIS;
and, SALGA. Letters have been sent to Executing Authorities and heads of the
various institutions advising them on the outcome of the Cabinet decision and
requesting additional representatives for the different work streams. Several
meetings and a workshop (targeted for 11 July 2006) have also been held to map
the way forward with the various projects.
Teams have been constituted and are moving toward achieving the outputs
in the different work areas (objective of 11 July 2006 workshop).
Access Strategy
4.1
As
part of the revitalisation of Batho Pele, the goal of translating the Access
Framework into a Comprehensive Access Strategy and Vision 2014 has been
achieved. The document is currently
undergoing a process of consultation and will formally be submitted to Cabinet
by October 2006 for approval once this process is complete. The Access Strategy acknowledges the inroads
made by Government in achieving integrated and accessible service delivery
through the usage of platforms such as MPCCs, the Batho Pele Gateway, Call
Centres, Mobile Units, CDWs, but argues, however, that more needs to be done to
strengthen current initiatives, to capitalise on new technology, to expand on
existing access initiatives (access points) through creative, innovative and
cost effective means, to increase the number of services delivered to the
citizens via these various channels, to focus on human resource related matters
such as capacity building, remuneration and conditions of service and, to
inculcate an ethos of Batho Pele as central to each of these access
initiatives.
4.2
The
Access Strategy further argues that the opportunities presented by the new
economy will enable services to be delivered in a range of formats, providing
more targeted and relevant content, faster and more effectively. Access to
services is about customer care, attitude, human interaction, poverty
alleviation and eradication; and use of the most appropriate technologies as a
tool. It is important to have the front-end and back-end offices aligned/
complementing each other to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of service
delivery.
4.3
Access
is also about the citizen participation in the governance processes and
structures. Citizens’ participation is important considering that the Batho
Pele principles such as Consultation, Information, Openness and Transparency
refer to citizens’ access to information in different forms. Citizens’
participation will also ensure that services rendered by the Public Service are
demand driven and modes of channels utilised to render such services are
relevant and effective to render services and have taken into account the
citizens’ capacity/ level of literacy.
4.4
The
use of relevant language is important to ensure access to services. This
includes sign language and brails for written material. Language has to be
catered for in both front-end and back-end offices to ensure that Citizens
understand the services rendered and/ or information at all times.
4.5
The Integrated National Disability Strategy White
Paper identifies barriers to free access to services experienced by the people
with disability. The structural barriers are:
the built environment; inaccessible service points; inaccessible
entrances due to security systems; poor town planning; and poor interior
design. The Access Strategy will complement the recommendations from the White
Paper to ensure barrier-free society, even to the people with disabilities.
4.6
The
flexibility of Public Service hours of work is important as in some departments
this is one of the barriers to access services. These are some of the issues
that the Access Strategy would also seek to address.
4.7
As
part of the implementation of the Access Strategy, projects will focus on
achieving the following outcomes:
·
Integrated Services (basket of services)
o
To enhance seamless
service delivery and impact.
o
To improve customer
experience.
o
To improve
operational systems: front office –back office integration.
o
To enhance human
capability through increased management skills.
To foster a culture of service delivery by inculcating “A new way of thinking” and a new set of behaviours.
o
To develop basic service standards for integrated
service delivery.
o
To design and implement annual review mechanisms.
o
To ensure that all access points where possible, are
similar in nature and operations.
o
To increase compliance in service standards
·
Monitoring and Evaluation
o
Develop a generic model of good practice with key
performance indicators and encourage departments to achieve more results in
this area of work.
o
Support and enforce the implementation of the
monitoring template.
o
Coordinate Public Service wide regular reporting on
the implementation of the principle of access.
o
Encourage departments not only to report on their
performance, but also to evaluate and solicit public feedback on their
performance.
o
To inculcate the culture of redress in government
departments
Cascading Batho Pele to Local Government
4.8
As
part of the strategy of inculcating the Batho Pele ethos and practices at the
Local Government level, a Change Management Engagement Programme was designed
and is currently being implemented. The
following Municipalities/Metros/Districts have been trained on the Change
Management Engagement Programme:
·
Western
Cape – 18 Trainers have been trained in the following municipalities: Drakenstein, Breede Valley, Stellenbosch and
Swellendam.
·
KwaZulu-Natal
– 75 Trainers trained in the following metro and districts:
i.
Ethekwini
Metro
ii.
Training
was conducted in 9 districts on the 19th – 20th June
2006. The districts are: Umkhanyakude; Ilembe; Uthungulu; Uthukela; Ugu;
Sisonke; Amajuba; Umzinyathi; and, Umsunduzi. The outstanding districts will be
trained by end of July 2006.
·
Gauteng:
·
City
of Joburg – For the month of June 2006, 50 candidates will be trained and a
further 20 will be trained in July 2006.
·
City
of Tshwane – Initial meetings have been held with the Marketing General Manager
and the dpsa was also invited to create awareness in one of the department’s
strategic sessions and thereafter dates for training will be set.
·
Meetings
with Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga are scheduled to take place in July
2006 to agree on the roll out of the training programme in their respective
provinces.
4.9
Given
the high demand from all the provinces for this programme, additional capacity
will be built in the dpsa so that more provinces can be included within a
shorter space of time. As part of
cascading Batho Pele to Local Government, the municipalities will be integrated
in all the Batho Pele Activities, e.g. Public Service Week, Africa Public Service
Day and the Learning Network.
5.1
The MPSA has the specific responsibility for the
management of ICT within government as well as ensuring that e-Government is
coherently developed across the Public Service. The Implementation Strategy and
the Workplan talk to the Integration of the Back Office which in essence is to
ensure that government ICT or Information Systems implementation are governed
by the ICT House of Values principles espoused in the e-Government policy, that
of interoperability, security, economies of scale and the elimination of
unnecessary duplication in IT systems implementation.
5.2
The dpsa has the responsibility of ensuring that
both discrete and transversal ICT systems across the three spheres of
government are held against these principles. The dpsa has the further
responsibility of ensuring that the integration of the front office and the
successful implementation of service delivery mechanisms as espoused in the
Access Strategy are facilitated and enabled through ICT and Information Systems
in the same manner as transversal systems so that citizens have a single,
seamless experience of government services.
To this end a number of projects have been incorporated into the
attached SPS work plan.
5.3
The e-Government Framework for National and
Provincial government has been endorsed by SITA, GITOC, PNC on ISAD as well as
the Governance and Administration Cluster. A Cabinet Memorandum is pending
agreement on a portfolio of projects and an e-Government catalytic project,
which will be directed at achieving early and visible benefits for government
and citizens. The dpsa and all necessary stakeholders are working together to
develop a strategy and plan to ensure that the e-Government framework is
implemented by all spheres of government. SPS legislation and regulations will
extend the MPSA’s responsibility in terms of ICT, IM and e-Government to all
spheres of government.
5.4
The first phase of e-Government, the Batho Pele
Gateway portal (www.gov.za) is maturing. On 1
May 2006 the existing service information content was translated to 7 languages
with the remaining four to follow by year-end. A content management strategy is
under consultation to extend content management to provincial and local
spheres. A web-site co-existence
strategy has been drafted for consultation to ensure the Batho Pele Gateway
will coexist harmoniously with other web sites in all three spheres of
government to ensure that content of government information is integrated and
that citizens view government in as coherent a manner as possible.
5.5
The eIGIS system has been completed and is being
deployed at national and provincial level. This will retain all information
about government ICT systems and projects and is a prerequisite for further
e-Government system integration work, especially of backend systems and
databases.
5.6
The CabEnet system, formerly known as Kite, has been
completed and is in the process of being deployed to all national departments.
This will assist Cabinet and Directors General and certain support staff to
communicate and manage information electronically with expected significant
information effectiveness and efficiency improvements at the executive level of
government. Provincial governments have showed interest in CabEnet also.
5.7
SITA has embarked on a training programme to ensure
that those charged with ICT systems operations and project managers are
equipped with internationally acknowledged best practices. This will result in
higher systems availability and more predictable work on ICT projects.
5.8
The dpsa is supporting the Africa-wide initiative on
Open Source Software by providing Secretariat services, jointly with Meraka
Institute, for FOSSFA.
Challenges
5.9
The challenges in translating the dpsa responsibility
of the management of ICT and the delivery of successful e-Government lies
initially in extending consultation to the local sphere of government of the
e-Government framework endorsed at the national and provincial level, working
together with all government CIOs and the SITA as well as key departments such
as NT, DoC, the dplg, DHA, etc.
5.10
Furthermore, internal departmental level ICT
Governance Models need to be evolved for all three spheres of government to
support the e-Government Framework and by extension, the SPS.
5.11
The lack of support and or capacity to populate the
eIGIS system with information in order to develop a meaningful portfolio of ICT
projects is currently inhibiting more rapid progress.
5.12
The dpsa has capacitated itself to lead and
coordinate the task of developing and maintaining a government wide ICT systems
architecture to support the evolving e-Government work. Cooperation and
consultation with the above mentioned stakeholders will be vital in the
attainment of this enabling objective.
Recommendations
5.13
It
is recommended that a study should be conducted to look at systems and projects
that exist within the Local Government sphere and other matters relating to
this. This will serve to inform the ensuing consultative process and optimal
implementation of a holistic e-Government Framework.
5.14
It is recommended that
government CIOs be instructed by Directors General of all provinces and
departments to populate the eIGIS system with current system and project
information and to maintain this information current at all times.
5.15
It is recommended that
national and provincial departments maintain an ongoing engagement with the
dpsa’s new ICT Oversight directorate to obtain support and guidance on matters
related to ICT regulations in the Public Service.
6. Institutional integration
6.1
In
August 2004, a two-stage legislative process was advocated, based on the need
to harmonise Local Government and public entities internally before drafting
overarching framework legislation. Good
progress has been made in the ‘first stage’ of the process. Legislation to regulate Local Government
employment matters was drafted. In
light of the Cabinet decision of 31 May 2006, the Municipal Employees Bill will
become a Chapter within the overarching Legislation. A Policy Framework for the Governance and Administration of
Public Sector Institutions, which makes proposals on the governance and
administration of public entities, was developed and is currently awaiting the
Shareholder Management Model work of the DPE to be finalised to ensure
alignment before submission to Cabinet for approval of both frameworks.
6.2
The dpsa has commenced with a process to
develop a revised remuneration policy for the public sector. The intention is that the revised policy
should eventually apply to the current Public Service, municipalities and some
public entities. The actual drafting of
the revised policy has not yet started.
However, a PER 2006 is currently being executed. Remuneration is one of the main focus areas
of the PER 2006. It is anticipated that
the recommendations to be contained in the final PER 2006 report will inform
the development of the revised remuneration policy. The following paragraphs will provide an overview of progress
with the PER 2006 project to date (middle of June 2006).
6.3
The
work is executed in the following four workstreams:
·
Research
·
Economic
analysis
·
Public
sector remuneration
·
Stakeholder
communication
6.4
The
project is currently in the review phase. The workstream is currently finalising a
quantitative and qualitative analysis of the HR trends and practices, with
specific emphasis on remuneration, in institutions in the public sector:
·
The
quantitative analysis focuses on trends such as the number of employees
and posts per sector, personnel expenditure trends, turnover rates, etc. The information required for the analysis
is, in the case of the Public Service, being obtained from Persal and
Vulindlela. Due to the fact that no
central HR information systems exist for municipalities and public entities,
the required information, in the case of municipalities, is being obtained
during interviews with a sample of municipalities. Due to the large number and diverse nature of public entities and
the lack of centrally available information on these public entities, it has
been decided that a quantitative analysis of the situation in these public
entities will not be done.
·
During
the qualitative analysis, an assessment is being done of the
effectiveness of various remuneration and related practices in a sample of
public sector institutions. For this
purpose a sample of 29 national and provincial departments, 10 public entities
and 24 municipalities has been selected.
Interviews have been conducted with HR and other managers in the
institutions to obtain their views on the various practices. A comprehensive interview questionnaire was
developed for this purpose. To deal
with the relatively large number of municipalities in the sample, SALGA
appointed a separate service provider to assist with the process. Approximately 50 interviews with
departments, municipalities and public entities have been completed.
6.5
The
workstream has commenced with a process to conduct a job evaluation study on a
sample of jobs in the national, provincial and local governments to assess the
effectiveness of the current job evaluation systems utilised in these spheres
of Government (Equate and TASK). The
processes and practices followed in the evaluation and grading of jobs in these
spheres will also be assessed. Due to
the large number of different job evaluation systems utilised by public
entities, public entities will not be included in the study.
6.6
The
workstream is also in the process of accessing information on best practices
with regard to remuneration and related practices for benchmarking
purposes. Information relating to
private and public sector organisations, both national and international, will
be considered.
Rationalisation of Conditions of Service in the
Local Government Sector
6.7
Work
on a single pension fund for the Local Government level has achieved momentum
with the registration of the Local Government Pension Fund currently with the
Registrar. The pension fund will be a
defined contribution targeting 30 000 employees who have no retirement
provision. SALGA is still in the
process of engaging with interested parties on future arrangements for
employees belonging to existing funds.
6.8
There
are currently six medical aid schemes accredited and these are: Lamaf, Bonitas, Global Health, Munimed,
Samwumed, and Hosmed. The employer’s
contribution is capped at R2, 070. The
next round of accreditation is scheduled for August.
6.9
On
the Job Evaluation Systems, a collective agreement has been reached that Task
will be the applicable system at the Local Government level. Twenty-seven principal job evaluation
regions have been designated. To date,
the system has been applied in 60 municipalities.
6.10
On 31 May 2006, the Minister of Provincial and Local Government
published draft Municipal Performance Regulations for senior managers in Local
Government, that is, municipal managers, and managers reporting to the
municipal manager appointed in terms of section 57 of the Local
Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000
(Act No. 32 of 2000), for public comment.
The draft regulations were issued in terms of section 120, read with
section 72 of the Systems Act.
6.11
The regulations seek to set out how the performance of municipalities
will be uniformly directed, monitored and improved. The regulations also deal
with employment contracts for senior managers, as well as the performance
agreements entered into between municipal councils and municipal managers, and
which is intended to ensure a basis for continuous improvement in Local Government,
and to provide an assurance to the municipal council of what the relevant
council can and should expect from their senior managers.
6.12
This intervention by the MPLG should be seen as a further step to
achieving standardization within the local government sector, with the view to
eventually assisting and facilitating integration into the Public Service.
Human Resource Management
and Development for the Single Public Service
6.13
Experience
has shown that institutions in all spheres have human resource capacity
problems, which impacts on their ability to deliver services on the ground.
Under the SPS, it will be critical that resources are allocated to areas where
they are needed. To achieve this goal, it is imperative that the existing human
resource frameworks be aligned and “unified” for purposes of establishing the
SPS concept. To realise this, it will be critical to establish whether current
human resource management practices across the three spheres of government will
support this vision, and if not, what should be done to ensure the required
degree of alignment and unification.
6.14
To commence work on this area, the approach will be
to undertake a review
of prevailing human resource management practices in Local Government, the
Public Service and public entities with the ultimate objective of developing a
common set of norms and standards pertaining to employment practices including,
but not limited to-
·
Human
Resource Planning and Employment Equity
·
Recruitment
and selection;
·
Conditions
for employment
·
Career
management and promotions
·
Retention
measures
·
Mobility
arrangements between spheres, including but not limited to transfers and
secondments
·
Performance
management;
·
Competency
frameworks
·
Financial
disclosure
·
Senior
management service
6.15
project plan has been compiled and is in the
process of undergoing consultation with key partners. It is envisaged that the project will consist of 6 phases with
project closure targeted for 31 October 2007.
Fighting
Corruption, Conflict of Interest and Conduct:
Designing norms and standards for the Single Public Service
6.16
The
need for a public sector-wide approach to fighting corruption was identified by
the Anti-corruption Coordinating Committee (ACCC) during 2002. The ACCC
addressed this need by attempting to roll out the Public Service
Anti-corruption Strategy, or parts thereof, to the Local Government and public
entities sub-sectors. Whilst this was successful in part, the ACCC was
cognisant of the fact that a single framework of norms and standards
specifically approved by Cabinet was required to ensure coherence and
integration of the fight against corruption within the public sector.
6.17
The
emergence of the African Union and United Nations legal instruments against
corruption brought about a less narrow approach to fighting corruption and
these instruments put an emphasis on integrity of governance systems and a
broader understanding of the public sector (as against the Public Service). As
a result the work and organisation of the dpsa’s anti-corruption programme were restructured and aligned
with the approach of integrity of governance systems and the development of a
Public Sector Governance Strategy was identified as a key deliverable for the
2008/09 financial year.
6.18
In
pursuance of the goal of a single Public Sector Governance Strategy by 2008/09,
a compliance audit and gap analysis of the Public Service Anti-corruption
Strategy was conducted in the 2005/06 financial year and a full scale impact
assessment of the existing national anti-corruption framework is being conducted
over the 2006/07 and 2007/08 financial years, with a country corruption report
expected by December 2007. These assessments will form the basis for sectoral
consultations and the ultimate development of policy proposals on a Public
Sector Governance Strategy in the 2008/09 financial year. Whilst consultations have been conducted
between the dpsa and the dplg, a combined workplan with
participation from SALGA still needs to be developed.
6.19
The
rollout of the Local Government Anti-corruption Campaign is in early stages of
implementation and the efficacy of this campaign has not been measured and
evaluated and as such data to inform further policy development is not readily
available as is the case with the Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy. The impact
assessment requires a dedicated Local Government focus in order to produce data
for policy purposes.
7. Way
forward
7.1
In
taking the project forward a number of challenges, over and above those
indicated above, have been identified.
These relate to the following areas:
(a) Communication
Under the banner of communication, it will be
important for the G&A Task Team, and the political and administrative
principles to ensure support for the SPS.
This can be achieved through continued information sharing using various
key platforms such as the SALGA NEC where the MPSA recently presented the SPS
project. It will be important to ensure
that stakeholders are informed of progress, as well as challenges in undertaking
the various work streams. To this end,
the G&A Task Team will ensure that regular reports are compiled and
provided to the G&A Fosad, G&A Cabinet Committee and Cabinet.
(b) Key Partner and Stakeholder
Participation
Key decisions have been obtained from Cabinet that pave the way
for the full implementation of the SPS strategy and workplan. Successful and timely conclusion of the
projects will be dependent on full participation by the identified partners and
stakeholders. It will be crucial that
heads of the relevant institutions ensure that officials nominated to
participate in the working teams play their role in ensuring the realisation of
the SPS. This can be achieved by
ensuring that the relevant work areas as set out in the SPS workplan are included
in the performance agreements of the various officials as well as building the
projects into departments’ strategies and workplans.