Strategic Planning Workshop of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration: 18 – 20 February 2007, dated 2 March 2007:

1. INTRODUCTION

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration held a Strategic Planning Workshop at the Villa Via Hotel in Gordon’s Bay, with a view to reflect on its performance for the year 2006 and to develop a programme of action for 2007. The theme of the Strategic Planning Workshop was “Accelerating Transformation and Service Delivery in the second decade of freedom: The centrality of Public Service and Administration”

This theme was adopted after noting that although it was the same theme for 2006, the message contained therein is still relevant for 2007.

2. ATTENDANCE

The following stakeholders attended this strategic planning Workshop:

Portfolio Committee

Mr Gomomo PJ, MP (Chairperson)

Mr Baloyi MR, MP

Mr Gcwabaza NE, MP

Mr Julies IF, MP

Mr Khumalo KK, MP

Mr Mthembu B, MP

Ms Matsomela MJJ, MP

Ms Mentor VM, MP

Mr Minnie KJ, MP

Mr Nyambi AJ, MP

Mr Sikakane R, MP

APOLOGIES

Ms Maloney L, MP

Ms Mashangoane P, MP

Dr Roopnarain U, MP

Support Staff

Dyasi Lindelwa: Committee Secretary

Biyela Mlungisi: Committee Researcher

Mninzi Sheilla: PA to the Chairperson

Sibisi Nomusa: Committee Assistant

Bouw Chantal: Secretary to Mr Baloyi

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION (DPSA)

Prof. R Levin, DG

Dr E Kornegay, DDG

Mr R Shaw, Manager in the Office of the DG

Ms C Clark, DDG: Human Resources Management

Mrs D Wilsenach, Acting DDG: Corporate Management and CFO

Mrs SM Van Schoor, Chief Director: Legal Services

Ms S Abrahams, Parliamentary Liaison Officer

Mr L Rabkin, Manager Cabinet Services and Parliamentary Liaison Officer

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC)

Prof. SS Sangweni, Chairperson

Mr J Ernstzen, Deputy Chairperson

Dr NV Maharaj, Commissioner

Mr KE Mahoai, Commissioner

Dr D Maphumulo, DDG

Mr M Diphofa, DDG

Mr AH Simpson, Deputy Director General

Ms N Gwaza, Parliamentary Liaison Officer

THE SOUTH AFRICN MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (SAMDI)

Prof. SJH Hendricks, Deputy Director General

Mr JMP Welman, Executive Manager: Strategic Support

STATE INFORMATION TECHNOLGY AGENCY (SITA)

Mr S Ngubane, Head: Office of the CEO

Ms T Abrahams, Parliamentary Liaison Officer

SPECIAL DELEGATION AND GUEST SPEAKER

Professor DR Thakhathi attended as an invited Guest Speaker.

3. The Chairperson’s opening remarks:

In opening the meeting, the Chairperson alluded to the following:-

That this strategic planning workshop presents an opportunity for the Portfolio Committee and other stakeholders to reflect on their performance against the goals they set themselves in 2006. He indicated that the Portfolio Committee could not be able to complete its programme for the year 2006 because of circumstances beyond the Committee’s control, such as the fluctuations in the Parliament programme and related developments.

As we evaluate our performance and plan ahead we have to assess the impact of our failure to complete our programme. He indicated that even in as far as this Committee performing its oversight role on the functions of Government Departments is concerned, we may not be in a position to present a proud record that we performed to the level of our expectations.

One failure indicator on the part of the Portfolio Committee is that we could not be able to insist on Departments responding to the reports of the Public Service Commission.

A common feature in the entire Public Service is that we are not rising to the challenge of ensuring that there is an effective service delivery due, in some instances, to bureaucratic tendencies. In this regard he sighted an example of the project in his constituency area where due to technicalities involving the local municipality, his constituency faced a challenge of possibly losing a project donated by the Netherlands Government.

That the Portfolio Committee should be seen as central in dealing with service delivery in the same way that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) does in dealing with public accounts issues. Quoting what the President said recently in a ANC Lekgotla, the Chairperson indicated that there should be more time allocated for public consultation at the local areas.

That whereas acknowledging that, reality dictating, we more often talk about poverty alleviation, he would argue strongly that a primary objective of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and the Public Service in general, should be to eradicate poverty, with clear time frames having to determine the Agenda of oversight bodies.

4. Address by the guest speaker

Professor Thakhathi presented a paper on the theme of the workshop, and in doing so, he stressed the followings:

· That transformation is a priority issue in South Africa.

· That this Portfolio Committee should be seen as a central driver of transformation and coordinating all Departments.

· In order to achieve its goals the Portfolio Committee should develop a more focused approach, where it may want to assign dedicated tasks attaching its members to champion targeted oversight functions to particular Government Departments over and above the conventional view where this Portfolio Committee narrowly views the “be-all and the end-all” scope of their oversight functions on the Department of Public Service and Administration, the Public Service Commission, the South African Management Development Institute and the State Information Technology Agency.

· The Portfolio Committee should internalise its obligations to ensure that measurable targets are reached and that it interacts with public servants at the service delivery level.

· That we need to empower the Districts to be able to manage the transformation agenda at the local level.

· That District levels of Government are empowered to be able to manage the transformation agenda at the local level.

· That there is a need to identify, recognise and reward champions of service delivery from amongst our public servants, and the criteria to do so should be based on meeting the requirements of being visionary, caring and competent.

· That we often neglect doing an induction of the public servants on recruitment and only rely on their perceived sense of patriotism that they will do the best, only to be surprised at some stage when the opposite holds true.

· That we should be inculcating the sense of humanising the public service in order to engender the culture of excellence.

· That the Portfolio Committee, in addition to what they do in the boardrooms and in Parliament work in general, should keep in contact with people through the use of available diverse communication media.

· That over time our leadership communicate important messages that sometimes disappear before being acted upon and as a result such well considered policy statements end up evaporation into oblivion, such as the call by the President for impatience with the poor performing public servants.

5. INTERACTIONS WITH THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS

The Workshop appreciated the contribution by Professor Thakhathi as a useful motivational address.

During interaction with the address, the following issues emerged:

· The lesson on back to basics put emphasis on grand planning having to be linked to achievable tangible goals set.

· Whereas vision and policies are in place, there is room for improvement in the implementation thereof.

· In order to address this challenge of implementation, the leadership should take it as a priority to go to the Districts, get a feel of what is going on and develop strategies to deal with these issues in order to improve service delivery.

In responding to the view for the workshop to be analytical in identifying blockages, the following came to light.

· The front-line public servants are not given enough attention, hence, they may not at all times be motivated to the level as to be able to discharge of their best capable.

· Their conditions of service are not always conducive, such as a situation where they work with poor facilities and poor infrastructure.

· There is no rigorous planning for the implementation of legislation, particularly the financial implication of the implementation thereof.

· There is no attractive incentive for the retention of Public Service personnel, thus leading to high staff turnover and contributing to already prevalent skills shortage.

· Departments are not always having the right organisational structures and that even in those cases where there are such structures there are still vacancies that are not filled.

· Some Departments do not have service delivery improvement plans.

· The Department of Public Service and Administration as well as the Public Service Commission are not asserting themselves to call on Departments for hearings on service delivery issues.

6. PRESENTATIONS

The Strategic plans of the following institutions were presented to the workshop, discussed and considered in shaping the workshop’s conclusion and way forward:

§ Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA)

§ The South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI)

§ The Public Service Commission (PSC)

§ The State Information Technology Agency (SITA)

The Department of Public Service and Administration also presented a report on the African Peer Review mechanism: South Africa’s country self assessment report.

7. CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD

After the interactions on all the presentations, and due consideration taken of the input of the Guest Speaker, the State of the Nation Address and other considerations, the Workshop resolved that the programme of further interactions between the Portfolio Committee and the Stakeholders should respond to and be guided by four thematic areas, namely:

· Strengthening democracy and accelerating service delivery in the Second Decade of Freedom;

· The impact of policy in building a non-racial, non-sexist democratic society;

· The Second Decade of Freedom and the global environment; and

· The State as an institution of peoples’ power.

As a Way Forward, the Workshop adopted a draft Programme of Action for the Portfolio Committee, for the year 2007, as follows hereafter.

PROGRAMME OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION, 2007


February 2007
DATE	ITEM	Stakeholders		Venue	Time
		Briefing	Attending
21 Wednesday	§ Workshop: Public Service Amendment Bill	PC	DPSA	S35	09h00-13h00
28 Wednesday	§ Consideration of the Public Service Amendment Bill § Consideration of the Strategic Planning report	PC	DPSA	Committee Room 2 120 Plein Street	09H00-13H00

March 2007
02 Friday	§ Briefings on: Batho Pele § Consideration of 2007/8 budget	PSC	SITA SAMDI DPSA	V226	09H00-13H00
07 Wednesday	§ Performance Management of HOD’s	PSC	DPSA SITA SAMDI	E340	09h00-13h00
09 Friday	Adoption of 2006/7 PC and Departments Annual reports Finalisation of outstanding issues: § Review of the oversight visits to Provinces § Review of conferences and Study Tours: o IASIA o India o SAAPAM o (GOPAC)	PC	DPSA	S12A	09H00-11H00
14 Wednesday	Public Service Amendment Bill § Public Hearings	Mr Sunil Gopal NAPTOSA IMATU	DPSA Open	Iziko Museum	09H00-13H00

DATE		ITEM		Stakeholders				Venue		Time
				Briefing			Attending
16 Friday		§ Consideration of 2007/8 budget		DPSA SAMDI SITA				E540		09H00-12H00
21 Wednesday		HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
28 Wednesday		Public Service Amendment Bill § Public Hearings	COSATU & Affiliates			DPSA Open		E249		09H00-13H00
30 Friday		Consideration of the Public Service § Amendment Bill	PSC			DPSA Open		E249		09H00-13H00
CONSTITUENCY PERIOD: 02 – 30 April
DATE	ITEM				Stakeholders			Venue	Time
					Briefing		Attending
16 April	Public Service Amendment Bill § Issues emanating from the Public Hearings				Committee Researcher		DPSA OPEN	E249	09H00-13H00
17 April	Public Service Amendment Bill § Issues emanating from further interaction				DPSA		OPEN	E249	09H00-13H00
18 – 19 April	Public Service Amendment Bill § Consideration				PC		DPSA OPEN	E249	09H00-13H00
23-26 April	Public Service Amendment Bill § Consideration				PC		DPSA	E249	09H00-13H00

May 2007
A. DATE	ITEM	Stakeholders		Venue	Time
A. DATE	ITEM	Briefing	Attending	Venue	Time
02 – 11	§ Targeted Oversight Visits: Oversight on Social Security Services	Dept. of Home Affairs Dept. of Social Development Dept. of Health	All Stakeholders	Northern Cape Mpuma-langa	09H00-17H00
16 Wednesday	§ Report on Public Servants serving as Councillors § State of the Public Service Report 2007	PSC	DPSA SITA SAMDI	TBA	09H00-13H00
18 Friday	§ Hearings on the International Strategy of DPSA (South to South Dialogue, Africa Agenda, and IBSA)	DPSA SAMDI	PSC SITA SAMDI	TBA	09H00-13H00
23 Wednesday	§ Briefing: Support to Dept. of Home Affairs on ID & Passport systems § Briefing: Cyber Crime	SITA	Dept. of Home Affairs	TBA	09H00-13H00
25 Friday	§ Briefing: Public Management Watch- § Batho Pele and Project KHAEDU	DPSA	PSC SITA SAMDI	TBA	09H00-13H00
30 Wednesday	§ Gender Mainstreaming in the Public Service § Audit on Implementation of PSC recommendations	PSC DPSA SAMDI	SITA	TBA	09H00-13H00
June 2007
DATE	ITEM	Stakeholders		Venue	Time
DATE	ITEM	Briefing	Attending	Venue	Time
06 Wednesday	§ Hearings on: Management of poor performance in the Public Service § Hearings on: The effectiveness of the National Anti-corruption Hotlines	PSC	SITA SAMDI DPSA	TBA	09H00-13H00
08 Friday	§ Hearings: Induction & re-orientation programmes in the Public Service	SAMDI	DPSA SITA PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00

DATE	ITEM	Stakeholders		Venue	Time
DATE	ITEM	Briefing	Attending	Venue	Time
13 Wednesday	§ Hearings: Report on the Audit of the Poverty Reduction programme	PSC	DPSA SITA SAMDI	TBA	09H00-13H00
20 Wednesday	§ HRD Strategy in the Public Service § Management of Compensation	DPSA GEMS	SITA SAMDI PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00
22 Friday	§ Hearings: Memoranda of understanding: SITA with PAP and NEPAD	SITA	DSPA SAMDI PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00
27 Wednesday	§ Hearings: Performance profile of Peace and Stability Cluster	Peace and Stability cluster	DPSA SITA SAMDI PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00
CONSTITUENCY PERIOD: 02 – 27 jULY

August 2007
01 Wednesday	§ Hearings: Performance of Economic Transformation Cluster	Economic Transformation Cluster	DPSA SITA SAMDI PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00
03 Friday	§ Briefing: Service Delivery Improvement Plans	DPSA	SITA SAMDI PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00
06 to 10	§ Inspection on Service Delivery Improvement Plans of National Departments	Dept of Public Works Dept of Housing Dept of Education	PC SITA SAMDI PSC	GAU-TENG	09H00-17H00
13 to 17	§ Inspection on Service Delivery Improvement Plans of Provincial Departments	Dept of Public Works Dept of Housing Dept of Education	PC SITA SAMDI PSC	GAU-TENG	09H00-17H00

August 2007
DATE	ITEM			Stakeholders		Venue		Time
				Briefing	Attending
22 Wednesday		§ State of the Public Service Commission – post review	PSC		DPSA SITA SAMDI		TBA	09H00-13H00
29 Wednesday		§ Hearings: The Single Public Service Bill	DPSA		SITA SAMDI PSC		TBA	09H00-13H00
CONSTITUENCY PERIOD: 25 – 06 oCTOBER

September 2007
DATE	ITEM	Stakeholders		Venue	Time
DATE	ITEM	Briefing	Attending	Venue	Time
05 Wednesday	§ Hearings: Feedback on ASGI-SA Programme of Action	DPSA	PSC SITA SAMDI	TBA	09H00-13H00
12 Wednesday	§ Hearings: Performance of the Governance and Administration Cluster	Governance and Administration Cluster	DPSA SAMDI SITA PSC	TBA	09H00-13H00
19 Wednesday	§ Hearings: on impact of the Housing delivery in Poverty eradication	Dept. of Housing PSC	DPSA SITA SAMDI	TBA	09H00-13H00
CONSTITUENCY PERIOD: 25 – 06 oCTOBER

INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL TRIPS
DATE	CONFERENCE	VENUE	ATTENDANCE
28 Feb –2 March 2007	§ Preparation for Global Forum V Conference (Africa Forum)	T.B.A.	1 Delegate
26th – 28th March 2007	§ 1^st Biennial Labour Relations Conference	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
28 –30 March	§ Monitoring and Evaluation Conference (PSC)	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
Date and venue to be announced	§ Global Conference of Parliamentarians against Corruption, New Jersey, USA	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
2^nd – 5^th April 2007	§ Global Forum V Conference	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
19^th–20^th April 2007	§ IPMA-HR Conference	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
3-4 July 2007	§ Common Wealth Forum on the African Heads of Public Service	Magaliesburg	3 Delegates
9^th - 14^th Jul 2007	§ IASIA Conference; United Arab Emirates	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
July 2007	§ The South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM)	T.B.A.	2 Delegates
TBA	Round Table Seminar on Transformation of SAMDI	T.B.A.

3. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and

Administration on the SAAPAM Conference held 20- 22 September 2006, dated 2 March 2007:

Annual Conference of the South African Association of Public Service and Administration Management (SAAPAM) was held at the Sun Coast Conference and Corporate Events in Durban on the 20th- 22nd September 2006.

Introduction

The Portfolio Committee of Public Service and Administration was invited and required to send a delegation to participate in the Conference proceedings. The theme of the conference was: “Improving Implementation for Accelerated Delivery”.

The delegation to the conference comprised of the following:

§ Ms M.J.J. Matsomela MP (ANC)

§ Mr R. Sikakane MP (ANC)

§ Mr I.F. Julies MP (DA)

Observations

Most of the delegates were academics from different institutions of higher education in South Africa.

A total number of forty-eight papers were delivered, mostly by academics, as well as senior government officials. The Director General, Professor R. Levin, who also gave the keynote address viz, “The Revolving Door”, officially opened the conference.

2.1 The following topics were broadly covered during presentations and discussions:

§ Institutional reform for accelerated delivery.

§ Human Resource development and learning for accelerated delivery.

§ Local Governance and delivery.

§ The ethics of accelerated delivery.

2.1.1 Institutional reform for accelerated delivery

A number of papers were delivered on the topic. Most presenters emphasized the importance of institutional reform as well as the different ways that could be utilized in transforming and modernizing the South African public financial management to accelerate delivery. An interesting presentation and information was made on the institutional measures using the experiences within the Namibian public sector to ensure accelerated service delivery. Some of the models were illustrated with a view to adapting them to the South African public service for improved service delivery.

2.1.2 Human Resource development and Learning for accelerated delivery

This topic was discussed at length, and from the papers delivered there was consensus that human resource development is key to a credible public service. The following challenges were highlighted:

· Training programmes are not coordinated efficiently.

· The need for ongoing training and development.

· The relevance of training programmes.

· Needs-based and Strategic planning.

2.1.3 Local Governance and delivery

A lot of emphasis was put on the need for effective municipal government and administration as preconditions for effective service delivery. There was an in-depth discussion on the co-ordination and control strategy as means of paving the way to incremental intergovernmental relations at local government, service delivery as well as delegation of powers in the context of South African local government.

2.1.4 The ethics of accelerated delivery

The improvement of ethics regarding accountability and performance in contracted public service was discussed at length, especially with regards to the role of service recipients. An evaluation of service standards in the public service was done. The discussions also centred on public service values and ethics for improving the implementation of policies and accelerated delivery. However, most presenters a major seemed to believe that political interference hinders the administration in state departments and that this impacts negatively on service delivery.

3. Presentation by the Director-General of the DPSA, Professor R Levin

The key note address by Professor R. Levin on the topic “The Revolving Door and

Collaborative Research” highlighted that the public service is stuck in the transactional mode, and that there was a need to be more transformational in our approaches. The following factors were mentioned as the rationale for the revolving door:

· Building capacity

· Developing knowledge

· Improving service delivery

· Project implementation

· Strengthening research

· Providing a benefit

The following were regarded as risks for the “The Revolving Door”:

· Guarantees

· Conflict of interest

· Intellectual property rights

· Security concerns

“Revolving door” modalities are as follows:

· Short-term exchange

· Research partnerships

· Training interventions

· Sabbaticals

It was highlighted that high priority should be given to the development of senior leadership in the South African public service for accelerated service delivery. It emanated from the discussions that the major challenge for the South African public service was to develop appropriate profiles of leadership competencies and thereby design necessary interventions to ensure appropriate leadership development.

The following were regarded as core management competencies:

§ Strategic Capability and leadership

§ Programme and project management

§ Service delivery innovation

§ Problem – solving and analysis

§ Financial Management

§ Change management

§ Knowledge management

§ People management and empowerment

§ Client orientation and customer care communication

§ Honesty and integrity

4. Recommendations

The following recommendations were made with a view to improving and accelerating delivery in the public service:

· Introduce and maintain high standard of professional ethics

· Efficient, economic and effective use of resources must be promoted

· Public Administration must be development orientated

· Public Administration must be accountable

5. Conclusion

The conference was a very informative and enlightening experience. Although it was more of an academic engagement, it highlighted important areas of service delivery, which require follow-ups by way of oversight on the part of Parliament. In future it would be invaluable for the Portfolio Committee to be given an opportunity to present its perspective on service delivery. This would also, to a large extent, bridge the gap between theory and practice.

4. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and

Administration on Study Tour to India, dated 2 March 2007:

1. INTRODUCTION

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration undertook a study tour to India during the period 9^th to 14^th October 2006, with a view to share information, in an exchange programme, with their counterpart Committees of Parliament and functionaries, in the areas of:

· The structures, policies, functions of Public Service and Administration at the three spheres of Governance;

· Cooperative Governance and Inter-governmental Relations;

· The role, location and powers of the Public Service Commission at the three spheres of Governance;

· The role of civil society in the democratic governance of the country.

The delegation to the study tour comprised of the following:

Committee Members

Mr M.R. Baloyi, MP (African National Congress) (Leader of Delegation)

Mr B. Mthembu, MP (African National Congress)

Mr M J G Mzondeki, MP (African National Congress)

Mrs P R Mashangoane MP (African National Congress)

Mr K J Minnie MP (Democratic Alliance)

Dr U Roopnarian MP (Inkatha Freedom Party)

Support Staff

Mrs L Dyasi (Committee Secretary)

Mr M Biyela (Committee Researcher)

Mr X November (Member Support)

Representatives from the Department and Ministry of the Public Service and Administration

Ms L Sing (Chief Director: Macro-Organisation of the State)

Mr L Rabkin (Parliamentary Liaison Officer).

2. EXPERIENCE/INFORMATION EXCHANGE

The Portfolio Committee was based in New Delhi, and conducted the study mission through consultations, meetings and site visits. During this study tour, active interactions took place between the South African delegation and representatives of the Government of India on the following issues:

2.1 GENERAL PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION

The South African delegation contributed to the topic as follows:

Democratic dispensation since 1994 created a need for accelerated transformation of the Public Service from a compliance-cultured to a service delivery-based Public Service;
Policies developed, such as the following:

(i) Batho Pele Policy, that seeks to put people first in the delivery of public services by Public Officials, through setting standards for Public Service performance, such that:

· Consumers of Public services are consulted so as to air their views on matters that affect them;

· Benchmarks are conducted to assess and ensure citizen satisfaction;

· Access to services is accelerated;

· Courteous rendering of services is guaranteed;

· Consumers of services receive information on the activities of the Government in service delivery;

· Openness and transparency is guaranteed;

· Redress is encouraged where service is sub-standard;

· The citizenry receive quality and value-adding services.

(ii) Public service education and training policy, that seeks to declare our public service to be a learning environment;

(iii) Other policies dedicated to the line-functional areas of the respective Government Departments, such as the following, to mention a few:

· Policy on Agriculture and land reform, that seeks to redress Apartheid-created imbalances through restitution, redistribution and affirmation as well as the introduction of farmer support schemes.

· Policy on Education, that seeks to open the doors of learning to all, by removing the obstacles to the accessibility of education occasioned due to poverty and related obstacles;

· Policy on Communication, that guarantees access to information, transparency and public participation;

· Policy on Housing, that seeks to facilitate housing development to ensure that all citizens have access to this basic need of peoples’ lives.

A practice was introduced, dealing with Parliamentary accountability mechanism, in terms of which Government Departments submit their annual reports to Parliament, and Ministers appear before the two Houses of Parliament to answer questions related to the functioning of their respective Departments, as well as an arrangement where Portfolio Committees of Parliament always call upon Departments to brief them on their activities against their strategic plans.

For a smooth roll out of issues as per set targets, a solid foundation was laid by deciding on the creation of three spheres of Government, namely: National, Provincial and Local Government spheres.

A Proportional Representation Electoral System was chosen so as to fast track the rebirth of a new South Africa based on the founding values of entrenching one National agenda for the deracialisation, de-ethnicisation and detribalisation of the country in order to promote peace, stability and integration across all odds.

The Indian delegation contributed to the discussions as follows:

There are three spheres of Government in the Federal Government of India, namely: Local Government, State Government and Union Government.

For recruitment purposes, there are examinations that the Union Public Service Commission conducts annually for the citizens of India that aspirant Public Service applicants have to write.

Through the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, a Citizens’ Charter has been developed to ensure Good Governance through Transparency, Accountability and Citizen Friendliness, born out of a desire to address the dissatisfaction of the citizen/consumer/customer with erstwhile quality of service offered by a public sector organisation.

India passed the Right to Information Act in 2005, which is the equivalent of our Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), and in terms of their Act, they seek to:

· Set up a practical regime of the right to information for citizens;

· Secure access to information under the control of the public authorities;

· Promote transparency and thus accountability in the workings of every public authority;

· Contain corruption;

· Increase citizens’ awareness and ability to exercise their rights;

· Equip citizens to participate meaningfully in the development process.

Again, through the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, India has adopted a Model Code of Governance, which is recognised as a pre-requisite for participative and citizen-centric development, and also considered by States as a model against which performance can be measured and compared.

The main components of the Model Code of Governance are:

· Improving Service Delivery;

· Development of Programmes for weaker sections and Backward areas;

· Technology and system improvement;

· Financial Management and Budget Sanctity;

· Accountability and transparency;

· Public Service morale and Anti-corruption measures;

· Incentivising reforms.

The Government of India has set up an Administrative Reforms Commission, with a mandate to prepare a detailed blueprint for revamping the Public Administrative systems under the following terms of reference:

· Organisational structure of the Government of India;

· Ethics in Governance;

· Refurbishing of personnel Administration;

· Strengthening of financial management systems;

· Steps to ensure effective administration at the State level;

· Steps to ensure effective District Administration;

· Local self-Government;

· Social capital, Trust and participative public service delivery;

· Citizen-centric Administration;

· Promoting e-Governance;

· Promoting issues of Federal polity;

· Crisis management;

· Public order.

India has a system of clustering Departments under one Ministry, such as the Department of Administrative Reforms, the Department of Personnel and Pensions, and the Department of Police, which are under the Prime Minister.

It is a common practice that Portfolio Committees of Parliament send out questionnaires to the Departments who have to appear before them, in advance, so that they can be in a position to prepare thoroughly for the briefing.

2.2 EDUCATION

The Indian delegation contributed to the discussion as follows:

In order to meet the post-war industrial demands of India post-independence in 1947, India phased in the establishment of the India Institutes of Technology, which deals among other things, with training of engineers. They now stand at six (6). We visited one of them in New Delhi.

These institutes produce engineers of employable quality the world over.

They are partly funded by Government.

They have Memoranda of Understanding with other Universities outside the country, and indicated willingness to consider expanding their networking base with similar institutions in South Africa.

India has a National Council of Education Research and Training that undertakes educational research and development, in-service and pre-service training, extension and dissemination of work to improve the quality of school education, development of teaching methods, skills and learning resources.

The Council also acts as a think tank for Government in dealing with matters of policy development.

The South African delegation contributed to the discussion as follows:

The JIPSA programme focuses on development of scarce skills. It is a build up to processes and interventions introduced since the current Democratic dispensation in 1994.

The teacher training institutions have been re-directed to focus our school education programmes to address scarce skills.

The institutions of higher learning have been rationalised with a view to ensure a co-ordinated programme to contribute towards the redress of past imbalances.

2.3 RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The South African delegation contributed as follows to this topic:

The Local Sphere of Government is categorised into three, namely: A, B, and C.

Political structures of the municipalities constituted through a democratic process of elections for Proportional Representation and for Wards. Management structures appointed by the political principals;

Key functions of the municipalities include the following:

· Provide services to communities in a sustainable manner;

· Promote social and economic development;

· Promote safe and healthy environment;

· Encourage community participation in matters of Local Government;

· Promote Integrated Development Planning;

· Coordinate issues around housing, and

· Deal with any other issue that is a service delivery priority need of their respective communities, either directly or through partnerships.

Local Government areas are the service delivery points even for those services that are not the competency of the Municipalities;

Local Government structures are still new.

Organised Local Government operationalised under the auspices of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), which derives powers from the Constitution to do the following:

· Coordinate Local Government;

· Deal with matters of labour relations;

· Capacity building for municipalities.

· Represent Local Government in the National Council of Provinces of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa;

· Represent Local Government in dealing with matters of legislation and policy development.

Legislation developed to define the Institution of traditional rule, locate it within the wall-to-wall operation concept of Municipalities and affirm it to be able to have the necessary capacity to actively participate in Governance.

The Indian delegation contributed as follows to the topic:

· Three layers of rural Local Governance, namely: Village Panchayats, intermediate Panchayats and District Panchayats.

· Elections every five years;

· They provide basic services;

· They may become franchises for the distribution of electricity;

· They determine their budgets;

· They do activity mapping.

2.4 INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA BILATERALS

It came to light during our interaction with the South African High Commissioner to India that several Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between India and South Africa, such as the following:

Title	Date Signed	Date Entered Into Force
Parcel Post Agreement	09/03/1911/01/05/1911
Agreement between Postal Administrations (Money Orders)	16/06/1911/31/08/1911
Exchange of Notes Concerning the Establishment of Cultural Centre by the Republic of India in South Africa and a Liaison Office by the Republic of South Africa in India	20/07/1993
Protocol on the Establishment of Consular Relations between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of India	22/11/1993
Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of India	22/11/1993
Trade Agreement	22/08/1994	22/08/1994
Agreement on the Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Political Trade, Economic, Cultural Scientific and Technical Co-operation	25/01/1995	22/08/1994
Protocol on Co-operation between the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa and the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India	25/01/1995
Treaty of the Principles of Inter-State Relations	25/01/1995
Agreement on Co-operation in the Fields of Science and Technology	19/07/1995
Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income	04/12/1996	28/11/1997
Agreement on Co-operation in the fields of Education, Arts, Culture and Sports	04/12/1996
Red Fort Declaration	28/03/1997
Agreement in the Fields of Tourism	07/10/1997
Agreement on Co-operation in the Fields of Geology and Mineral Resources	07/10/1997
Bilateral Air Transport Agreement	05/12/1998	05/12/1998
Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Co-operation in Telecommunications	09/12/1998
Protocol of the Second Meeting of the Indo-South African Working Group on Geology and Mineral Resources of the Joint Commission for Political, Trade, Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Co-operation	09/11/1999
Agreement on Defence Co-operation	27/09/2000	27/09/2000
Executive Programme for Cultural Co-operation for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003	15/03/2001	15/03/2001
Declaration of Intent in the Field of Health and Medicine	30/04/2001
Memorandum of Understanding on Antarctic Co-operation	05/12/2002	05/12/2002
Agreement Concerning Co-operation in the Field of Electricity/Power	16/10/2003

Agreement for Co-operation in Hydrocarbon Sector	16/10/2003
Executive Programme for Cultural Co-operation for t he years 2004, 2005 and 2006 (Not an agreement)	16/10/2003
Joint Declaration	16/10/2003
Treaty of Extradition	16/10/2003
Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters	16/10/2003
Agreement on Supplies of Defence Equipment	11/12/2003	11/12/2003
Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Communications and Information Technologies	15/09/2004	15/09/2004
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of South Africa Concerning Merchant Shipping and Other Maritime Transport Related Matters	23/03/2006
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on Co-operation on the Field of Health and Medicine	04/01/2006
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of India on Co-Operation in the Field of Governance, Administration and Other Related Areas	12/06/2006
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of India on Cooperation in the Field of Housing and Human Settlements	27/04/2006
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of India on Cooperation in the Field of Education	02/10/2006
The Tshwane Declaration on Reaffirming the Strategic Partnership Between South Africa and India	02/10/2006

Some of these Bilateral Agreements have a bearing on the functioning of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, such as the one of the 12th June 2006. The most recent Memorandum of Understanding is the one that has been signed between the Minister of Public Service and Administration of the Government of South Africa and her counterpart Minister Pachouri, which focuses on the following:

· Exchange of study tours;

· Exchange of experts to deliver lectures, build capacity and undertake comparative studies through joint research;

· Secondments of pubic officials from institutions of one Party to institutions of the other Party;

· Mentorship and exchange programmes to facilitate skills transfer;

· Human Resource development or training of public officials of one Party by the other Party;

· Joint training programmes between the two countries fro senior management; and

· Such other ways within the purview of this MoU as the competent authorities may agree upon.

It was noted that the challenge that exists is the implementation part of these agreements.

As we were considering the June 2006 Agreement, it came to light that the parties blame each other for delays in the implementation.

2.5 URBAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The South African delegation contributed to the topic as follows:

Urban development is a shared area of responsibility between the three spheres of Government and operates in terms of the programmes for our Urban renewal programmes as well as town and city development agenda.

The Local Government sphere that focuses on urban areas are largely the Metropolitans or Category A Municipalities and they denote the following features:

· Conurbation features, such as high population density, an intense movement of people, goods and services, extensive development, multiple business districts and industrial areas;

· Having a centre of economic activity with a complex and diverse economy;

· Constituting a single area in which integrated development planning is desirable, and

· Having strong interdependent social and economic linkages between its constituents units.

Urban development is addressed as an aspect of our history, which reflects a reality where there was skewed development of inner and outer-city centres on racial considerations, in which case one would find separate service delivery practices in one continuous geographical area, hence the agenda to redress the imbalances.

There are six of these Metropolitans in the country, and they are organised such that they are self sustaining from the economic and financial strength derived from their revenue and tax bases.

The development of informal settlement is one of the challenges in urban development.

The Indian delegation contributed as follows:

There are 63 cities that fall under the Urban Local Government in India, and they are respectively characterised as follows:

· 7 cities have over 4 million population each;

· 28 cities have 1 to 4 million population each;

· 28 cities are selected cities with less than 1 million population each.

The Department of Urban Development has an overall function of coordinating urban development through the respective municipalities.

They have what they call “Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission” which seeks to ensure that the following are achieved in the urban sector:

· Focused attention to integrated development of infrastructure services;

· Establishment of linkages between asset creation and assert management through a slew of reforms for long-term project sustainability.

· Ensuring adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services;

· Planned development of identified cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors leading to dispersed urbanisation;

· Scale up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to the urban poor;

· Provision of basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the Government for education, health and social security;

· Special focus on urban renewal programmes for the old-city areas to reduce congestions.

2.6 PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

The South African delegation contributed to this topic as follows:

· There is one National Public Service Commission appointed by Parliament.

· There is the administrative Office of the Public Service Commission that deals with the implementation of the policies of the Government that are the competencies of the Public Service Commission, and accordingly act as the Secretariat of the Public Service Commission.

· The Public Service Commission’s major role is to ensure that the values and principles of Public Administration as enshrined in the Constitution are implemented, which are:

· A high standard of professional ethics;

· Effective, economic and efficient use of resources;

· Development-oriented Public Administration;

· Impartial, fair and equitable distribution of resources;

· Responsiveness and participatory policy-making;

· Accountability;

· Transparency;

· Good human resource management and career development practices; and

· Demographic representivity.

The Indian delegation contributed to this topic as follows:

The Union Public Service Commission of the Government of India operates as a central personnel institution and deals with the following matters:

· Recruitment through examinations;

· Recruitment by selections through interviews;

· Advice on the suitability of officers for appointment on promotion as well as transfer or deputation;

· Handling disciplinary cases;

· Advising the Government on any Government matters referred to it for consideration.

2.7 DEBRIEFING AND WAY FORWARD

The South African delegation and the Indian representatives of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances held an impact assessment session to evaluate the effectiveness or otherwise of the study tour, as well as to suggest what could be considered as a way forward in dealing with some of the identified issues, and the following came to light:

· That the fact that the South African delegation could not be in a position to interact with their counterpart in the form of Committees of Parliament was regretted as a missing link to the success of the study tour. This proposed interaction could not take place because the Parliament of India was in recess during the visit.

· That there is a need for further interactions between the Portfolio Committees, even if it means on an issue-by-issue basis;

· The oversight role of Parliament should be strengthened and be visibly seen in dealing with the implementation of bilateral and multilateral deals;

· Common workshops for Parliamentarians should be organised;

· Targeted understudy focused groups should be organised;

· Retreats for Parliamentarians should be organised;

· The Department of Public Service and Administration of South Africa and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances of India should finalise the appointment of Joint Coordinators for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.

3 OBSERVATIONS

There are quite a lot of similarities in terms of systems and practices of Public Administration between the two countries and a lot could be gained from each other in terms of dealing with the challenges of implementation, refinement and further projections.

4 CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that the delegation was unable to interact with Parliamentarians due to the fact that Parliament was in recess, the Committee has been sufficiently exposed to the areas of study that it wanted to engage in, as per the programme, as we interacted on the following issues as per our original itinerary:

· The structures, policies, functions of Public Service and Administration at the three spheres of Governance;

· Cooperative Governance and Inter-governmental Relations;

· The role, location and powers of the Public Service Commission at the three spheres of Governance;

· The role of civil society in the Democratic governance of the country.

The Committee could have, however, done far better if its initial plans were not compromised, as we would have been exposed to the situation at the countryside of India, and could get to know more about Parliamentary processes impacting on Public Service and Administration.

5 RECOMMENDATIONS

That the position developed during the debriefing session, as in paragraph 2.7 above, should be further considered for implementation, possibly with a clear timetable for dealing with those matters raised.

Relevant Committees of Parliament to follow up on the status of the respective Bilateral Agreements between South Africa and India.

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Committee acknowledges, with appreciation, the sterling work of the office of the South African High Commissioner to India, for receiving us and making our stay and our work there a success, particularly through the tireless efforts of the Second Secretary in the High Commissioner’s Office, Mr Bobby Moroe and, not least, Mr Ramashaba.

The Committee also recognises the participation of a representative of the Office of the Minister for Public Service and Administration, Mr Lewis Rabkin, and the representative of the Department of the Public Service and Administration, Ms Lynette Sing.”