Public Service Commission Addresses the Northern
Province Legislature
07 February 2000
Three members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) will
give a presentation on the PSC to the Northern Province
Legislature today, on February 07 2000. This presentation,
by Commissioners Koko Mokgalong (resident Northern Province
Commissioner), Eddie Bain and Jerry Vilakazi, forms part of
an outreach programme intended to present the bona fides of
the PSC to its key stakeholders.
The PSC has already made several other presentations since
its inception in July 1999 under new regulations. The
discussions held also include issues pertinent to the
relationship between the PSC and the stakeholder being
addressed at each occasion. The purpose of these briefing is
to exchange information on what the PSC is doing or intends
engaging in, and to listen to the Legislatures' priority
areas to enhance the role of the Commission as a resource to
Legislatures in performing their oversight functions.
The main role and function of the Public Service Commission
is to promote constitutional values and principles, and
monitor and evaluate compliance in public administration. It
shares a vision to be an independent and impartial body to
enhance excellence in governance within the public service
by promoting a professional and ethical environment and
adding value to public administration that is accountable,
equitable, efficient, effective, and responsive to needs of
the people of South Africa.
Taking into account the values and principles laid down in
the Constitution and the functional responsibilities of the
Commission, the following Core Business Areas have been
identified:
Ethics
- Coordinating the implementation of resolutions of
the National Anti-Corruption Summit.
- Workshops on the Code of Conduct and
anti-corruption.
- Developing a register of assets of public service
managers.
- Foster a culture of Risk Management in the Public
Service, e.g. financial risks, fraud, systematic control
process risks.
Service Delivery
- Evaluating the implementation of Batho Pele and
Service Delivery improvement initiatives.
- Evaluating effectiveness of organisation structures
of selected departments.
- Investigating the use of consultants/contracting out
in the Public Service.
- Management Audits in a number of selected
Departments currently being finalised are the Home
Affairs and Correctional Services.
- To evaluate the efficacy of Government resource
management process, such as the management of outsourced
functions.
Human Resources
- Evaluating affirmative action programmes and targets
achieved by departments on representatives.
- Establishing system for evaluating employment equity
plans of departments.
- Evaluating management of performance agreements in
management echelon.
- Development of a performance evaluation system for
Heads of Departments and Directors-General.
- Investigate the conditions of service of senior
management.
Grievances and Complaints
- Investigating grievances
- Drafting, negotiating and implementing new rules for
handling of grievances.
- Conducting training workshops on new grievance
rules.
- Drafting rules for investigating complaints.
- Monitoring trends in grievances.
- Evaluating the management of suspensions from the
Public Service.
- Developing a manual to advise on procedures for
dealing with appeals.
Being Responsive to Requests for Assistance, Advice or
Intervention
The Public Service Commission is mindful of the need to be
responsive to the needs of stakeholders and will at all
times endeavour to meet requests for assistance, advice or
intervention. In the Northern Province the PSC is currently
conducting an organisational review in response to a request
by the MEC for Agriculture, Environment and Land Affairs. A
report which will result in a complete re-engineering of the
Department's management structures will be finalised at the
end of March before the new financial year.
The Public Service Commission is currently involved in a
number of projects which include, among others, the
following:
- One other report on organizational review in the
Northern Province has been handed over to the MEC and
Head of Department for implementation. We are certain
that the recommendations, once implemented, will go a
long way in improving the management and the quality of
education in the Province.
- Evaluation of departments' adherence to the Batho
Pele policy in the quest to improve delivery of services
to the public. The evaluation includes surveys and
on-site visits to make first-hand observations and
conduct interviews. A comprehensive report will be
released by the end of March. Some of the critical
findings that have already been make are being raised
with relevant Ministers/MECs for urgent attention.
- The PSC has tabled two reports to the National
Assembly after concluding investigations on the
Evaluation of the management of leave and that of
remunerated overtime in the public service. These two
reports indicated the serious problems inherent in the
management of both these functions. It is hoped that the
recommendations will form an important basis for a
review of these conditions of service by the Minister of
Public Service and Administration. The findings also
form a useful yardstick that can be used by the
Legislatures in their oversight role.
- The PSC was instrumental in planning and organizing
two significant events, under the auspice of the
National Anti-Corruption Initiative (NACI), that served
to launch a major campaign to fight corruption in all
sectors of society including government. Recently
Cabinet appointed the PSC to coordinate the
implementation of resolutions emanating from the 1999
National Anti-Corruption Summit. The PSC is currently
constituting a coordinating structure to manage the
Anti-Corruption Programme at the national level.
- Cabinet delegated the PSC to develop an Assets
Register as an accountability and anti-corruption
preventative measure for deputy directors and
higher-level officials in the public service. It will be
managed by the relevant Executing Authority and
monitoring of reports will be done by the PSC. The
design of the Asset Register is now complete, and has
currently been referred for legal opinion. It is
expected to be implemented in April 2000. The process of
consulting with all relevant stakeholders is currently
underway.
- A report on departments' annual reports as an
accountability instrument has just been finalized and
will be discussed with the Legislatures to ensure
enhancement of their oversight role.
Issued by the Public Service Commission
Contact Communications: Yvonne Mogadime (012) 448-2385
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