PRESENTATION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

1. PRESENTATION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION 14 NOVEMBER 2006

2. Outline • Background • Compliance with the Public Service Act • Compliance with the Batho Pele Policy • Signing of Performance Agreements • Mandates on oversight • Conclusion

3. Background • The Public Service Commission (PSC) presented its Annual Report to the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration on 31 October 2006. • Following the presentation the Committee indicated a need for a strategic discussion with the PSC focusing on a few key issues. • The purpose of this presentation is to set the scene for the discussion by highlighting certain observations the PSC has made regarding the issues identified by the Committee. • The presentation therefore does not attempt to provide an exhaustive synopsis of all the PSC’s oversight findings relating to the issues raised by the Committee. Details on such findings are found in specific reports of the PSC, and these can be taken up in future discussions with the Committee.

4. Compliance with the Public Service Act • The Public Service Act provides for the organisation/administration of the Public Service, the regulation of the conditions of service, discipline, retirement, discharge of members of the Public Service, and other related matters. • In order to further regulate provisions of the Act, Public Service Regulations (PSR) were also promulgated. The regulations serve as subordinate legislation to the Act • Through its oversight and support work the PSC has noted the commendable progress made by the Public Service with regard to compliance with the Public Service Act and the PSR. Notwithstanding such progress, the PSC has also made certain observations about areas that still need attention. • The observations include the following:

5. Compliance with the Public Service Act (cont’d) • Personnel Administration • The PERSAL establishment records of departments are not adequately maintained, leading to discrepancies between the formally approved organisational structure and the establishment captured on PERSAL. • Since the organisational establishment is the starting point for all personnel administration, this weakness affects all subsequent personnel practices.

6. Compliance with the Public Service Act (cont’d) • The recruitment-selection-appointment process. • The foundation for the process is good job descriptions, since these spell out the requirements for the post. • A selection process where the advertised requirements are objectively and fairly applied to select the best candidate for the post is critically important. • The PSC receives a number of complaints regarding perceived unfairness in the selection process. • Gaps in the documentary recording of the whole process are also common.

7. Compliance with the Public Service Act (cont’d) • Performance Management • The basis of the process is a signed performance agreement (PA). • In the PSC’s experience PAs are not always entered into. • A PA spells out clear and agreed outputs and performance standards, without which the basis for any performance assessment is suspect. • Regular assessment and feedback as required by the Performance Management and Development System is not always done. • Procedural fairness is often challenged. Indeed, most of the grievances the PSC receives are about performance management. • An auditable documentary record of the whole process is also not always there.

8. Compliance with the Public Service Act (cont’d) • Discipline procedures • There are often inordinate delays in initiating and completing disciplinary procedures • There is also a need to strengthen the capacity of officials to handle the fairly legalistic disciplinary process, namely; doing an investigation, presenting a case, and chairing a hearing. • Grievances • Lack of promptness in resolving the grievances is often a concern • There is a need to ensure that there are sound personnel practices in departments since weaknesses in this area tend to lead to grievances

9. Compliance with the Batho Pele policy • The PSC conducted a survey of compliance with all 8 Batho Pele principles in 2000. • This was followed up with studies of compliance with specific principles as follows: • Service Standards( in 2004/5); • Access and Redress (in 2005/6); and • Consultation and Value for Money (in 2006/7)

10. Compliance with the Batho Pele policy (cont’d) • In addition to the above Batho Pele compliance audits, other PSC studies also generate information which highlights progress with certain aspects of Batho Pele. • For example, the three Citizen Satisfaction Surveys the PSC conducted have assessed, among others, the extent to which citizens feel that there is access, courtesy, and redress in service delivery. • The summary finding of all these evaluations is that progress has been made in certain areas to give effect to Batho Pele. • For example, services are more accessible than before (but largely for urban communities), and improvements in the extent to which public servants treat members of the public with courtesy have been observed.

11. Compliance with the Batho Pele policy (cont’d) • However, there are still members of the public that experience less than decent treatment in the hands of public servants • Accessibility of services in rural areas still requires attention. • Of serious concern is that in almost all the reviews that the PSC has conducted, the public has expressed dissatisfaction with the availability of information on services available, and the availability of functioning redress mechanisms. • In addition, there are still areas where there is ‘formalistic’ compliance. For instance, service standards are set, but the quality of the standards does not allow citizens to really understand whether promised levels of service have been achieved.

12. Submission of Performance Agreements

13. Submission of Performance Agreements (contn’d) • Of importance is for the Committee to note the implications of PAs not being entered into. • PAs help to clarify responsibilities, priorities and performance expectations. • Their absence therefore raises a number of risks for the Public Service. • Key among these risks is the fact that there would not be a documented reference point through which the Accounting Officer is held accountable for delivery. • There would also not be a credible basis on which to support the further development of the Accounting Officer, and to make informed decisions about renewal of employment contracts and merit awards.

14. Mandates on Oversight • The PSC believes that it would be helpful to view its mandate as ‘technical oversight’ and that of the Select Committee as ‘political oversight’. • Technical oversight involves, among others, generating evidence on how the Public Service is performing. Such information is the basis for reporting to Parliament and advising the Executive on good practice. • Political oversight involves, among others, holding the Executive accountable for effective delivery of government’s programmes.

15. Mandates on Oversight • Reports provided by departments are an important source of information for purposes of political oversight. • However, as the Speaker of the National Assembly advised the Committee on 23/02/2005, while Committees should have good relations with the relevant departments, they should not depend on them for their oversight role. This, the Speaker said, would not be healthy for the system • The PSC produces its reports as an independent institution, and the Committee can use these to inform its interaction with departments.

16. Mandates on Oversight (cont’d) • The Committee can also assist the PSC in following up with departments regarding the implementation of recommendations made in the reports. • As part of its oversight programme, the Committee may also identify matters of compliance that are of concern to its members, and accordingly request the PSC to conduct the required investigations. • The PSC has identified as a priority the strengthening of its interaction with Provincial Legislatures. The assistance of the Committee in this regard would benefit the process a great deal

17. Conclusion • The PSC welcomes the opportunity to explore ways of strengthening its interaction with the Committee. • In this regard, the Commission will continue to generate evidence-based reports on the performance of the Public Service in order to support the Committee in its political oversight. • It is hoped that this presentation will provide a basis for taking the interaction forward.

18. Thank you