PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE Amalgamation Report 2006

1. PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE Amalgamation Report 2006 “AMALGAMATION REPORT” SRSA

2. BACKGROUND • The repeal of the South African Sports Commission Act on 1 August 2005, led to the transfer and incorporation of its full staff compliment to the Department. • In planning for the integration of the two entities, SRSA initiated a process whereby a Job Evaluation process were conducted off all the posts on the structure of 187 posts as approved by the Minister in February 2005. • The South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) was party to this initiative. This process was finalised towards the end of November 2005. • The results of this job evaluation process brought about recommendations to the Minister, which subsequently led to the amendment to the original structure. • On 2 December 2005, the Minister approved the new structure with an expanded post establishment of 195 posts. SRSA

3. Continued • Running simultaneously with this process, was a skills audit of all staff. A company called 7i Management Consultants conducted a skills audit. This process included individual interviews to collect all relevant data such as educational background, experience, etc. with staff as well as conducting Thomas International Personal Profile Analysis by means of tests. • Job Descriptions were developed for all posts and Managers of the various directorates had to do a quality assurance of these job descriptions. • Concurrently a placement process, (whereby employees were to apply for 2 horizontal posts and 3 higher posts) was agreed upon in SRSA’s Joint Bargaining Forum. This forum consists of representatives from SRSA’s management, as well as both trade unions (NEHAWU & PSA) and an independent Chairperson. It sole mandate is to facilitate the signing of the transfer agreement which ultimately deals with the transfer of staff into SRSA’s new organogram. Issues relating to compliance to relevant legislation and also the conditions of employment of staff are dealt with in this forum. SRSA

4. Continued • This forum met on a regular basis in an attempt to finalise and sign off the transfer agreement, which goes hand in hand with the placement process. • All posts within the new structure were advertised internally on 25 January 2006 with a closing date of 1 February 2006. • An overwhelming response were received as staff had the option of applying for preferably a maximum of 5 posts of which 2 should have been on their current level and 3 may have been on a higher level. • The Human Resources Sub-directorate consolidated these applications into one report, which was forwarded to 7i Management Consultants to compile a Person-to-post analysis, based on the information collected during the mentioned processes. The person-to-posts recommendation is basically a recommendation of the best person suitable for a specific job/ post. • This exercise was concluded on 28 February 2006 and a complete report was submitted to then Director-General on 2 March 2006. SRSA

5. Continued • The Minister appointed two independent panels, consisting of individuals from all spheres of Government, to assist SRSA during this process. One panel was to be used for the Chief Director interviews and the other for all Director and Deputy Director. • The first interviews for the Chief Director level applications took place on 10 March 2006. • Then the interviews for the Director level applications were scheduled to take place on 23 and 24 March 2006. During the first day, the panel interrogated the skills audit recommendation report and also had to determine the terms of reference. They however highlighted a very important factor of non-compliance to the Public Service Regulations (PSR). The provisions of both the PSR as well as the Senior Management Services (SMS) handbook stipulates that all posts on salary levels 13 and above must be advertised nationwide. Should departments which to deviate from this, approval needed to be obtained from the Minister of Public Service and Administration (MPSA). This discovery resulted in the delay of the interviewing process as the former Director-General (DG) had to clarify this issue with the MPSA. Staff was immediately informed of this. SRSA

6. Continued • On 6 April 2006, the Minister instructed HR to finalise the placement process by means of the following methods: • - A horizontal placement of all personnel from the top to bottom; • - All post grades 13 and up must be advertised externally in terms of the PSR and SMS handbook, and • - At the end of the process, other vacant posts will be advertised within the department/ Public Service for all posts below grade 13. • This information was subsequently relayed to staff in a general staff meeting on 12 April 2006. This process of horizontal placement however posed to be a very difficult and complicated task to administer due to a number of technical issues, eg. If it will be based on salary levels or work levels. • The horizontal level interviews for the Chief Director level posts applications took pace on 21 April 2006. The Minster subsequently approved the appointment of the successful candidate. • The horizontal placement of directors was next in the process, however due to the unavailability of the panelists, we were only able to schedule the interviews for the 29 and 30 June 2006. SRSA

7. Continued • On 28 June 2006 at the bargaining forum meeting, the Trade unions requested that a moratorium be placed on the horizontal placement process, as they wanted to meet with the Minister to obtain clarity on a number of issues relating to the horizontal placement process. • The Minister agreed to meet with them, but this meeting could unfortunately only take place after the Ministers return from German (World Cup) on 19 July 2006. The Minister reiterated the following: • 1)All staff will have an opportunity to be placed horizontally. • 2)All staff below salary level 13 will have the opportunity to apply for higher positions in a closed internal process. As far as salary level 13 positions are concerned the Minister will seek deviation from the MPSA and should it be received the closed process will be applicable to it as well. • 3)After the mentioned process has been finalized, an external process will follow for those positions not yet filled. • The Minister made it quite clear that placement should be done on the basis of work level rather than salary level. SRSA

8. Continued • The HRM directorate has been attempting to arrange the next forum meeting since the beginning of August 2006, with no success, as the parties were unable to find one common date of availability. The date for this meeting is 20 September 2006. The signing of this agreement will play a key factor in the placement process. • During the last forum meeting of 25 July 2006, the meeting adjourned on the basis that a principle agreement was reached in terms of the transfer agreement. • On 15 August 2006, the Minister requested the secondment of Ms L Sizani, the Chairperson of the 2nd interviewing panel, to SRSA with effect from 1 September 2006 to co-ordinate and fast track the finalization of this process. A meeting took place between Ms Sizani, Mr Matlala (Acting Chief Director; Corporate Services) and Dr Phaahla (Acting Director General) on 29 August 2006 to discuss the way forward. • The process will be conducted in three phases: • Phase 1 : Horizontal placement process • Phase 2 : Internal advertisement process • Phase 3: External advertisement process SRSA

9. Continued CURRENT: • The interviewing panel and HRM are currently consulting on the process that will lead to the finalisation of a project plan, which will be distributed to all parties involved (staff, trade unions, etc). • The panelists will be meeting during the course of this week (8 September 2006) to start the placement process. • All attempts will be made to finalise the phase 1 by 30 September 2006. SRSA