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Public Service Commission: Status Quo, Stakeholders, and Challenges

This presentation outlines the status quo, effectiveness, and relationship of the Public Service Commission (PSC) with various stakeholders, as well as the challenges hindering its efficiency in the provinces. It also highlights the legislative mandate of the PSC and its impact on public administration.

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Public Service Commission: Status Quo, Stakeholders, and Challenges

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  1. BRIEFING BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS QUO (CAPACITY, EFFECTIVENESS AND RELATIONSHIP WITH VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS) AND CHALLENGES HINDERING ITS EFFICIENCY IN THE PROVINCES PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION/PERFORMANCE MONITORING & EVALUATION 27 MAY 2015

  2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE • Introduction • Legislative mandate of the PSC • Effectiveness and impact • PSC Stakeholders and relationship with various stakeholders • Parliament and provincial legislatures • The Executive • Institutions Supporting Democracy • Overview of capacity • Additional challenges hindering the efficiency of the PSC • Conclusion 2

  3. INTRODUCTION • The PSC appreciates the opportunity to engage the Portfolio Committee (PC) on its capacity, effectiveness, its relationship with various stakeholders and challenges hindering its efficiency in the provinces. • The PSC submits its Annual Report to the PC as provided for in the normal public service processes, but there has not been structured engagement with the PC on the PSC’s activities and the performance of its functions, as envisaged in sections 196(4)(e) read with section 196(6) of the Constitution. • Structured reporting will strengthen the work of the PSC and improve its impact, e.g. the recent follow-ups on the PSC’s reports on PILIR and blockages in the filling of posts. S 196 (4)(e) The PSC must report on its activities and the performance of its functions, including any finding it may make and directions and advice it may give, and to provide an evaluation of the extent to which the values and principles set out in Section 195 are complied with. S 196 (6) The PSC must report at least once a year to the National Assembly and in respect of its activities in a province, to the legislature of that province.

  4. LEGISLATIVE MANDATE • The PSC derives its mandate from sections 195 and 196 of the Constitution, which vests it with the custodian oversight responsibilities for the performance of Public Service. • The PSC monitors, evaluates and investigates public administration practices and promotes the values and principles governing public administration contained in section 195 of the Constitution. • It may also issue directions regarding compliance with personnel procedures relating to recruitment, transfers, promotions and dismissals. 4

  5. LEGISLATIVE MANDATE (2) Accountable to the National Assembly Single PSC for the Republic Supported by a National Department Reports at least once a year to NA and legislatures Independent and impartial Perform functions without fear, favour or prejudice Joint responsibility Provision for delegation 5

  6. EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT (1) • The Governance Rules of the PSC have been reviewed for implementation with effect from 1 April 2015. These Rules provide a framework for the delegation of the work of the PSC to: • The Chairperson • The Deputy Chairperson • Commissioners at national and provincial level • Specialist Teams and Working Committees of Specialist Teams (e.g. Grievances and Complaints) • In particular the Rules provide for Provincially Based Commissioners to represent the PSC in their respective provinces in terms of section 196 (13) of the Constitution and section 11(b) of the PSC Act. • The Constitution empowers the PSC to make recommendations. These recommendations are not binding (regarded as advice) and reasons should be provided when these are not effected. • The PSC issues directions with regard to personnel procedures relating to recruitment, transfers, promotions and dismissals, which are binding and have to be implemented within 60 days (Sections 196 (4)(d) of the Constitution and 5(8) of the Public Service Act). 6

  7. EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT (2) • PSC research has led to legislative and policy change, e.g.: • Policy and Procedure on Incapacity Leave and Ill-health Retirement • Extension of the contracts of HoDs from 3 to 5 years • Continuation of disciplinary cases upon the transfer of an employee between departments • Period of notice upon resignation when a disciplinary case has been initiated • Employees as candidates for, and becoming members of legislatures • Prohibition of public servants from doing business with government (in PAMA) • The PSC’s research reports on public service leadership have been extensively referred to in the NDP. • The PSC facilitated structured debate on its research and invited critical stakeholders to engage on public administration issues, e.g roundtables on the State of the Public Service, Financial Misconduct, Indebtedness of public servants, Conflicts of Interest, and the Management of Gifts. 7

  8. EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT (3) • A toolkit for Citizens Forums to assist departments, the executive, Parliament and provincial legislatures was developed by the PSC. • The PSC also conducts inspections of service delivery sites. • These products afford an opportunity to identify service delivery lapses and come up with immediate solutions through engagement with the relevant departments. • These tools of the PSC have had immediate tangible impact in the areas where they have been conducted. • A Citizen’s Forum hosted in the Msukaligwa Municipality led to the construction of 22 houses, improvements of health services and the registration of birth and identity documents, 130 houses electrified, streets upgraded, clinics renovated, new books for empty library, high mast light installed and cleaning campaign conducted by PSC. • The increase in the number of grievances and complaints lodged by public servants is also an indication of the impact of the PSC. 8

  9. EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT (4) • The PSC is regularly invited to make presentations/ inputs at local and international conferences, e.g. Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, the African Association for Public Administration and Management, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of South Africa. • Some of the PSC’s reports have been included as part of the study material for academic programmes and as source documents in research. The PSC’s 2006 State of the Public Service Report was discussed favourably by EVALTALK, a discussion group drawn largely from members of the American Evaluation Association and the Canadian Evaluation Society. • The media has shown keen interest in the work of the PSC. This could be because the PSC’s work is relevant and topical to the issues of the day. • Apart from such media reports, the PSC has also actively engaged the media through media briefings on its work.

  10. PSC STAKEHOLDERS • THE EXECUTIVE • President • Premiers • Cabinet • Executive Councils • LEGISLATURE(S) • National Assembly • NCOP • Provincial Legislatures • OTHER PARTNERS • Academia • NGO’s & CBO’s • Media • Religious Sector • Private Sector • International Org’s • Donor Community • Professional Bodies • FORUM OF INSTITUTIONS SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY • Public Protector • Human Rights Commission • Auditor General • Commission for Gender Equality • Electoral Commission • Financial & Fiscal Commission • Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities PSC DEPARTMENTS National and Provincial departments and their employees • CONSULTATIVE FORUMS • IGF • MINMEC’s • Forum of SA DG’s • ORGANISED LABOUR • PSCBC • Employee Org’s

  11. RELATIONSHIP WITH VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS • The PSC’s Stakeholder Management Framework provides the strategic glue that guides the PSC’s interaction with stakeholders to achieve its goals. • In terms of the framework, the PSC has- • engaged with the Executive on its reports; • made presentations to various fora on its findings and recommendations, e.g. FOSAD and the G&A Cluster; • hosted round table discussions on its research and topical issues; • hosted conferences with international and local experts (such as the recent Developmental State Conference) • engaged with citizens through Citizen’s Forums and inspections. • The PSC has, for instance, facilitated engagement sessions with provincial governments, legislatures and the citizenry in North West, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. These sessions have proved useful as they afforded the PSC the opportunity to share with them the state of the provincial administration in the respective provinces.

  12. RELATIONSHIP WITH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES • The PSC is accountable to the National Assembly (NA) and also reports to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. • The PSC interacts with the NA mainly through the PC on PSA/PME and the Speaker’s Office. • The PSC has noted that sector specific reports (e.g. Education, Health) are referred to both the PC on PSA/PME and the sector specific PC. However, the uptake by the sector PCs has not been good. • Therefore, the PSC and the PC should continue working together to ensure that the PSC’s sector specific reports get the necessary attention by the sector Portfolio Committees. • Since 2009, there was an increase in the number of Parliamentary Committees that the PSC interacted with other than this PC on PSA/PME. • These interactions were mainly based on requests for the PSC to advise on public administration practices on which the PSC has not necessarily done work or is not in its workplan.

  13. RELATIONSHIP WITH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES (2) • The PSC therefore has a very constructive and strategic relationship with the PC on PSA/PME, which facilitates working with the NA. 13

  14. RELATIONSHIP WITH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES (3) • In general, the PSC has a healthy working relationship with all the provincial legislatures. • However, a challenge is the uneven uptake of PSC’s reports in the provinces and structured engagement. The provincial legislatures miss out as these outputs are regarded as tools that Portfolio Committees can utilise in performing their oversight function over the provincial governments. • In some instances, the PSC’s reports are not tabled in the legislatures although the PSC submitted them for tabling. • The NA and provincial legislatures are furthermore, in terms of the Constitution, involved in the filling of Commissioner vacancies. • The time it takes to fill such vacancies has a negative impact on the PSC’s operations. Three positions are currently vacant. • The PSC has noted that there is no uniformity in the requirements stipulated in advertisements for vacancies of Commissioner, although the Constitution sets out requirements. The PSC has done work in this regard that will be shared with the PC. 14

  15. RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EXECUTIVE • The PSC investigates, monitors and evaluates the organization and administration and personnel practices within the Public Service. It renders advice and makes recommendations to the Executive. • There are regular engagements with Ministers, the Premiers and MECs. • The PSC has experienced challenges around the response time to requests for information and feedback on decisions in respect of the PSC’s recommendation(s) has been uneven. • Nationally based commissioners have been assigned to be the focal point for national departments in the relevant Clusters. Provincially based commissioners exercises the delegated powers and functions of the PSC in the provinces. • This means, for all advice and the needs of departments in that Cluster/ province they contact the relevant Commissioner. • This includes engagements with reports of the PSC as well as oversight over feedback on EAs decisions in respect of the PSC’s recommendation(s). • Through these improved interactions and improved reporting to Parliament, the above challenges should be addressed effectively.

  16. RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EXECUTIVE (2) • The DPME has indicated that it studies the PSC’s reports and recommendations and reports to Cabinet. • The PSC is a sub-programme within the MPSA’s Vote and its budget appropriated by the MPSA. • The PSC’s budget comes as a transfer from the DPSA. • This may undermine the PSC’s independence. • A process of negotiating its budget through Parliament would be more appropriate and this will be in line with Parliament's resolution of 15 November 2011 and the recommendations in the Kader Asmal report. • The top layers of appointments within the Office of the PSC (DG and DDGs) are done in consultation with the Executive. • Impacts on the independence of the PSC and the time frame to fill posts. • Investigating alternative support models for the PSC .

  17. RELATIONSHIP WITH INSTITUTIONS SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY • At national level, interaction with Institutions Supporting Democracy is coordinated by the Office of the Speaker. At provincial level coordination is uneven and not adequately coordinated in some instances. • Through the Forum of Institutions Supporting Democracy (FISD), the PSC and other constitutional bodies have pursued mutual cooperation, collaboration and an alliance. • To eliminate duplication of work and curb forum shopping the PSC has entered into Memoranda of Understanding with the Auditor-General, Public Protector and FFC. • The PSC is in the process of reviewing the effectiveness of its MoUs. 17

  18. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY • The structural arrangements of the PSC date back to the unbundling of the former PSC in 1996/97. • The PSC is supported by a national department, and has a national office in Pretoria and offices in all provinces. • At the time the size and composition of provincial offices in particular were determined by a Ministerial directive. As such the PSC was, to a large extent, limited in relation to the optimal execution of its mandate at provincial level. • Over a period of 11 years, there has been a minor increase in posts on the establishment of the Office from 252 posts to 297 (213 at national level and 84 at provincial level). • Throughout this period several attempts were made to strengthen the PSC’s capacity through policy options submitted to National Treasury. • In the 2013/14 financial year additional funding was allocated mainly aimed at strengthening the human resource capacity of the PSC. • The additional funding was used to augment capacity within the provincial offices through the creation of 38 additional posts. 18

  19. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (2) • A high level overview of its organisational structure is as follows: PSC (14 Commissioners) 5 Commissioners at National level 9 Commissioners at Provincial level Director-General (18 posts, including Parliamentary Office, Legal Services, Planning and Reporting and support to PSC) DDG: Corporate Services (90 posts) DDG: Monitoring and Evaluation (23 posts) DDG: Leadership and Management Practices (31 posts) DDG: Integrity and Anti-Corruption (51 posts) 9 X provincial offices providing operational and administrative support to provincially based commissioners exercising the powers and functions of the PSC in section 196(4) in their provinces (84 posts) NW (10 posts) EC (9 posts) WC (10 posts) NC (9 posts) GP (10 posts) FS (9 posts) KZN (9 posts) MPU (9 posts) LIMP (9 posts) 19

  20. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (3) • The PSC has operationalised its wide mandate around six (6) key performance areas (KPAs). Labour Relations Improvement: Public Service labour relations and practices enhanced through timely investigation of all properly referred grievances and provision of best practices Leadership and Management Practices Leadership and Human Resource Reviews: To identify and promote sound Human Resource Management and Leadership Practices in public administration. Governance Monitoring: To provide institutional assessments and programme evaluations that support policy and management decisions. Monitoring and Evaluation Service Delivery and Compliance Evaluations: To provide participative evaluations as well as evaluations of service delivery models and processes to support policy and management decisions. 20

  21. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (4) Public Administration Investigations: To investigate and improve public administration practices and to make recommendations to departments on the promotion of good governance and issue directions regarding compliance with the Public Service Act, 1994. • Integrity and • Anti-Corruption Professional Ethics: To promote ethical conduct amongst public servants through the management of the Financial Disclosure Framework (FDF), the NACH and provide advice on professional and ethical conduct in the Public Service. 21

  22. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (5) • The PSC’s resources are currently optimally used towards these KPAs in serving about 342 125 employees at national level and 889 483 employees at provincial level (totaling 1 231 608 public servants). • In the rural provinces, such as the Eastern and Northern Cape, it is challenging to interact and service employees who are spread throughout these provinces with the limited human resource and financial capacity. Employees in rural areas also do not readily have access to the PSC, e.g. to lodge grievances. • The PSC can no longer sustain service delivery, especially at provincial level, with the current staff capacity and skills accommodated in the approved establishment. • In response to an increase in demand from stakeholders, the PSC reviews its operational plan on a quarterly basis. • Like many constitutional institutions, the PSC’s financial resources limit the execution of its mandate. 22

  23. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (6) • The budget for 2014/15 was R226 million and for 2015/16 is R222 million. This has resulted in a reduction in the budget allocation for 2015/16. • Included in this amount for 2015/16 is additional funding amounting to R11.069 million earmarked for rental for office accommodation. • In real terms there is a shortfall of R15 million, emanating from baseline increases/ decreases implemented by National Treasury (NT) from 2013. • During 2013 the PSC received additional funding to the value of R29.4 million for the purpose of creating additional capacity based on the policy option that was submitted. However, the indicative for 2015/16 reflected a reduced budget when compared to 2013/14 and 2014/15. 23

  24. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (7) • For the 2014/15 financial year, the PSC received an additional allocation of R13.6 million, mainly for additional capacity and office accommodation based on the policy options that were submitted. • The 2015/16 shortfall that was never corrected in 2013 and 2014 allocation remained. • This matter was brought to the attention of the National Treasury in 2013 and 2014 during the MTEF processes and the Portfolio Committee in 2015. • The shortfall will have severe consequences on the PSC’s operations. • This simply means that PSC will not have money for projects as funds available will only be sufficient to cater for running costs and salaries. 24

  25. OVERVIEW OF CAPACITY (8) • The National Assembly and various role-players have motivated for the extension of the PSC’s mandate to the local sphere of government and public entities. • The mandate can only be extended through an amendment of the legislative framework. • It would require additional resources (posts and funding for operations covering all municipalities), and capacitation to understand new legislative frameworks and operational environments. New M&E instruments and other research tools would also need to be developed. • The PSC would also have to reach out to stakeholders in these spheres, e.g. SALGA, municipalities and public entities. 25

  26. ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES HINDERING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE PSC • Both the Constitution and PSC Act focus on the appointment process and no provision is made to deal with the instance of a renewal. The issue of re-appointment vs renewal therefore requires further attention. It is being addressed through the draft PSC Amendment Bill, submitted to the MPSA for consultation with Cabinet. • The PSC Act does not make provision to appoint a Commissioner to act in the absence of the Chair and the deputy. The PSC Amendment Bill therefore gives the chairperson powers prior to his or her absence to designate one of the commissioners to act as the chairperson during the absence of both the chairperson and the deputy. • The NDP provides that consideration be given that the Chairperson of the PSC should play a direct role in the selection of “suitable candidates for top posts”. In order for the PSC to play a direct role as envisaged in the NDP, this would require amendments to legislation as it changes the role and functions of the PSC from oversight and advisory to also being involved in appointments. 26

  27. CONCLUSION • The PSC needs more structured engagement at provincial level as envisaged in sections 196(4)(e) read with section 196(6) of the Constitution • We would appreciate being invited to oversight visits of the PC that cover the PSC’s mandate. • The PSC is constantly reviewing its internal processes to improve the timeliness and quality of its outputs. • It has implemented a Visibility Programme to guide and enhance its engagement with stakeholders and to make its stakeholders aware of its activities and outputs. • This has resulted in an increase in the number of requests for engagements with stakeholders, the number of grievances and complaints lodged with the PSC, etc. 27

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