MEDIA BRIEFING OF MINISTER GERALDINE FRASER-MOLEKETI

PUBLIC SERVICE & ADMINISTRATION MINISTRY
13 September 2000
MEDIA BRIEFING OF MINISTER GERALDINE FRASER-MOLEKETI

Document handed out:
Department Of Public Service And Administration: Parliamentary Media Briefing [see Appendix 1]
Department Of Public Service And Administration Media Briefing: Additional Information [see Appendix 2]

Policy Issues referred to by the Minister were:
Restructuring of the conditions of service of all public servants.
Priorities: managing benefits (medical aid, housing, pensions and leave) and redesigning remuneration structures (specifically getting rid of the so-called rank and leg system that gives an annual salary increase to (mainly police and health) civil servants regardless of their achievements or competency). The focus is about ensuring that the package is also beneficial to lower staff levels. Retrenchment regulation is also a point of discussion; looking for alternatives to retrenchment in the quest to make the public service more efficient and cost-effective.

Information Technology
A draft information technology policy has been developed, to be finalised at an e-government seminar in October. Currently major electronic delivery projects are being finalised such as electronic document management systems, a government-wide call centre, paperless government etc. For these projects government relies on SITA (State Information Technology Agency)

Strengthening management capacity
The Senior Management Service (SMS) was devised to create the ability to recruit and retain (senior) managers at the most critical level (hospitals, schools etc.) in several ways (e.g. greater mobility, competency assessment, training etc.). Their intervention will affect approximately 3000 senior managers. Implementation of the SMS will commence on 1 January 2001. SAMDI (South African Management Development Institute) is closely involved in this operation.

Questions
Q: What about the gap in access to e-government and e-facilities between the different groups in the country?
A: It’s not just IT, it is also about ICT (information and communications technology), for example, the government call centre (4-digit number) will be accessible to many people. Furthermore, there are terminals at the post offices accessible to everyone. Eventually, some services will be available on the Internet to ease access, but this a medium to long-term project.

Q: Some unions are disputing the level of salaries in the wage policy negotiations.
A: The bargaining is still going on. There is agreement on medical aid, housing and pensions. Government came up with a package last year already in the spirit of the Basic Conditions Of Employment Act. Another problem is the issue of "leave accumulation" where it is unclear how much leave people are entitled that has accumulated in past years.

Q: Are rumours about inertia in implementing the Public Finance Management Act correct?
A: It is too early to say so as the transition does not end until 2003 and has only begun this August. There are some capacity problems. Also, Chief Financial Officers have been appointed in some departments.

Q: Are the rumours about 50.000 supernumeraries correct?
A: There are no exact figures available. Retrenchment is to be avoided and should only be used as a last resort; alternatives such as education and training are to be found.

Q: Was the post-1994 policy on closing the salary gap between lower workers and managers a mistake, seeing that remuneration levels for senior managers are now going to be pulled up and equated?
A: They were appropriate at the time. Now we have reached a point of stabilisation and we have to watch the broader context of making the public service into an efficient organisation that has the skills needed.

Q: To what extent does the SAMDI address the capacity problems in departments?
A: The capacity problems are seen as critical; the departments must mobilise the resources that are available and find the true available capacity. Resorting to the use of consultants is not the answer. Competency assessment (in job interviews) will be implemented next year.

Appendix 1:
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION

By Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Minister of Public Service and Administration
Tuesday, 12 September 2000

I wish to thank you for inviting me to present the views of government on the challenges facing the Public Service in South Africa. In recent decades societies and economies have undergone momentous changes that have altered key assumptions and patterns of behaviour of governments, institutions, businesses and societies. A key precipitant of these changes is globalisation. It is within this context that I will raise the issues of Bargaining, Managing and Innovation in the Public Service, today.

Globalisation has resulted in greater integration of all countries, with the northern richer countries being by far the dominant parties in this arrangement. The phenomenon of globalisation links economic, cultural and political processes of countries previously separated by their physical boundaries. As a result, what happens in one part of the world tends to have an impact on the rest of the globe, especially through the medium of information and communication technologies and financial transactions.

Globalisation has meant that what one state does within its borders has a direct impact on political, economic and cultural processes in other parts of the globe. States have unequal power and thus some leave larger 'footprints' than others do. It also means that what states do domestically may have a direct consequence internationally. Conversely it also implies that international events tend to have an effect on domestic policy. This is generally seen as reducing the sovereignty of states, particularly those in the developing world and increasing the power of multinational financial, commercial and communications institutions. We know that a strong national state is one of the ways that we can be influential players in global forums. In our international deliberations, South Africa already advocates and has some bearing on the global issues that effect not only our country but the SADC region and Africa as a whole.

Transformation in a Global World
The Public Service in Africa and South Africa to be specific operates within this global environment. The challenges of the Public Service for the 21st century is to ensure that transformation activities are integrated while taking cognisance of what is happening around the globe. Clearly, as a member of the developing world we would also like to ensure that we make an imprint on the global debate which attempts to define the role of the state, and in particular, a developmental state which by its character must be activist.

President Mbeki in his speech on the occasion of the Budget Vote in the Presidency on 13 June said:
"The system of governance we are working to create is radically different from the one we inherited. It is focused away from repression, control and the management of people.

It is targeted at helping us to meet the provision laid down in the Constitution of 'improv(ing) the quality of life of all citizens and free(ing) the potential of each person.' Accordingly, ours must be a developmental state".

When this government assumed office six years ago, it inherited a Public Service system in which there was no respect for organised labour, today we are proud to say that the Public Service is a model employer in which participative management is a way of life.

The new system also brought about new challenges for the trade union movement. Critical among these is how to balance the needs of the employed with the hopes and suffering of our unemployed. We must remember that the central mission of the public service is the development of the country and provision of services to its people. If this is not achieved, the public service will miss its rationale for existence. The partnerships that we have created in the Public Service must make a difference in the lives of all South Africans. Partnerships that are inwardly focused cannot improve service delivery, they cannot eradicate poverty, and they cannot create employment. It is also important for management and labour to recognise their inter-dependence in ensuring that the above mission is realised.

Bargaining in the Public Service
The broad thrust of this year's bargaining has been on a package. The main reason for this approach is that the costs associated with salaries and benefits are related. In addition we aim to extend benefits like housing and medical aid to workers who were previously excluded. It gives government a greater bargaining hand with medical aid administrators and service providers if we can negotiate on the basis of economies of scale. As regards housing, anyone who has applied for a mortgage loan knows that it is not fun. What government wants to do is use the pension fund as a guarantee for securing adequate home loans. In this way, public servants that do not have the credit worthiness as stipulated by financial institutions will receive the backing of the government through the pension fund.

Why have we proposed an across the board percentage increase as opposed to a graduated salary increase? Well it's simple, over the years the effect of a sliding scale has reduced the salaries of highly qualified professionals in the public service, while increasing the salaries at lower unskilled levels. This practice was an important intervention to address the legacy of the apartheid wage gap. At this stage, however, we have to turn the corner. We in fact pay higher salaries at lower levels than the private sector. While government calls for a more effective management core and highly skilled professionals we are not able to retain these people because of a lack of competitiveness. We have to change this situation.

In our global world it is important that we take a step back, now and then, to examine the impact that our bargaining activities have on transformation. Are we really adding value by negotiating salaries centrally when the ICS vote has been moved to departments? Should we still have councils structured along occupational lines? What should be the role of Provinces in bargaining? Is the yearly system of bargaining for salary increases sustainable? Can we introduce a system in which salary negotiations will be linked to the medium term expenditure framework or even to the term of government?

These are some of the questions that need to be answered in our endeavour to build the public service not only as the preferred employer, but also as an institution, which delivers.

Managing the Public Service
The Public Service is also faced with the challenge of developing an accountable and effective management core to ensure the acceleration of service delivery. The South African Management and Development Institute, SAMDI, plays a crucial role in building the capacity of our managers. It is however not only training and development that is necessary but an integrated strategy to build strong management in the public service.

Again, President Mbeki in his speech on the occasion of the Budget Vote in the Presidency on 13 June noted, "One of the most important challenges thrown upon us is the need for us to sharply improve the professional competence of members of the public service and otherwise to increase the capacity within the public service".

It has been confirmed through a number of studies in the public service that the ability to improve service delivery is dependent on good and strong management. We are therefore pleased that Cabinet approved the establishment of the Senior Management Services (SMS). The establishment of the SMS will help the public service to attract, develop, and retain good managers.

SMS will also benefit the individual member and the society at large. Some of these benefits include:
* The ability of the government to deploy the best managers where there is a particular need.
* A strong and competent senior management team, with relevant public service competencies.
* The flexible remuneration structure will attract highly competent managers to the public service.
* Strong leadership at senior management level which will result in stronger bargaining councils.
* Professionals and specialists at senior management level will be remunerated at the same level as the corresponding level of senior management.

The practice has been that, salary increases of senior managers were not subject to negotiation at the PSCBC, but the other conditions of service were. As from 1 January 2001, the conditions of service for senior managers will no longer be negotiated at the PSCBC and senior managers' salary increases will be effected from 1 January as opposed to the 1st of July. This development obviously affects your members at this level, but we have ensured that senior managers are not worse off because of this change of date.

One of the most important principles underpinning the establishment of the SMS is the call by the President that:

"(our) society must be distinguished, among other things, by the prevalence of a new patriotism... and a new social morality radically different from the morality we have inherited from centuries of colonialism and apartheid."

The SMS will strive to embody these values and to combat and prevent corruption in the public service. An additional set of protocols on conduct will be developed for the SMS that will be enforced through peer review.

Innovating for Better Service Delivery
Service Delivery Innovation, SDI, is an optimum mix of flexible service delivery mechanisms and tools that can be strategically used to achieve Government's service delivery objectives. Unfortunately, SDI is sometimes associated with outsourcing which results in job losses. This is not so. Service delivery innovation is about developing and introducing new ways of delivering service to communities at affordable rates, this can happen in many ways: electronically, empowering communities to deliver the service, government employees taking over the service delivery, outsourcing to private sector, improving accessibility of services, and so on.

Ultimately, the SDI policy framework will enable us to reorganise the manner in which government delivers services with a view to improving efficiency. Such re-organising will encompass an improvement in the efficiency of existing institutions, utilisation of Public-Private partnerships, establishment of agencies within the government and co-operation with civil society to improve delivery.

A vision for the Public Service
I would like to see a public service in which the interaction between the trade union movement and government will be about issues that will bring a better life for all. I want for us to build a working environment in which conditions of service and salary bargaining is approached within the context of the challenges that face the country as a whole. I challenge you to commit yourself to the principles of Batho Pele and work towards a changing the lives of South African citizens through our service to them. I extend an invitation to all the public service trade unions to share this vision with me and ensure that our activities are guided by this vision.

It is only if we come together within our borders that we can start to assert ourselves in this global arena. It is with this in mind that I invite this congress and the trade union movement at large to become our partners in ensuring good governance, to assist us in fulfilling our mandate to deliver a better life for all.

Thank you

Appendix 2:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

PARLIAMENTARY MEDIA BRIEFING

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION
13 SEPTEMBER 2000

1999 marks the devolution of management decisions regarding public service to executing authorities (the President, Deputy President, Ministers, Premiers and MEC's). The Public Service Management Framework holds the executing authorities accountable for outputs and performance of their departments.

Managers who are given more flexibility to take decisions that are more appropriate to their unique circumstances, as enabled by the new management framework. This required DPSA to develops a better management information system. In response to this need, DPSA has developed the first Vulindlela report on human resource information in the public service that was sent to provinces in August. A separate exercise to verify personnel information is currently being undertaken and findings will be made know in October 2000.

STRENTHENING MANAGEMENT CAPACITY
DPSA has seen the need for a strengthened senior management cadre; recently cabinet has approved the formation of the Senior Management Service (SMS) with the Public Service. The aim of SMS:
· Improve the recruitment, selection and retention of candidates.
· Establish a more appropriate employment framework with terms and conditions of service designed to attract and retain high calibre individuals with equal recognition being given to senior managers and high-level professionals.
· Introduce greater mobility to enable Government to deploy individuals across departments at national and provincial level.
· Assist departments and provinces in reviewing their management structures with a key focus being the appropriate grading and competency assessment of senior executives.
· Improve training and development.
· Promote a high standard of ethical conduct
· Establish a more appropriate labour relations framework.

These interventions will affect the approximately 3000 senior managers, including heads of department, in the public service. The preparatory work for these interventions will be completed by the end of the year, and implementation of the Senior Management Service will commence on 1 January 2001.

MANAGING PERSONAL EXPENDITURE DOWNWARDS
In response to rising personnel costs over the last five years, DPSA revealed the results of its sector-based research and proposed strategies for each differentiated sector for the downward management of personnel expenditure. A new wage policy for the public service has been developed, which proposes the streamlining of the allowances and benefits to make them more cost-effective and to increase take-up of pension, housing and medical aid benefits by lower level workers in the public service.

DPSA is working to ensure that the public service is in compliance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and has made proposals to unions to limit the amount of leave that can be accumulated by public servants. DPSA on behalf of the state has presented all the above elements as a package.

IIP AND MANAGEMENT PLANS.
The integrated Implementation Programmed assisted departments and provinces to draw up management plans, consisting of strategic plans aligned to the department's budget, an organizational structure aligned to service delivery requirements, a service delivery improvement plan (to bridge the gap between actual and desired service quality and levels) and a human resource plan, to identify and address skills deficits, including over and under staffing. An in-depth analysis of the management plans submitted by departments has been conducted and will be presented to Cabinet by end of October 2000.

Following the successful assistance to departments and provinces in the IIP, especially in the three poorest provinces of the Eastern Cape, the Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal, a donor-assisted Inter-provincial Support Programme (IPSP) was established and is providing expert assistance to these provinces. The IPSP is likely to extend to two further provinces, the Free State and Mpumalanga, before end of 2000.

SERVICE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENTS
DPSA is developing a policy framework to facilitate the rendering of public services in innovative ways, such as public-private partnerships, outsourcing of non-core functions, and the establishment of agencies. A great deal has been done on proposals for the outsourcing of non-core functions. The Center for Public Service Innovation, aims at showcasing and facilitating the establishment of innovative service delivery mechanisms, will be established before the end of the year with assistance form the private sector.

A task team made up of DPSA, PSC officials and International experts conducted a management audit of Department of Correctional Services. All the reports emanating from these processes have been completed and will be released to the relevant Ministers before the end of the month. In the interim, a plan for implementation of the recommendations has been developed in conjunction with the Department of Correctional Services.

ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT
South Africa has the highest number of Internet connections in Africa; our technology sector is growing fast and we have become exporters of IT skills. Government has increased the number of departments participating in the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).

A draft information technology policy for government has been developed by DPSA, which will be finalized at a high-level E-government seminar in October. The IT policy is designed to address IT security i.e. ensuring the confidentiality of personal data. It is also designed to influence measures geared towards incorporating IT in formal and informal education. Finally geared towards ensuring IT procurement is improved especially turn around time and competency of vendors. The seminar will also determine and priorities the major E-government projects. These projects will include the HANIS smart card system being developed for the Department of Home Affairs. Cabinet has recently approved the establishment of Council of Government IT officers, which will coordinate the effective harnessing of IT in the public service for improved service delivery. Existing IT heads in departments and provinces will be redesignated Government Information Technology Officers (GITOs). They will be charged with leveraging IT to enhance service delivery in their respective departments. The GITO will also monitor trends in the rapidly changing IT field, and will ensure that economies of scale are utilized. As Information Technology becomes obsolete at a high pace, government needs a vehicle that will continuously analyse Information Technology trends and influence better IT strategies.

The GITO Council will lead the co-ordination and consolidation of government IT initiatives, with a view to enhance service delivery. The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) will serve as the implementing arm of the GITO council, and will be led by the Council. The Council together with SITA will maximize efficiency and effectiveness of government service delivery in accordance with the principles of Batho Pele. The first meeting of the Council GITO will be held before end of the month.

GOVERNMENT FOCUS ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Government is the biggest consumer of IT goods and services in the South African market, it currently owns above 60% of the IT purchases. Considering this advantage, SITA is well positioned to ensure that government gets value for money. It has now focused on positioning Government to use IT tools in support of its policies, sustain the ability of the public service to recruit and retain appropriately skilled personnel and manage IT procurement. For example, a saving of R3.3m on contractor tariffs has been realized through SITA initiatives. This has been realized through an exercise of renegotiating tariffs, product prices and service charges that has the potential of yielding savings that run into millions.

Elimination of IT duplications
Current functioning of government i.e. national departments and Provinces have been procuring and managing information technology led to multiple duplications running into millions of rands.
To this end Sita is implementing a plan to consolidate all mainframes, file servers and networks..
Presently, the following have been achieved:
· Consolidation of the Western Cape mainframe into Pretoria, with a saving of R4,2 million made up of software, hardware and human resources savings.
· Proposal to the North West not to upgrade their current mainframe but rather use the idle capacity that Sita has had through the Western Cape consolidation.
· Consolidation of the Defence, South African Police and Central Computer Services so as to have one Sita network. This has just been implemented and although there are still problems, most benefits will come through this integration i.e. video conferencing for the whole of the state, one office application for the whole of Sita etc.

Integration of state departments
In order for Sita to achieve the key objectives for which it was established, integration of state departments and provinces has been identified as a key strategic exercise. Integration of IT services will create a conducive environment to fast track realization of value for the state. The formation of the GITO Council will have a major role in ensuring the appropriateness of the intergration of state departments and review where necessary.

The following state organs are either in the process of being integrated or have been integrated into Sita:
· The merger of three IT functions from Infoplan (Department of Defence), SAPS IT (South African Police Services) Central Computer Services (Department of State Expenditure);
· Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA);
· Department of Mineral and Energy;
· Department of Environmental Affairs;
· KwaZulu-Natal.

In order for all these initiatives to be successful, capacity building and training will be crucial. The South African Management Development Institute is focussing on programmes that are more supportive of the policy initiatives emanating from the department.

Training programmes are looking to:
1. identify, validate and prioritise customer and stakeholder training needs and expectations.
2. Develop and deliver SAQA and NQF aligned competency based Training Programmes in the priority policy areas
3. Develop and phase in improved support systems and processes (Marketing, IT and Course Administration)

Recently, SAMDI introduced a Service Delivery Programme that deals with department-focussed approach to training and development that target all levels of staff within the respective department. In addition, it provides support and implementations of learning through the operationalisation of practical service delivery improvement initiatives after each course. In this way, the programme not only builds capacity for staff it also applies quick service delivery improvements wins. It competes effectively alongside programmes that are mandatory to attend (Provisioning Administration, LRA etc) while in its case, attendance is still purely voluntary at this stage.

SAMDI has also introduced courses that are recognised and in some instances used by leading tertiary institutions (University of Pretoria and Technikon Southern Africa etc). Courses in the areas of Human Resource Management, Labour Relations and Provisioning Administration and Management are examples of such.

Their recognition is based on the quality of the content, practicality and relevance of the course. This means that the courses are portable and respond to the NQF requirement of providing courses with clear standards and measurable outcomes.

SAMDI also is developing strategic partnerships with other Public Service Training and Development providers both at the international, regional and local levels. At the international level, SAMDI worked closely with the Civil Service College of the UK, Institute of Public Administration of Ireland as well as the Maaschtricht School of Management based in the Netherlands. This relationship served to meet the goal of making SAMDI internationally competitive and responsive to global imperatives and trends in the field of leadership and management training and development.

At regional level the Africa Co-operation Programme (ACOP) project successfully initiated links with other African institutions such as Centre Africain de Formation et de Recherche Administratives pour le Développement) CAFRAD, and other in Namibia, Ghana, Botswana and Uganda. The current interactions form the basis for establishing more long-term strategic regional partnerships.

The following are some of the projects that SAMDI is implementing to ensure capacity building within management:
1. PSLDP is a high -level strategic development programme aimed at increasing the capacity of the senior management and leadership in the public service. The programme is informed by the needs analysis conducted amongst Directors-General. Last month about 23 Directors General attended the first session organised under the auspices of (PSLDP).

The successful launch of the programme took place on 23 July 2000 and the Deputy president emphasised the importance of improving management skills in the public service. The programme will improve the participant's capacity to:
· Recognise and relate Macro issues to the Public Service · Take account of local and global trends and integrate into strategic planning
· Translate strategy into action
· Act corporately
· Embody and uphold public service values and ethics
· Manage resources effectively to achieve the priorities of government
· Create a shared vision among all employees of a learning organization
· Place Human Development interventions at the centre of objective departmental performance

2. The Ministerial Support Programme was launched at the School of Governance on Monday 11 September as a joint venture training programme between SAMDI and University of Western Cape. This programme is aimed at improving service delivery, performance and support for the Ministers, Premiers and MEC's.

Our International partners have also played a role in the conceptualisation of the Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme (PSLDP) and the Ministerial Support Programme. This will serve to promote the African Renaissance concept, while also strengthening the possibility of joint ventures in the development of leadership, management, and institutional capacity within the African region broadly and sub-region in particular. The inputs sourced from local and international experts and counterparts will ensure exchange of the best practices at senior executive level. DPSA, PSC and SAMDI have all printed an annual report that contains useful information on departmental activities.

The Office of the Public Service Commission will work closely with all departments to evaluate and monitor progress on the service delivery programme.

The Office Public Service Commission has only really begun functioning in terms of its new mandate from January this year. During this period it has had to integrate staff and policies and align these towards the achievement of the new mandates.

PSC has now embarked upon a series of strategic interventions that it believes will collectively contribute to achieving the "Monitoring and Evaluation this goal. Listed below is a synopsis of some of these strategies:
* The monitoring of the implementation of performance management systems which are now required for most public servants would allow for a more rigorous appraisal of outputs, and thus improve the productivity of the public service. Through the PSCs monitoring function, it would ensure that the performance management systems do achieve the desired goals.
* It has helped to operationalise enabling legislation designed to promote good governance and also to prevent fraud - legislations such as the Protected Disclosures Bill - contribute to a reduction in corruption as actions of public servants become subject to external scrutiny. In this regard there will over time be a shift from a partisan and unaccountable government, to one that promotes access to all its citizens, in a fair, just
and efficient way.
* Up to now, the Commission has produced over 10 key projects with recommendations being tabled at the Portfolio Committee and the various legislatures.

In order to facilitate better evaluation system by the PSC certain requirements have been outlined for example:
· For all departmental reporting, the PSC requires that reporting goes beyond the simple numbers, and begin to focus on key government priority areas (i.e. Reduction of poverty, broadening of access etc). In stipulating the outputs or goals, departments would naturally have to re-engineer their systems downstream, and begin to focus their resources in addressing these criteria.
· On performance agreements of HODs and DGs, the areas of performance must reflect the goals of government as well as organizational goals. The purpose of this is to align all aspects of government performance, from the macro to the micro, and thus focus the efforts of government in a very direct and deliberate manner.
· The PSC is putting in place a transversal M&E system. This will allow the PSC to collect key information around government performance on a proactive basis. The process of government departments beginning to focus on M&E is a benefit in itself, in that it would reduce information blockages within the organization, improve the quality of this information, and promote performance management. Once this system works South Africa will be in line with other democracies that have M&E as a mandatory practice.
· The Public Service Commission intends to put a transversal monitoring and evaluation system in place that will contain a data- base on key indicators of levels of corruption, the state of labour relations and human resource management in the public service and the service delivery performance of the public service. The system would enable government to get a composite, overall view of the effectiveness of the public service as the machinery of government.

Management audit at the Department of Home Affairs
The Commission has issued a report spelling out the major management challenges facing the Department of Home Affairs. A joint team of the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Office of the PSC is currently supporting the department in redesigning its management and business processes in order to achieve a drastic improvement in service delivery.

A Professional Ethics and Risk Management
An Explanatory Manual that serves to explain the different stipulations of the Code by means of practical examples has been developed. The Code was translated into all official languages in order to assist in the training of trainers in provincial administrations Case Studies and professional ethics newsletters/posters to raise awareness on anti-corruption were circulated in all provinces.

Anti-Corruption Campaign
The Public Service Commission as the flag-carrier of the anti-corruption campaign has conducted a series of Anti-Corruption Workshops in seven Provinces. The workshops were intended to implement Summit Resolutions. The participants were senior members from civil society, public and the private sectors. These workshops generated further measures (anti-corruption programmes) to uproot corruption in the private and public sectors.

The comprehensive programmes include plans for-a formation of Provincial
Anti-Corruption Cross Sectoral Task Team to take forward Summit Resolutions, organisations and companies creating public awareness campaign promotion of Whistleblowing Mechanisms and Hotlines.

Anti-Corruption Strategies
The following publications on anti-corruption issues were distributed to the Premiers, MEC's, Heads of Departments, Members from Civil Society and The Private Sectors :
* Fighting Corruption: Towards a National Integrity Strategy
* Fighting Corruption: Invitation to Ethics Management
* Fighting Corruption: South African Perspectives
* Fighting Corruption: Corruption Prevention Strategy
Monitoring and evaluating the impact of government programmes

The Public Service Commission intends to put a transversal monitoring and evaluation system in place that will contain a data- base on key indicators of levels of corruption, the state of labour relations and human resource management in the public service and the service delivery performance of the public service. The system would enable government to get a composite, overall view of the effectiveness of the public service as the machinery of government. The Commission is currently determining the scope of the system after which detail design and populating the system with data will be done.

The challenge is to put a system in place that will provide useful information to Government and will enable the Commission "to provide an evaluation of the extent to which the values and principles of public administration are complied with" (section 196(4)(e) of the Constitution).
The Commission also did an evaluation of departments' annual reports and issued a guideline on annual reporting. Departments' annual reports should be the main instrument where account is given of the service delivery performance of government and the impact of government policies and programmes. However, currently reports do not contain useful performance data. The report and guideline that the Commission has published should have a major impact on the quality of annual reports. The Commission is also planning a series of workshops to support departments in providing useful information in annual reports. The challenge is to achieve actual changes in reports, so that it provides useful performance data enabling someone reading the report to assess the performance of a department.

Management audit at the Department of Home Affairs
The Commission has issued a report spelling out the major management challenges facing the Department of Home Affairs. A joint team of the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Office of the PSC is currently supporting the department in redesigning its management and business processes in order to achieve a drastic improvement in service delivery.

The challenge now is to improve our methodology in order to improve the usefulness of management audits to departments, eg to address basic administrative issues that can make a big impact on the improvement of service delivery capacity of departments.

Survey of compliance with the Batho Pele (Transformation of service delivery) policy
The survey report gives an authoritative impression of compliance with the Batho Pele policy and the impact of the policy up to now. A principal finding is that the policy is sound but that it must be applied rigorously by departments before it will make a major difference to people's lives. Recommendations are made on how to improve the impact of the policy. The challenge now is to give an impression of the status of service delivery from the customer's perspective and to improve the practical effect of the policy, that is achievement of improvements at the service delivery point level.

Supporting departments with management advice
The Commission advised departments on management issues and in this manner contributed to the capacity of departments to improve service delivery.
Examples of this are advising the Department of Foreign Affairs on the transformation of its corporate services and designing organisation structures for the Departments of Agriculture and Education in the Northern Province and the Department of Local Government in Gauteng. The Commission is also advising on the fairness of administrative procedures, eg, the selection of Pedi prescribed books for Northern Province schools.

A Professional Ethics and Risk Management
The key outputs have been to:
Develop a Code of conduct for the Public Service Conduct workshops on the Code of Conduct in all Provinces with Senior Officials. These workshops were addressed by Premiers , MEC's and DG's, Produce an Explanatory Manual on the Code of Conduct. The Explanatory Manual serves to explain the different stipulations of the Code by means of practical examples. The Code was translated into all official languages and into Braille in order to assist in the training of trainers in provincial administrations Case Studies and professional ethics newsletters/posters to raise awareness on anti-corruption were circulated in all provinces.

Anti-Corruption Campaign
Workshops conducted include Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference on 10 and 11 November 1998, National Anti-Corruption Summit on 14 and 15 April 1999. The Public Service Commission as the flag-carrier of the anti-corruption campaign has conducted a series of Anti-Corruption Workshops in seven Provinces. The workshops were intended to implement Summit Resolutions. The participants were senior members from civil society, public and the private sectors. These workshops generated further measures (anti-corruption programmes) to uproot corruption in the private and public sectors.

The comprehensive programmes include plans for-a formation of Provincial Anti-Corruption Cross Sectoral Task Team to take forward Summit Resolutions viz blacklisting of corrupt individuals, organisations and companies creating public awareness campaign promotion of Whistleblowing Mechanisms and Hotlines.

Anti-Corruption Strategies
The following publications on anti-corruption issues were distributed to thePremiers, MEC"s, Heads of Departments, Members from Civil Society and the Private Sectors :
* Fighting Corruption: Towards a National Integrity Strategy
* Fighting Corruption: Invitation to Ethics Management
* Fighting Corruption: South African Perspectives
* Fighting Corruption: Corruption Prevention Strategy
The challenge facing the commission is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the Code of Conduct for the Public Service and eliminate corruption and unethical behaviour in the Public Service.

EVALUATION OF DEPARTMENTAL PROGRAMME
Dismissals as a result of misconduct
The purpose of this investigation was to establish a comprehensive data base of misconduct cases attended to by national departments, the problems and delays associated with the disciplinary processes, and a commentary of developments in respect of disciplinary processes within the public service.

The project attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of the misconduct process within the context of Government's concerns and its commitment in the fight against corruption.

The information generated by this project, whilst baseline in nature did not identify trends to conduct an analysis, showed that 283 officials have been dismissed from the Public Service, out of 964 officials found guilty of misconduct. Out of the 238 officials, 102 officials were dismissed for corruption related offences.

Management information required by departments to effectively manage absence due to sick leave
The Public Service Commission was mandated by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) to undertake a comprehensive investigation into the type of management information required to effectively manage absence due to sick leave in the Public Service and make recommendations to the Department of State Expenditure to standardise improvements to PERSAL.

The key finding after sampling six large departments at national and provincial level was that personnel involved with the administering of PERSAL functions did not utilise the facilities available very effectively.

Recommendations on utilization of facilities available on PERSAL, especially the revised Report 7.11.4 were submitted to the Department of State Expenditure for implementation in Departments and Provincial Administrations.

Career management in the Public Service
This project attempted to monitor the implementation of provisions of the White paper on Human Resource management in the Public Service. The investigation found that career management programmes have only been implemented at three national departments, and that other departments do not deem career management as an immediate priority.

More work needs to be done with departments to conscientise them of the importance of this aspect, as well as to help them to develop strategies to attend to this HR need, as required by the Skills Development Act. Advice has been provided on the development and implementation of career management programmes based on the research results, models of career management observed in the Public Service and Institutions that were consulted.

Report on investigation into probation
It was considered appropriate that an investigation be undertaken into the management of probationary appointment in the Public Service especially given governments policy on a shortened period of probation.

The emerging findings of the investigation focus on the vexing problems which departments are confronted with. Departments were not dealing effectively with the management of information on PERSAL pertaining to probationary appointments. Policy on probation in some departments has not been developed.

The key challenge facing departments relate to their focus on the management of information on PERSAL, developing departmental policy, capacity building of probationers and monitoring probation as a process.

Report on the state of representativeness in the Public Service
The purpose of this investigation was to base-line and monitor progress made by departments and provincial administrations towards the achievement of representativeness in the public service. The project was aimed at ensuring that Departments adhered to the goals of the Affirmative Action programme. The key findings were that Departments did achieve representativeness at the level of race, but did not do the same at the level of disabilities.

The key challenge would be to ensure that a skills audit be undertaken of the public service, and for interventions in the area of training and support to take place. The PSC would work closely with the Department of Labour to ensure that compliance with the Employment Equity Act takes place. Management information required by departments to effectively manage absence due to sick leave

The Public Service Commission was mandated by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) to undertake a comprehensive investigation into the type of management information required to effectively manage absence due to sick leave in the Public Service and make recommendations to the Department of State Expenditure to standardise improvements to PERSAL

More work needs to be done with departments to conscientise them of the importance of this aspect, as well as to help them to develop strategies to attend to this HR need, as required by the Skills Development Act. Advice has been provided on the development and implementation of career management programmes based on the research results, models of career management observed in the Public Service and Institutions that were consulted.

Report on investigation into probation
It was considered appropriate that an investigation be undertaken into the management of probationary appointment in the Public Service especially given governments policy on a shortened period of probation.

The emerging findings of the investigation focus on the vexing problems which departments are confronted with. Departments were not dealing effectively with the management of information on PERSAL pertaining to probationary appointments. Policy on probation in some departments has not been developed.

The key challenge facing departments relate to their focus on the management of information on PERSAL, developing departmental policy, capacity building of probationers and monitoring probation as a process.

Report on the state of representativeness in the Public Service
The purpose of this investigation was to base-line and monitor progress made by departments and provincial administrations towards the achievement of representativeness in the public service. The project was aimed at ensuring that Departments adhered to the goals of the Affirmative Action programme. The key findings were that Departments did achieve representativeness at the level of race, but did not do the same at the level of disabilities.

The key challenge would be to ensure that a skills audit be undertaken of the public service, and for interventions in the area of training and support to take place. The PSC would work closely with the Department of Labour to ensure that compliance with the Employment Equity Act takes place. Management information required by departments to effectively manage absence due to sick leave

The Public Service Commission was mandated by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) to undertake a comprehensive investigation into the type of management information required to effectively manage absence due to sick leave in the Public Service and make recommendations to the Department of State Expenditure to standardise improvements to PERSAL

Recommendations on utilization of facilities available on PERSAL, especially the revised Report 7.11.4 were submitted to the Department of State Expenditure for implementation in Departments and Provincial Administrations.

Career management in the Public Service
This project attempted to monitor the implementation of provisions of the White paper on Human Resource management in the Public Service. The investigation found that career management programmes have only been implemented at three national departments, and that other departments do not deem career management as an immediate priority.

More work needs to be done with departments to conscientise them of the importance of this aspect, as well as to help them to develop strategies to attend to this HR need, as required by the Skills Development Act. Advice has been provided on the development and implementation of career management programmes based on the research results, models of career management observed in the Public Service and Institutions that were consulted.

Report on investigation into probation
It was considered appropriate that an investigation be undertaken into the management of probationary appointment in the Public Service especially given governments policy on a shortened period of probation.

The emerging findings of the investigation focus on the vexing problems which departments are confronted with. Departments were not dealing effectively with the management of information on PERSAL pertaining to probationary appointments. Policy on probation in some departments has not been developed.

The key challenge facing departments relate to their focus on the management of information on PERSAL, developing departmental policy, capacity building of probationers and monitoring probation as a process.

Report on the state of representativeness in the Public Service
The purpose of this investigation was to base-line and monitor progress made by departments and provincial administrations towards the achievement of representativeness in the public service. The project was aimed at ensuring that Departments adhered to the goals of the Affirmative Action programme. The key findings were that Departments did achieve representativeness at the level of race, but did not do the same at the level of disabilities.

The key challenge would be to ensure that a skills audit be undertaken of the public service, and for interventions in the area of training and support to take place. The PSC would work closely with the Department of Labour to ensure that compliance with the Employment Equity Act takes place.

Issued by GCIS on behalf of Department of Public Service and Administration