GCIS MINISTERIAL MEDIA BRIEFING
Minister of Public Service and Administration
11 September 2001

Documents Handed Out:
Minister’s Media Briefing September 11, 2001 [See Appendix below]

Questions by the media and replies from the Minister, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi

(Q) What kind of projects is the Centre for Public Service Innovation looking for, what kind of personnel will be seconded to this project and what process is to be followed.
(A) It will not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the Director-General's views on the kind of projects that they are looking for since it is the Office of the Director General that is entrusted with the duty of identifying projects. With regard to the kind of personnel seconded for this programme, at the moment I do not have the exact names but I will provide such names as the time goes on, save to say the personnel will be blended with government officials and people from outside government. The establishment of the component dealing with the Innovation and Information Centre will be the first leg. All that follows will have to be informed by the fact that they should be up and running in November

(Q) Noting that there is a percentage of Senior Management in the Public Service that have faked their qualifications, what has the Department done about that?
(A) They were kicked out. Without mentioning names and places, I presume that you are aware of the Mpumalanga saga.

(Q) At what stage is the Department's Redeployment Programme?
(A) The programme is still in motion but there are legislative matters that will have to be looked at in doing this. In a quest to show that the programme is still underway, Ms Fraser-Moleketi made mention of the former Director General of Public Service in Mpumalanga who is now redeployed to the national office (dealing with improved service delivery). However there are still problems with the Excellence Programme since it has been referred to the bargaining chamber. The Department will be taking this matter to conciliation very soon.

Appendix:
Transformation and Service Delivery: Change and Action Briefing: Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi
11 September 2001

On the occasion of my budget vote in May I used the phrase "Change for Action: Action for Change" to illustrate the focus of my Ministry for 2001. This phrase was a spin off from the President's call for "Action for Change" made in his State of the Nation Address. "Action for Change" was meant to encompass the link between acts of transformation and improved service delivery: change and action.

Today I will provide you with a sample of what the actions of the Ministry for Public Service and Administration have been since April. Note that this will not be the full spectrum of the work of the Ministry but merely a selection of what we thought would hold high public interest.

My input will centre on Capacity Building, Improving Service Delivery, Modernising Government, Anti-corruption Initiatives and Monitoring and Evaluation.

Capacity Building 1. Over the past years there has been concerted efforts at assisting departments in improving their strategic and human resource planning. In view of the critical role played by senior managers, over the last year we have succeeded in establishing the Senior Management Service (SMS). The establishment entails a process for ensuring that all senior managers have performance contracts, engage in a competency assessment prior to appointment, and that managers can structure their own salary package. In support of ensuring appropriate conduct at senior levels, a disclosure framework has been fully implemented and will be extended to all senior managers and those non-senior managers who are working in high risk areas such as procurement.

2. As an integral component of the overall skill development efforts in the public service, the Public Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) will be formally launched on 25 September. The PSETA has been accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) as an Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) agency. The process of accrediting training and education providers was completed at the end of August. Assessors will be accredited by the end of October. Departments have submitted fifty-five workplace skill plans. As we have established all the required frameworks in this area, it is expected that the momentum for skill development in the public service will reach new levels over the next few years. As an illustration of this, we are working with the South African Police Services and the Department of Home Affairs on large-scale programme for functional literacy and the development of basic administrative skills.

3. We have established some capacity to enhance learning activities across the public service. To this end, we have established a number of learning networks (service delivery innovation, public works, corporate services, performance management, e-government and HIV/Aids). Within the ambits if this activity area, preparations are also underway to produce a Public Service learning journal in November.

4. The South African Management Development Institute has had considerable success in its training work this year. Since February this year a total of twelve thousand and nineteen (12019) public servants have been trained in areas such as: the PSLDP (Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme), financial management, HR Management and Provincial Administration training. SAMDI anticipates that between September 2001 and February 2002 it would have trained a further five and a half thousand people in similar kinds of programmes.

5. The Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme (PSLDP) has received a national accolade with its Policy, Research and Knowledge Management Module being rated the best in South Africa by Pretoria University. The programme, which was launched this year, addresses capacity building within the upper echelon of Public Service (Directors-General and Senior Managers). So far 60 modules have been completed and there is a waiting list for participation. SAMDI envisions that sixty more modules would have been completed by October this year.

6. Another milestone for SAMDI has been the launch of the SAMDI / INTAN Capacity Building Programme (INTAN is the Malaysian Institute of Public Administration). So far 84 South African Public Service Managers have been trained, thirty-one of these during study trips in Malaysia. Areas of training included: Training of Trainers - Needs Analysis, Management Development and Leadership Development (Malaysia).

7. SAMDI work in the Eastern Cape has lead to additional requests for assistance in Performance Consulting to determine the impact of service delivery training. This kind of feedback is particularly important to my Ministry because of the kind of support that we want to give Provincial Departments. This programme will start in October.

Improving Service Delivery 8. As part of our ongoing efforts in improving service delivery, we have focused renewed attention on the implementation of the Batho Pele principles. We are in the processes of developing numerous guides for the implementation of Batho Pele principles. These include a guide on service delivery review, a customer surveys guide and a service standards guide. In support of the efforts, customer surveys are to be undertaken by the PSC. The PSC is also leading the implementation of the Batho Pele Service Excellence Programme. A key element of the Batho Pele campaign is improving the moral of public servants. We recently celebrated African Public Service day and will be focusing on boosting morals of public servants and public perception of the public service, through a 'Public Service Week' to be held at the end of this month.

9. As part of the Batho Pele effort, we are in the process of establishing a Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI). The Centre aims to mainstream and promote innovation in the public sector by providing opportunities, funding and piloting innovative projects. In the next two months, the new leadership of the Centre will be identifying and piloting at least five projects that must be up and running by the time of the launch in November.

10. We continue to work at improving the management of the public service through focused research. Of particular note is the public entities project which will deliver a remuneration framework, an accountability framework and a secure management information system on public entities. In addition, following from discussions at the July Lekgotla led by the Economic Cluster, DPSA and the PSC have identified a joint project to evaluate procurement expenditure in the public service, in particular its impact on SMMEs and black economic empowerment.

Modernizing Government 11. In the area modernising government, we have focused substantive efforts on improving the management and utilisation of information technology in government. This, in direct response to the findings of the Presidential Review Commission's report on the management of Information Technology in government. In support of the range of decentralised efforts, we have set in place processes for co-ordinating IT initiatives in government and to this end have established the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).

12. In line with government's efforts in information technology, we have also established a Government Information Technology Officer's (GITO) Council. The GITO council has been instrumental in facilitation IT co-ordinations across government and its efforts have culminated in the development of an e-government policy discussion document.

13. Of particular importance to our overall strategy is the role and functioning of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). In this respect, we have been central to re-shaping the SITA business plan to fit in with new requirements of government and the challenges of e-government. SITA is poised to play a central leadership role in helping us ensure that government systems and practices are modernized and that we will be effective, efficient, innovative and responsive in the manner in which we accrue information technology goods and services and in the manner in which we deploy these to improve and expand service delivery.

Figure 1, e-Government House of Value This house of e-Government value forms the basis of the activities for SITA into the future. The "roof" of this house articulates the primary elements of what the government of SA expects of information technology. It is however the "walls" or "pillars" supporting this "roof" which are of critical importance to service delivery and, at the heart of the new business model.

Anti-Corruption Programmes 14. In this area of our work we have been able to establish solid partnerships that will allow us to tackle corruption more decisively. These partnerships exist on intra-governmental, domestic and international levels. Partnerships are indeed essential when an integrated and holistic approach to fighting corruption is embarked upon.

15. On an intra-governmental level and in keeping with our cluster and integration approach of governing, a multi-departmental task team has developed a proposal on a Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy, with a detailed implementation plan. Stakeholders outside of Government were part of this development process. Cabinet is in the process of finalising this strategy, including consideration of new anti-corruption legislation.

16. On the domestic front South Africa has created a world-first as far as fighting corruption is concerned. The National Anti-corruption Forum was established on 15 June this year. This Forum brings the Public, Business and Civil Society sectors together as equal partners in the fight against corruption. The Forum is working towards the creation of a national consensus on the fight against corruption, is a vehicle for Business and Civil Society to advise Government, is an exchange of good practise and information and lastly, serves as a mechanism for the three sectors to advise each other on improving their sectoral anti-corruption strategies. I am pleased to announce that the Forum has had its first full sitting. At this sitting Advocate Dhali Mpofu from the Civil Society Sector was appointed as the first chairperson of the Forum.

Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring and Evaluation 17. Cabinet requested the Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) to develop a framework for the evaluation of heads of department in order to assist Ministers with this important task. Emanating from international research and a process of consultation with relevant role players at Executive level and in the Public Service, a framework was developed by the Commission and approved by Cabinet.
* This framework developed by the Commission was implemented by the Minister for Public Service and Administration and is being applied for the first time in the evaluation of heads of department's performance during the 2000/2001 financial year. At this stage the framework is only compulsory for the evaluation of heads of national departments, although seven provinces have also opted for its implementation.
25. The OPSC is also playing a pivotal role in the actual evaluation of heads of department. Commissioners are serving as Chairpersons for evaluation panels and the Office as secretariat to the evaluation process.

The evaluation of heads of department has commenced. Many Ministers have already appointed evaluation panels or are in the process of doing so.

The Commission as secretariat has commenced with its role of summarizing and packaging documentation for evaluation panels and arranging panel meetings.
26. The OPSC conducted a survey in national departments and provincial administrations identify deficiencies inherent in new legislation relating to suspensions, to determine whether suspensions are managed in terms of fair labour principles, to obtain statistical information on suspensions, and to determine whether there is a need for guidelines on the management of suspensions. Following this survey the Commission drafted guidelines on the management of suspensions, which will be discussed with national departments and provinces.
The survey revealed that there are an increasing number of officials on suspension. National departments from 1 July 1999 to 31 July 2000 suspended 88 employees. Of these, 75 employees were suspended for longer than a month. During the same period Provincial Administrations suspended 259 employees. Of these, 130 employees were suspended for longer than a month.

The report on the management of suspensions was approved by the Commission and is presently being printed.
27. Verification of Qualifications of Senior Managers in the Public Service was completed last month. This involved a comprehensive investigation of the qualifications of Senior Managers, and also examined study direction and representivity. * Of the 2376 Senior Managers who forwarded their qualification to the PSC for verification, 99% found to be authentic. * It has been found that Senior Managers are well qualified and hold an average of over 2 tertiary qualifications. The audit has pointed to a credible system of appointments, with competent personnel placed in key positions.