The Minister presented the goal of the Ministry being to initiate, facilitate, co-ordinate and drive the transformation/reform initiatives that will ensure the creation of a Public Service which is transparent, efficient, effective, coherent, representative, accountable and responsive to the needs of all South Africans so that the Public Service can contribute to the reconciliation, reconstruction and development of South Africa.

The functions of the Ministry are to formulate government policy regarding the Public Service on:

• Remuneration matters, general conditions of service and labour relations
• Human resource development
• Organisational matters and information technology
• Public service reforms

In executing the above functions the Minister is supported by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) which has the following responsibilities:

• To translate the broad policy framework contained in the White Paper on Transformation of the Public Service into achievable policy objectives, performance measures, targets and timeframes
• To ensure that this process is based on effective consultation with all key agencies and stakeholders, within and outside government, at both national and provincial levels
• To ensure that the transformation process is effectively co-ordinated at both national and provincial levels
• To develop a financial resource strategy to support the transformation process, taking into account specific needs of individual department and provinces.

The Minister said that for the period ahead the ministry set some priorities for the DPSA on transformation of the Public Service. In the past five years, a lot of work has been done to understand the problems and issues that need to be addresses in transforming the public service for improved delivery of services. The foundation laid in the past five years has assisted the DPSA to develop policies, a new management framework, new legislation and regulations which will inject a sense of urgency in accelerating delivery of services to the majority of South Africans. The Minister further said that in order to achieve the priorities as set by Cabinet the true test of the DPSA efforts over the last five years lies in the ability to ensure that departments implement the new public management framework.

The Minister outlined the following priorities to accelerate the transformation of the public service :

1. A comprehensive review of the current conditions of service in the public service, which will cover:

• A new wage policy
• Review of current benefits and allowances and how they are structured relative to salary
• Investigating pay progression to replace the current rank and leg promotions
• Restructuring the pension fund and addressing the need for mobility
• Reviewing current bargaining processes including the need for more sectoral approaches
• Narrowing the wage gap whilst developing strategies to retain professionals and senior managers.

1. Improving the quality of transformation on the public service.

• Improve the quality of information in the short term through various data mining approaches and to start publishing reports on the status of the public service on a quarterly basis
• Investigate the cost implications and desirability of a new personnel management information system which incorporates payroll and other information required for human resource planning and maintaining the organisational establishment.

1. Accelerating implementation of the new public service management framework, the skills audit and Batho Pele. This includes strategies for managing personnel costs downward and containing personnel expenditure. This should include the following:

• Clearly link delivery plans with affordable budgets (MTEF)
• Establishing new organisational structures based on service delivery requirements and affordability
• A service delivery improvement plan, focussing on accessibility and quality of service
• Human resources plan that links available skills and capacity to service requirements, and affordability. In the process, departments will identify skill demands as well as instances of over and under staffing.
• Information management plans and information technology needs
• Putting in place systems, including on job evaluation, performance management and other managerial support systems.

This process of developing management plans should be completed

within six months

1. Developing policy and guidelines for alternative service delivery

mechanisms. Such a policy will be ready for consultation in four months.

2. Fast tracking the capacity building of public servants.

• Developing management capacity
• Adult basic education and training for lower level workers
• Service improvement training for front-line staff

1. Improving the use and quality of information technology in the public service.

The immediate challenge is to strengthen the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) through finalising the appointment of a Managing Director and speeding up the participation of all departments in SITA. The Minister said that the aim of this is to ensure synchroniation of information technology in government.

2. Developing DPSA's capacity to investigate and advise on the medium to

long term efficiency of the public service.

The DPSA intends setting up an efficient unit soon to investigate and

advise of the medium to long term efficiency and effectiveness of the

public service. Such an efficiency unit will provide sectoral analysis,

conduct research on staffing trends and norms, develop models for

improving delivery of services and provide advise to Cabinet, Ministers

and senior managers on an ongoing basis

The Minister said that the focus area of the department is to be a flag bearer of government on the Anti-corruption programme. The Minister then opened the floor for questions.

Question : Could the Minister elaborate on service delivery and the role of the Portfolio Committee?

Response: Concerning service delivery the DPSA seeks to look at a more efficient manner of working. Through service delivery the DPSA would like to ensure that there is appropriate career pathing. As for the Portfolio Committee the Minister said that it plays an oversight role to ensure the obligations identified are met and to ensure that the department serves well and improves the Public Service.

Question : When is the government going to get mechanisms in place to deal with retrenchments?

Response : It should be in place by the end of December 1999, but the DPSA intends finalising it at the beginning of December 1999.

Question : Does Monitoring and Evaluation include measuring impact?

Response : The department would like to see positive results and also to advance forward. This will include greater accountability.

Since there were no further questions the Minister concluded by saying that there will definitely be an interactive relationship between the Ministry and the Portfolio Committee.