Find the audio of Mr de Villiers' remarks here.
Monday, 3 March 2025
Thank you, Mr Mothapo
Good morning to my fellow panellists, and
Good morning to members of the media
As Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, I am grateful for this opportunity to interact with you, members of the media, as part of this programme to report back and update South Africans on the work we do in the 7th administration of Parliament.
As you are all aware, the 7th administration was formed through the Government of National Unity (GNU) to chart a new path forward for the country. The GNU resolved to focus on three main strategic priorities: to drive inclusive growth and job creation, reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and build a capable, ethical, and developmental state.
Our primary focus as the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration is to ensure oversight over the implementation of building a capable, ethical and developmental state to ensure that the government plays a critical role to drive the developmental agenda.
In this seventh administration, the committee will focus on four key thematic issues:
Implementation of the National Framework Towards Professionalising of the Public Sector
Public Service Commission Bill;
Building an ethical public service;
Backlog on the disciplinary cases in the public service; and
Let's unpack these four areas.
Implementation of the National Framework Towards Professionalising of the Public Sector
To build a developmental state that will develop the country's economy, create jobs and improve people's living conditions, it is necessary to rally towards a rapid implementation of the National Framework Towards Professionalisation of the Public Sector. A critical part of this plan involves professionalising the public sector, eliminating cadre deployment, and shielding state institutions from political interference to restore competence and public trust.
The Framework prioritises merit-based recruitment and improved performance management systems. In line with this, competency assessments and integrity tests are now applied across the public sector. Key pieces of legislation have also been amended to support this, including amending the Public Service Act to provide for devolving powers of Human Resource from the Executive to the Accounting officers. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has developed a database of a pool of technical experts that Executive Authorities must use during recruitment and selection processes of the Director-Generals and the Deputy Directors-General in the public sector.
Our priority in the seventh Parliament is to continuously oversee whether the National Framework is being fully implemented across the Public Sector to build a capable, ethical and developmental state to drive the economy.
Legislation before the committee
The committee is currently processing the Public Service Commission Bill. This Bill will enable the PSC to operate independently and impartially as a constitutional body with its own secretariat and, importantly, it will extend the PSC's mandate to municipalities and public entities. We are almost at the tail end of finalising the Bill. This week, the committee will consider and adopt the A-List and B Bill of the PSC Bill and the Committee Report on the PSC Bill. We expect to refer the Bill to the National Assembly House for consideration this month.
Building ethical public service
Government has introduced many interventions to inculcate a culture of ethical conduct among its workforce. Among them are the Financial Disclosure Framework, lifestyle audits, the Anti-Corruption Hotline, and the Prohibition of Public Servants from Doing Business with the government.
As these interventions fall within the scope of the committee's oversight, it is important to continually assess if these interventions are effective in uprooting any element of unethical conduct among public servants. In April 2021, for example, the DPSA developed a framework and strategy for implementing lifestyle audits in the public service. Lifestyle audits are compulsory for all government departments, but not all have implemented them. So, the question remains: How many public servants were found guilty because of lifestyle audits since their introduction?
In our oversight, the committee needs to ensure that all these noble system interventions are interlinked to assist the government in uprooting unethical practices such as corruption in the public service.
Backlog in disciplinary cases in the public service
The committee's ability to effectively manage disciplinary procedures is another priority. Inefficient disciplinary management led to government spending millions of rands on suspended employees sitting at home while earning a salary.
The backlog in misconduct cases has increased, as has the number of precautionary suspensions. The department had reported that the total cost of precautionary suspensions had stabilised at around R82 million for provinces and R25 million for national departments.
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We understand that there are challenges in the disciplinary management process such as poor data capturing and record keeping. Unnecessary delays in starting hearings also complicate disciplinary management, and difficulty securing presiding officers and employer representatives. The committee must be tough regarding disciplinary management and work collaboratively with the department and relevant stakeholders to improve the system, especially the record keeping. Digitisation of government systems should be the main priority in the disciplinary management system.
Planned Oversight
As part of the committee's oversight mandate, we will embark on oversight visits to North West and Gauteng towards the end of March this year. The primary purpose of the oversight is to assess the state of public administration, with the focus on overseeing the human resource management practices or services of all government departments, in many areas related to the committee's mandate.
As the Chairperson of PC on Public Service, I take very seriously the responsibility to ensure that a merit-based and professional public service is created because government cannot deliver the services our people need if there are no professionals to help deliver those services.
