Chairperson, hon members, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, I have come to the very firm conclusion that the best people in the world were born in May. Nothing will sway me from that belief, which is why today we celebrate the Deputy Minister's birthday. [Applause.] Deputy Minister, I happened to ask hon Du Toit at our last committee meeting if he was married and he said no twice. I don't know whether he meant no, twice not married or no, married twice or even a few times. I thought I would say to the hon Du Toit that the Deputy Minister is 35. This might be your only opportunity at co-operative governance. [Laughter.] Happy birthday, Deputy Minister.
Our work was virtually carved out for us at the adoption of the National Development Plan, NDP, which prioritised the creation of a strong and capable state. So, this is where we are, at the centre of the first major step this country is required to take for the implementation of all our plans and, because the pace at which we execute our responsibilities will determine the pace that we as a country take, there has been an expectation all round that what we do will determine how everything else will be done.
It is for this reason, therefore, that we have plunged headlong into a most hectic 10 months, which have left all of us breathless. The portfolio committee has been most supportive and understanding and I am very grateful for that.
The Public Service Commission has very graciously complied with all the requests made to them, grinning and bearing it all, protesting their independence all the while, but nonetheless delivering what was requested of them. The board of the State Information Technology Agency, Sita, has responded to "business unusual" with energy, returning confidence to the institution. The staff at the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, and the Centre for Public Service Innovation, CPSI, wait patiently, ever supportive, hoping that at some point they too will have their share of attention from us.
Of course, the lives of the poor staff of the department and especially the Ministry have been in permanent turmoil. Alas, I cannot promise that there will be an end to this turmoil. The only consolation we all have in this frenzied time is that it was necessary and it will bear fruit soon.
Upon my assumption of office as Minister for the Public Service and Administration, I announced a number of reforms in the Public Service. These reforms included professionalising the Public Service for higher productivity and better value for money; the transformation of Palama into the school of government to produce a cadre of government; the finalisation of the constitutional requirements of Chapter 10 in respect of uniform standards, prescripts and values - and we hope, therefore, that soon we will have some kind of seamless approach to our Public Service; the prohibition of public servants from doing business with government; the establishment of an anticorruption bureau; the establishment of an Office of Standards and Compliance in the Public Service to ensure compliance with regulations and rapid reaction to provinces in distress.
These priorities, when they were put out in the public domain, were met in various ways; for example, with relief - phew, are we finally getting there; disbelief and raised eyebrows, like we find most of the time; and guarded optimism, with a slight sneer at the side of the mouth, almost like they are saying, "There they go again, dreaming". On the whole, the public response was positive and supportive of the proposals.
In some cases, however, we were accused of displaying naive optimism and biting off more than we could chew. This comes from research done by the University of the Western Cape.
Some people could not restrain themselves. They went as far as suggesting that these announcements, especially those around anticorruption, were nothing but sheer grandstanding. The latter response is in itself not surprising.
It reflects the sense with which we have resigned ourselves, as a people, to doing things and leaving them the way they are, as opposed to having things done the way they ought to be. It also reflects the diffidence that comes from dashed hopes subsequent to failed initiatives. Some feel that they have been here before and are, understandably, intimidated both by the experience, the enormity of the task and by the resistance that comes with it. Their diffidence is simply meant to protect themselves from having their hopes dashed once more.
So, for those citizens of this country who have watched and listened to us as we laid out our plans, sometimes with a benevolent cynicism, we would like to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw when he said, and I quote: "Some men see things and ask, why? We've dreamt of things as they never were and we ask, why not?" Bernard Shaw sums up my invitation to you to join me in posing ourselves this question: Why not? What stops us from trying to do the best, to be the best? Join me on this odyssey and soon we will have established a clean, efficient, capable, empathetic and effective state machinery. [Applause.]
In approaching this task, we have been mindful of its enormity. It is the sheer challenge arising from this enormity that has spurred us on. As we have said before, this is a challenge we do not accept grudgingly, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of one's own character, as giving our all to a difficult task.
In a letter dated 28 March 2013, Riana Fouch, a member of the public and a professional consultant, who listened to a radio interview I was part of, wrote to me and offered me several suggestions. She concluded her letter by saying, and I quote:
May you and your team find all the resources, equipment and grace to fulfil the great and honourable task to restore the image of South Africans, and may you receive much wisdom in establishing all pertaining to the restoration of public officials to integrity and purity of character. I am looking forward to seeing the changes coming.
The letter from Ms Fouch confirms that our people expect no less from us. Indeed, they should not expect any less from us. These reforms are in keeping with our moral obligation.
In order for all of you to understand the problems that face and will continue to face us, allow me to sketch the terrain we cover. Our Public Service, as provided for in Chapter 10 of our Constitution, consists of more than 1,4 million employees spread across 156 departments in national and provincial spheres of government; 270 public sector institutions consisting of government components, public entities, agencies and state- owned enterprises. When you add the local government sphere, with 275 000 people, the figure becomes 1,6 million employees. That is the scale of the Public Service.
This is the size of the Public Service, consisting of nothing more and nothing less than men and women engaged daily in the service of the people of South Africa. It is these men and women who daily ensure that our children are schooled and equipped with education; care for the patients in our clinics and hospitals; issue identity documents and maintain the integrity of the data of over 52 million people and, furthermore, administer over 1 million births and 560 000 deaths each year; manage our water resources and infrastructure to bring us clean water for drinking and washing in more than 13 million households; maintain our roads and transport networks for all our mobility needs; administer and pay social grants on time to over 16 million recipients monthly; maintain our borders and points of entry on a 24-hour basis for all travellers and goods; support the regulation and functioning of an economy of over R3 trillion; are the first line of response to protect us from crime and are the people who respond to gut-wrenching and spine-chilling natural disasters and other accidents. That is what the Public Service does on a daily basis. I could go on.
In summary, our Public Service is a massive enterprise, one of gargantuan proportions. Despite our natural and immediate response of negativity towards them, most of these men and women are diligently occupied in the service of our people.
In instances where there are problems, we have been very honest and open to acknowledge these and are tackling them. To turn this enormous ship around will require all hands on deck, especially yours, Members of Parliament, and mine.
And as we tackle these problems, we should take the time to honour those who work hard to make our lives better. And, therefore, in honour of those who toil with dedication to serve our people, we have decided to establish a Public Service Excellence Award, which will be called the Batho Pele Excellence Award.
The National Batho Pele Excellence Awards will henceforth be held for the entire Public Service in the month of September each year and members of the public will be invited to nominate public servants deserving of recognition at national level for excellent service. [Applause.]
The main focus of these awards is to recognise excellence in the Public Service, acknowledge and encourage it and, in exceptional circumstances, ensure that we can urge and nurture it to greater heights of delivery.
In this respect, I am delighted to announce a very generous offer made to my Ministry by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust for a partnership with us in, and I quote, "developing, recognising and retaining world-class talent in the Southern African Public Service". This partnership will see 10 public servants each year being awarded a scholarship for opportunities to study abroad and locally at distinguished institutions to sharpen their competence. [Applause.]
The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, through Minister Manuel, approached me to ask: "How can we help you achieve excellence in the Public Service?" An amazing experience! Imagine the feeling of affirmation that came from that.
The future of this country is intrinsically linked to whether we succeed or not in repositioning the public sector. The National Development Plan was bold enough to suggest that unless we fix the Public Service, all our objectives, hopes and plans would come to naught. It is worth repeating. The Public Service is the engine of the state. If the engine is dysfunctional, the vehicle will not move.
We would also, within these awards, create a category that caters for eminent, outstanding, long-serving public servants. In the case of Parliament, for instance, which comes to mind, perhaps Members of Parliament would like to nominate outstanding public servants like the former Secretary to Parliament, Mr Sindiso Mfenyana; former Secretary of the National Assembly, Mr Hahndiek; former Secretary of the National Assembly, Mr Kamal Mansura; or even people you have worked with, such as Prof Stan Sangweni, or even the current Auditor-General. These are people deserving of acknowledgement and recognition for the work they have done for our people.
It is my intention today to report that we have indeed accomplished those goals that we set ourselves for the past 10 months and we will entrench them irreversibly on our Statute Book. The rest will depend on our collective will.
I am happy to report that my term of office was off to a good start the minute I met the representatives of labour. As you would know, I came to office during the wage negotiation process - in fact, a day after labour had declared a dispute with the state as the employer. After intense and often unpleasant exchanges all round, we emerged with a groundbreaking multiterm agreement, which was historic. What was historic about it was not only its multiterm nature, but also the content of the agreements themselves made by labour and ourselves and the fundamental principles that underlie these agreements.
We have now turned an often very antagonistic relationship between employer and employee into one that can actually work towards the achievement of our goals as a people. For this period we have not only removed the threat of a strike but the ugly scenes of public servants destroying property are also beginning to recede. The absence of the annual fear of the disruption of essential services has enabled us to plan and have some level of certainty for the future.
I am grateful that labour and we found each other. For too long the relationship has been characterised by ugly exchanges. This could never have been for common the good and it is definitely not what our people live and hope for. They don't go to bed hoping that there would be a strike the next day.
The signing of the multiyear agreement has enabled us to focus on those outstanding issues that are necessary in building a capable state, on the creation of an environment where the Public Service can thrive and deliver better services.
So, project one is sealed and signed. We have peace in our environment for the next year to deliver better services, without any threat that there might be a strike. [Applause.] As part and parcel of our agreement with labour, we agreed we would introduce a compulsory induction programme for all public servants. The training has been implemented already at national level since September 2012 and this has already been launched in eight provinces.
With this we have committed ourselves to building a professional Public Service at all levels. This includes attracting highly skilled people and cultivating a sense of professional common purpose and a commitment to developmental goals. The Public Service must become a career of choice for graduates who wish to contribute to the development of this country and ensure that highly competent staff are recruited on the basis of their suitability for the job.
Transforming Palama into a school of government is one such building block for the creation of this highly competent group of people in the Public Service. The school of government will enable us to customise the offerings and programmes in order to respond to real problems we face in real time, and to restore confidence in the Public Sector.
We have done the groundwork and I met with academics from higher learning institutions on Monday to canvass a partnership between us. I believe we received positive feedback from them and we intend to ensure that the success of the school of government is based on a solid partnership with them. The school of government is on course and will be launched on 21 October 2013.
The school of government will operate, I hope, as an institution of higher learning with the proper accreditation from the proper institutions that do the accreditation. It will work in collaboration with other institutions of higher learning that offer the specialised skills required, but we will design the curriculum. We want a professional class of committed cadres to drive the developmental agenda of this country. [Applause.]
We will recruit the best in administration and train them for greater efficiency and we will train them to succeed. Nothing stops us from striving to be the best, when the best of us is driving the administration of the state. Imagine the spin-offs in everything else this country does.
We have provided each one of you with a copy of the crest of the school of government - I believe it will be distributed later - and we would appreciate your comments before 1 June 2013, because thereafter, we intend to table it at the necessary institutions that will accredit the school of government. When that is done, we will have sealed and clinched the deal and project two will be done.
Our third priority was the creation of an environment that is not conducive to corrupt practice. We are prohibiting public servants from doing business with government. This would enable us to close the loopholes that some unscrupulous officials have used.
We have come to a determination that the most effective and efficient way of dealing with a conflict of interest is to remove it altogether. [Applause.] This will take effect as soon as Parliament approves the Bill, which will be tabled in June. We will then be able to tick off project three. This will be encompassed in the Public Administration Bill, which I tabled before the Cabinet Committee yesterday - a longstanding problem, which we hope you will prioritise in this particular session.
This Bill, as I indicated, has been in the pipeline for a very long time. What it seeks to do is to follow through the requirements of Chapter 10 of the Constitution. This is to ensure that all spheres of government operate according to the same standards and norms while retaining their operational independence. All spheres will share seamlessly the requisite skills pool, competence and standards. This will serve to improve mobility across the different spheres of government and diminish the costly barriers to such seamless and rational mobility, while balancing the capacity across the state. We want to emphasise that we do not intend to take away any powers that reside, in terms of the Constitution, with either provincial or local government.
The Bill was accepted by the Cabinet Committee and we hope that Parliament will prioritise this Bill. When this long journey is concluded, it will mean that project four is done.
A cursory reading of the reports of the Auditor-General and the Public Service Commission paints a very gloomy picture of noncompliance. It is for this reason that we have established the Office of Standards and Compliance, which is led by the Director-General of the Department of Public Service and Administration, Mr Mashwahle Diphofa, who is supported by a very able team.
They were able to go over to Limpopo and sort out some of the problems that we experienced there. I can report to you now that we have completed the first part of our personnel salary clean-up in Limpopo. We found that in the provincial treasury 222 posts that were not funded resided in the structure and we have abolished them. In the Department of Public Works we had 4 447 unfunded posts and we have abolished them. In the Department of Education there were 8 754 unfunded posts and we have abolished them. In the Department of Health we had 3 868 unfunded posts and we have abolished them. [Applause.]
When we are done with this, we hope to move to the Eastern Cape and have the kind of structure that will deal with the problems we have. When that is done, we will be able to say that project five is well and truly on its way.
The process of disciplinary cases has been moving very slowly, though, and we will come back to that at a later time.
In line with the decisions of the ruling party and government, I promised to deal decisively with corruption in the Public Service. We must be clear on this. Corruption has become a common stick to beat any government, especially Third World governments.
But in our case we have deliberately taken this stand against corruption because it is essentially antithical to the struggle that brought us here. This has been raised as a clarion call, both by government and the ruling party, to ensure that where it raises its head, we can deal with it and not allow it to strangle our growth and our image. [Applause.] We have beaten all the odds as we struggled. This one is but a small struggle. We will beat it too.
I invite South Africans at large to be part of this campaign against this scourge that has the potential to corrode our society. When the response to this has not been outrightly cynical, it has been overwhelmingly positive. The cynics we urge to watch this space.
We assessed our current capacity and arrived at the conclusion that we have inadequate and poor systems to deal with corruption in the Public Service. Therefore, we have decided to set up an anticorruption bureau, and - because I am stretched for time - this is a matter that will be brought before Parliament for your consideration.
This initiative is also meant to protect the vast majority of public servants, those men and women who do an honest job and squirm at being painted with the common brush that public servants are corrupt. We will tighten up the instruments through which people report in order to give more protection to those who do report any wrong. We are building a database that will be a nerve centre and assist us in monitoring all public servants in relation to financial misconduct, disciplinary cases.
Corruption elsewhere, and in the Public Service in particular, involves a corrupter and corruptee. We are aware that some public servants are manipulated by elements out there in the private sector. These people have mastered the procurement system of government and have positioned themselves to better manipulate from outside. We intend to deal with both very decisively.
We want to ensure that there are minimum sentences for public servants found guilty of corruption. For the private sector, once we secure a conviction for corruption by a particular company, that company will be blacklisted and barred from trading with government forever. [Applause.] I have already instructed my legal team to find legal ways to strengthen this.
So much has been done in a short space of time that it would not be possible for us to report on all of it. It is for this reason that we have prepared for each one of you a pack that is a report-back to all of you on all the work that has been done. We still remain, however, with a few serious challenges. We are grappling with these. Among these is ensuring that our disciplinary cases are brought to finality very quickly, and we know that Members of Parliament are very concerned about this. We are working on the matter.
Another critical failure in our system is the response time that government takes generally on matters of delivery, and their general efficiency. Having learnt from the remarkable improvements that we have assisted with in the Department of Home Affairs, it is clear that sector-specific minimum norms and standards are required for each work sector. With known standards, it will be possible for the public to know what service and quality to expect.
It should be possible to know the minimum waiting period at the hospital or the response times for a policeperson to respond to an incident that is reported. We will in this current year be working on a minimum waiting period for hospitals and we will be running the pilot projects in Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces.
I invite all South Africans from all walks of life to work with us and give us feedback on this matter.
Regarding the budget, we are very keenly aware of the fact that this budget that we have will not cover the scope of the work that we have cut out for ourselves. We are therefore going to ask you please to oblige. Let us look at what the requirements are of making sure that we have a capable state and make sure that we are sufficiently funded to do that.
We return to a matter that I know is very close to your heart; the matter of Sita. Through its centralised system, Sita is required to reduce the ICT costs of government. We have now begun to do that. In the 2012-13 financial year, we managed to track savings of R263 million due to agreements negotiated with key suppliers, mainly on software licences. We welcome these partnerships with industry and hope to achieve more this year as more suppliers come to the party.
In November 2012, Cabinet appointed the current membership of the board, led by Mr Jerry Vilakazi. The board has conscientiously assisted us in driving this particular programme and making sure that we bring the necessary energy and credibility back to Sita.
We want to say to those in the private sector that work with Sita, please help us get it right by doing the right thing. At all times, just do the right thing. I know I am speaking from a different perspective, but it cannot be difficult to do the right thing.
The budget allocation of R437,135 for this year is directed towards initiatives within the department. An amount of R131,9 million has already been earmarked for Palama, which will be transferred to the school of government. An amount of R22,866 million is availed for the CPSI and R23,3 million is set aside for transfer to the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority, PSeta. The Public Service Commission will receive R201,1 million. I am certain that hon members can appreciate that the budget availed pales in comparison to the scale of the reforms we seek to achieve.
My final message to all public servants: I call on you to please embrace discipline in implementation; compliance with norms, standards and statutes; compassion for all the employees and the public we serve; and efficiency in performance.
To the people of South Africa: I invite you to lift your gaze and see that the Public Service is working for you. South Africa deserves an efficient Public Service. Work with us to improve the Public Service.
Hon members, ladies and gentlemen, a highly productive, disciplined Public Service is not a luxury, nor is it a matter of intellectual and political pontification; it is a primary ingredient of achieving sustainable growth and development in our country.
What I request from you is, where the public servants do good, please affirm them. A great deal that we take for granted is done by hard-working, dedicated people. Where they fall short of their responsibility, do not hesitate to complain and insist on proper treatment. Do not tolerate mediocrity, because we are not a people who celebrate mediocrity.
The reforms we have embarked upon ensure that we build a Public Service capable of and orientated towards meeting the developmental aspirations of our people. We strive continuously, seeking to answer the question, "Why not?" We can do it.
We can imagine a world where every teacher feels appreciated, respected and supported and where every teacher is dedicated, committed and gives seven hours of every day to teaching productively.
We imagine a world where every child is taught in an environment that is conducive to learning, where every child feels cared for and where every child will give the best of his childhood, learning in the full knowledge that his efforts are the most important investment this country needs. Imagine what a foundation we will be building for our future. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Minister for the Public Service and Administration, the hon Lindiwe Sisulu, the Deputy Minister for the Public Service and Administration, hon Ayanda Dlodlo, Members of Parliament, hon members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, if they are here, together with commissioners that are present, heads of various entities of the Department of Public Service and Administration, respected guests, ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here during an important time on the political calendar, not only for our country, but for the entire African continent.
In May 1963, the then Organisation for African Unity, which was called the OAU, and which later became the African Union, AU, was formed in this month, the month of May. Now, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, as Africans of different shades, we ought to take a moment and celebrate the achievements of this giant organisation. As we forge ahead in unity, we salute the efforts of the founding fathers: Kwame Nkrumah, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Haile Selassie, to mention but a few. Certainly, despite her challenges, Africa is rising for unity and prosperity!
With full Afro-optimism, there is no doubt that South Africa, under the political leadership of the ANC, has made significant progress in the ongoing socioeconomic transformation of the state in particular and society in general since the dawn of democracy in 1994. This suggests that, collectively, we are making strides towards achieving the objective of constructing a developmental state within the context of the National Democratic Revolution strategy.
The NDR, amongst other things, seeks to ensure that every South African, especially the poor, experiences improved quality of life. Clearly, we have achieved so much, but we are not there yet. There is certainly more that still needs to be done in order to build a developmental state underpinned by our history and socioeconomic realities. We must accept that the Public Service administration of our country is at the epicentre of this mammoth task.
Hon members would recall that in line with the 5 priorities of our government, 12 Outcomes were adopted in the current political cycle as part of our government's results-based approach. This innovation was of strategic necessity to ensure that the collective efforts of the government are strategically focused towards the achievement of specific outcomes that have a value-adding impact on our country and its people. I think that is a really big step forward!
It is indeed a great pleasure today to debate Budget Vote 12 of the Department of Public Service and Administration, DPSA. Allow me, therefore, to take this opportunity to express my gratitude on behalf of the committee to hon Minister Sisulu, Deputy Minister Dlodlo and the entire staff of the department for their co-operation and the tremendous work done so far with regard to the departmental mandate, that is of Outcome 12.
In 2010, President Zuma signed performance agreements with the Ministers in relation to the new outcomes-based approach adopted by government. The hon Minister Sisulu is tasked to lead Outcome 12, focusing on achieving "an efficient, effective and development-orientated Public Service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship".
The department is really doing well, even though much still needs to be done. The outputs of Outcome 12 are as follows. I won't take you through all of them. There are 5 in number, and I will take the last 2 tackling corruption effectively, and citizen participation and social cohesion, amongst others.
The aspect of a fair and inclusive citizenship still remains a challenge and we believe that various clusters of government will do justice to this critical aspect. The sooner we focus on citizen participation and social cohesion, the better for our country.
Ho senyehile ka ntle ka kwana. Tantang e kgangwa ke lerole; ha ho ngwane motle. Re tlamehile ho ruta setjhaba sa heso ho jara boikarabelo ka nako tsohle. Ba tlamehile ho lemoswa hore mmuso ona ke wa bona; lefatshe lena ke la bona. Ebang ho na le lebaka la ho ipelaetsa, ba tlamehile ho ipelaetsa ka tsela e nepahetseng. Ba se ke ba senya ntho tse abetsweng bona, tse kang: Laeborari, makoloi a sepolesa, diholo tsa setjhaba, jwalo-jwalo. Hore ba be le boitemohelo bo jwalo, ba tlamehile ho eletswa, ba be ba rutwe. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Things are getting out of hand. We need to teach our communities to be responsible at all times. They need to be made aware that this is their government; this is their land. If there is a need to protest, they need to do so in an appropriate way. They should not destroy facilities that are allocated to them, like libraries, police vehicles, community halls, and so forth. For them to have such an attitude, they need to be guided and to be educated as well.]
We need to embark on a deliberate action to conscientise our society to this reality. Indeed, the portfolio committee will always ensure that it assists the department in achieving the highlighted outputs. Many different interventions have been undertaken to ensure that the department delivers services to the people of this country.
The hon Minister has already indicated to the portfolio committee that there is a need to fix the engine in order for the Public Service to function effectively and efficiently. The committee agrees and we will support that.
President Zuma's words are instructive in this regard, as he said:
What we need is a different type of public servant, a public servant who respects the citizens he or she serves, a public servant who values the public resources he or she has been entrusted to manage. We need a public servant who comes to work on time and performs his or her duties diligently.
The portfolio committee, therefore, fully supports the noble ideal of the developmental state that is willing, capable and caring. Certainly, as articulated in the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP:
No political democracy can survive and flourish if the mass of our people remain in poverty, without land, without tangible prospects for a better life. Attacking poverty and deprivation must therefore be the first priority of a democratic government.
In tandem with the National Evaluation Policy Framework of our government led by the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, DPME, it has been possible to determine the extent to which the 12 Outcomes, or priorities, are being progressively achieved through the Mid-Term Review report. As this committee, we did get a presentation of the Mid-Term Review report and we realise how government is able to also evaluate and measure its performance. It is a great achievement as well.
In terms of the Mid-Term Review report of Outcome 12, some of the key challenges that have been identified included the following. They were 12 in number, but I won't go through them. You will see them once you read the report. However, I would like to talk about this one: There were overly centralised and inappropriate decision-making processes in many departments; corruption and maladministration threatened to undermine efforts to improve and expand service delivery. There is a high turnover rate of heads of department and senior management, which is something we need to focus on as the committee since there was also a proposal from the Public Service Commission even prior to the NDP to look into the establishment of the head of the Public Service. We will engage with the department on that as well.
Furthermore, the Mid-Term Review report concludes by revealing that: There has been little progress to date in implementing a single Public Service that incorporates the current Public Service at national and provincial levels as well as municipal employees; and lastly, the legislation on the single Public Service has not been finalised. So, part of it is that it assists us even to develop a programme in terms of the weaknesses and areas where we have not done well.
We therefore regard the Mid-Term Review report as an important instrument for our oversight work. We will still pursue the collaboration of committees for this report. The clusters of Parliament are best placed to develop a comprehensive programme of oversight using this report.
In 2012, this august House approved our country's National Development Plan. The vision of NDP 2030 stipulates that:
... to address the twin challenges of poverty and inequality, the state needs to play a transformative and developmental role. This requires well- run and effectively co-ordinated state institutions with skilled public servants who are committed to the public good and are capable of delivering consistently high-quality services, while prioritising the nation's developmental objectives.
Without leaving our understanding of the National Democratic Revolution behind, this committee will ensure that we do not underscore on liberating our people completely from the demon of the past.
The Public Service Commission, as an independent institution that supports democracy, has worked well with the committee. I want to emphasise that the Public Service Commission has always displayed respect and co-operation towards Parliament and towards this committee in particular. There has never been a time when we had to trail behind media on its oversight reports. The commissioners in the Public Service Commission are very clear about their reporting to Parliament.
We have raised critical issues that are constitutional to the commission, and at all times they do their best to cover every reasonable scope raised by the committee. As we speak today, the Public Service Commission has moved away from the thematic approach on its reports to a comprehensive framework that covers every area of oversight from various departments. This will create consistency in terms of tracking down progress in reporting.
Just last week, the committee was presented with the approach of oversight through the basic values and principles that govern public administration, which is section 195(1) of the Constitution. We never felt undermined or disrespected at any stage. We will always respect their independence and collaboration. We will collaborate with them on our oversight task. Honestly, it does pay a surplus, not just dividends. With this collaboration, we achieve a lot, and some members will bear witness to that kind of work that we do.
On section 195(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, we still expect further work since this clause refers to the institution to which these principles apply. Those institutions, for instance, talk of "the administration in every sphere of government". The local government aspect is still lacking in their oversight reports. We are aware that there is so much work that is being done internally by the Public Service Commission to amend its legislation to cover local government.
Another point refers to "organs of the state". I just want hon members to think about "organs of the state". This needs thorough focus. We are well aware that sufficient focus needs to be put on aid, particularly to the courts of this country. As the Governance and Administration Cluster, we will partner with the Portfolio Committee on Justice and the Peace and Social Security Cluster to oversee the courts.
Yes, of course, some of the judgments passed in courts leave much to be desired. Possibly, this is because there has not been sufficient focus on oversight in this area. In this democracy, there are no sacred cows. Oversight is a mandate given to Parliament, and it will be done.
Clear separation of powers and roles will always be observed, even though at times the courts take decisions that overrule the government's programme and tell them what to do. A major concern is that we cannot have a judicial system that favours the rich and the wealthy while the poor are punished further, simply because they cannot afford to pay very expensive lawyers. This state must undo the injustices of the past.
Kuyamangaza ukubona amajele agcwele izigangi ezingabantu bethu abampofu. Izigwilii zona ziqasha abameli abadumile ukuze bazikhulumele emacaleni azo. Kubi ukubona abampofu babolela emajele kodwa izigwili nogombela kwesakhe bekhululeka ngenxa yokuba nedola. Kusho khona ukuthi le nkululeko akusiyo eyabantu bethu abampofu.
Sizacubungula kabanzi imithetho yezinkantolo ukuze singashaywa ingwijikhwebu. Ozakwethu abangakwesokunene bakukhonzile ukugijimela ezinkantolo lokho kusho ukuthi bazitshele ukuthi bazoshaywa yivoti ebantwini, bese besibusa ngazo izinkantolo. Cha, angeke sikumele lokho! [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[It is shocking to see that there are so many poor people in our prisons. The wealthy hire well-known attorneys to represent them. It is bad to see the poor people rotting in prisons when the rich and the elite are free because they have money. It means that this freedom is not for our poor people.
We will review the judicial system before things go pear-shaped. My colleagues seated on the right like to run to the courts, which means that they know that they will not get votes from the people, and therefore they try to govern through the courts. No, we will not allow that! [Applause.]]
Our government in general, and the Department of Public Service and Administration in particular, must address the skills gaps in the Public Service. The professionalisation of the Public Service is one aspect that the NDP highlights as critical for our country. The committee is therefore pleased that the department is championing the idea of professionalising the Public Service.
The "school of government" concept for developing and empowering a capable Public Service cadre is fully supported by the committee. [Interjections.]
Mr Chairman, I would like to ask the hon member if she would take a question on the professionalisation of the Public Service?
Hon member, are you prepared to answer a question?
No, we are busy with the Public Service debate. I would like to proceed with the business of the day.
No. Please sit down, hon member!
This task is huge. I was talking about the school of government. I hope that my time did not run.
The Human Resource Development Council of South Africa, HRDCSA, which is led by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, has done extensive work on the integrated plan for the country's human resources. The Secretariat of the HRDCSA is housed in the Department of Higher Education and Training. A presentation that was done to the committee alerted us to the need for all committees of this Parliament to engage on this strategy.
The work which has been done highlighted key bottlenecks that require our attention if we are to transform this country as regards skills. We must initiate change. Let me leave some issues since there is only one minute left. We still have to integrate the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, in terms of our transformation programme, as we have already stated.
In conclusion, Members of Parliament and distinguished guests, please allow me to take this opportunity today to encourage the Department of Public Service and Administration, its entire complement of staff members, the Public Administration, Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, the Public Service Commission and all the associated entities to forge ahead with the task of ensuring that the Public Service is professionalised. To fellow members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, thank you very much for your commitment. We support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, members and guests in the gallery, a capable state is imperative for economic growth, job creation and development prospects. It stands central to the implementation and execution of the constitutional obligations and government policies which should benefit its citizens. A capable state should give hope, optimism, encouragement, a sense of comfort, security, patriotism, and value for taxpayers' money.
Daar is niks waarby die Staatsdiens nie betrokke is nie, en hierdie debat bied die geleentheid om te bepaal of die begrotingsvoorstelle wel sulke uitkomste kan ondersteun. Beide die Nasionale Ontwikkelingsplan, NOP, en die Staasdienskommissie se verslae bied vir ons 'n blik op die werklike uitdagings wat te bowe gekom moet word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[There is nothing that the Public Service is not involved in, and this debate offers the opportunity to determine whether the budget proposals would indeed be able to support such outcomes. The reports of the National Development Plan, NDP, and the Public Service Commission give us a glimpse into the actual challenges that need to be overcome.]
The Public Service Commission and especially the National Development Plan, NDP, emphasise one of the three outstanding priorities, the need to build "the capability of the state to play a developmental, transformative role". The NDP further states that -
... South Africa needs ... radically improved government performance. In some instances, policy change may be necessary, but in most areas it is about getting the basics right ... [and] holding people accountable for their actions.
Both commissions express real concern that the risk South Africa is running is that the so-called developmental agenda could fail because the state is incapable of implementing it. They further state that a capable state does not come about by way of a decree or legislation but by strong and decisive leadership, sound policies, skilled managers and staff, clear lines of accountability, appropriate systems and consistent, fair and unbiased application of rules and regulations. Added to that, a state must be free from corruption, patronage and the enrichment of employees and their friends.
Chairperson, both the Public Service Commission and the National Planning Commission, NPC, are clear that we currently do not have a capable state. According to the NPC, we will require enhanced oversight by Parliament, professionalisation of the Public Service, and the upgrade of professional and technical skills like doctors, engineers, information technologists, forensic specialists, etc. They also identified that the management ability of senior staff requires great attention.
Sal die Leierskaps- en Bestuursakademie vir Openbare Administrasie, Palama, en sy opvolger, die "school of government", binne die huidige begroting enige impak kan maak? Eenstemmigheid bestaan dat Palama nie die resultate kan lewer nie, en in die afwesigheid van besigheidplanne en ander bronne van fondse moet die wenslikheid en die vermo van die "school of government" om 'n aparte fakulteit ten volle te vestig en 'n verskil te maak oor die medium termyn ernstig bevraagteken word. 'n Beter alternatief is om met bestaande tersire instellings saam te werk sodat leerplanne saamgestel kan word en kandidate sodoende gelewer kan word wat oor die kennis beskik wat noodsaaklik is vir 'n kundige en professionele Staatsdiens.
Voorsitter, die NOP identifiseer die onvermo van en die gebrek aan politieke wil by die staat om korrupsie te bekamp as ernstige belemmerings. Die Minister het aangekondig dat sy voor die einde van die kwartaal wetgewing sal voorl waarvolgens 'n korrupsie-ondersoekeenheid gestig sal word, asook wetgewing waarvolgens staatsamptenare en hul naasbestaandes verbied sal word om met die regering besigheid te doen. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Will the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, and its successor, the School of Government, be able to make any impact within the current budget? Consensus exists with regard to Palama's inability to deliver results, and in the absence of business plans and other sources of funding the appropriateness and ability of the School of Government to fully establish a separate faculty and make a difference over the medium term should be questioned seriously. A better alternative is to co-operate with existing tertiary institutions with regard to the development of syllabi that would ensure competent candidates who have the expertise and professionalism that are vital to the Public Service.
Chairperson, the NDP identifies the state's inability and lack of political will to combat corruption as serious impediments. The Minister has announced that she will table legislation to establish a corruption- investigation unit, as well as legislation to prohibit public servants and their families from doing business with government.]
The DA is pleased that the Minister has finally shown her support for the DA's proposed Bill on the business interests of state employees, which regulates public servants in doing business with government, after she announced earlier today that her department was working on legislation to outlaw public servants from dealing with government. This is a step in the right direction. Public servants and/or their families with business interests abusing their positions have been at the root of most corruption. The 2011-12 Auditor-General's report shows that contracts to the value of R141 million were awarded to suppliers in which close family members of employees of government entities had an interest. This is an increase on R136 million from the previous year.
A challenge in the curbing of corruption is the much-delayed legislation which will prevent public servants from serving as political party office bearers. Often employees are higher in the party hierarchy than the public representatives themselves, which creates an unbearable situation that enhances corruption. We urge the Minister to ensure that this legislation materialises before the 2014 elections, otherwise this will go down as simply pre-election lip service. A good example is the chaos that emanated from the Guptagate embarrassment, where party officials and public servants are blaming each other, with no one taking responsibility for the mess.
Hoewel ons die Minister die voordeel van die twyfel wil gee, is daar tog twyfel of daar werklike politieke wil is, en alternatiewelik, of sy die politieke ondersteuning het om haar voornemens tot uitvoering te bring. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Even though we would like to give the Minister the benefit of the doubt, there is still doubt as to whether the political will actually exists, or alternatively, whether she has political support to carry through with her intentions.]
It has to be stated that the appointment of Mr Menzi Simelane as her special adviser casts some serious doubt on the Minister's real commitment and political will to create integrity and professionalism in the Public Service. Minister, was this just a bad judgement call by you, or were you forced to take him on? Mr Simelane was found to be not a fit and proper person to head up the National Director of Public Prosecutions, NDPP, following his appointment by President Zuma. The court ruling then forced his dismissal. The Minister cannot expect to raise a Public Service of integrity and professionalism while employees of the likes of Mr Simelane are appointed.
Minister Sisulu has admitted to the need to spend less money on consultants after the R102 billion bill last year for outsourced consultants. Resources should be channelled towards training public servants, instead of hiring consultants to do the same work government officials have been appointed for. Many consultants are former public servants contracted to perform the same tasks at inflated costs. We call on the Minister to put measures in place to curb the use of consultants who appear not to be adding value to government departments' outcomes. Will she get the support from other Ministries and government departments? The current indication is that this required support leaves much to be desired.
Another concern is the number of suspended employees on full pay. Cases across government departments tend to drag on indefinitely or, when findings are presented, the punishment is often served late or not at all. A perfect example is the 303 cases that emerged as a result of the Limpopo intervention and are still waiting to be resolved. This is far too high, especially in a province where turnaround is being attempted. We need to emphasise that the Minister must ensure that departments do not drag their feet in resolving these cases. Those found to be delaying such processes must be brought to book.
Today, you mentioned that R8 billion would be retained by government if all unfunded posts were to be done away with. This amount would be higher if we could deal with all cases of suspension or disciplinary cases just as swiftly.
Minister, you also announced today that you have tabled draft legislation before a Cabinet committee that will lead the way to what we refer to as a single Public Service. We urge you to consider this carefully. It will be a huge and drawn-out task to only correct the current Public Service, and it will be impossible to implement an untested model in the third sphere of government, which is even further away from the control point.
There will be many detrimental intentional and unintentional consequences. It is likely to compromise a municipality's ability or right to exercise its powers and perform its functions, which will be in contravention of section 151 of the Constitution. It is also likely to undermine the executive authority of provinces. This is in contravention of section 125 of the Constitution. Under a single Public Service, officials will no longer be accountable to democratically elected executives, but to a centralised bureaucracy. This has no place in any constitutional democracy. One of the hallmarks of a successful government is the ability and the political will to appoint the right people in the right posts. Governments that follow this formula tend to succeed. Those practicing cadre deployment generally fail.
Die onkoste verbonde aan en die haalbaarheid van 'n enkele Staatsdiens is nie bekend nie. Met 'n groei in bruto binnelandse produk, BBP, van 2% tot 2,5% en 'n inflasiekoers van 6% kan daar onmoontlik die geld gegenereer word om ook hierdie ondeurdagte oefening te finansier.
Indien hierdie insette nie ter harte geneem word nie, sal daar geregverdigde kommer bestaan of hierdie begroting enige verskil sal maak in die gereedheid en die vermo van die staat om die verlangde inkomste te genereer en of dit waarde vir geld sal wees. Ek dank u. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The costs related to and the feasibility of a single Public Service have not been made public. With a gross domestic product, GDP, growth of 2% to 2,5% and an inflation rate of 6%, it would be impossible to generate the money to fund this ill-considered exercise.
If these inputs are not taken to heart, justified concern will arise as to whether this budget will make any difference in the state's readiness and capability to generate the desired income, and whether it will be value for money. I thank you. [Applause.]]
Hon Chairperson, Minister and Deputy Minister, other Ministers present, hon members, I follow gladly on the hon members, colleagues in the committee as well as the chairperson in outlining the challenges that this department faces, particularly politically and administratively. It is fitting to wish the Minister good luck in her challenging new department. I do know you have the ability to get things done.
The National Development Plan, NDP, places a high priority on the developmental state to deliver quality services to our people. The NDP states:
A developmental state needs to be capable, but a capable state does not materialise by decree, nor can it be legislated or waved into existence by declarations. It has to be built brick by brick, institution by institution, and sustained over time. It requires leadership, sound policies, skilled managers and workers, clear lines of accountability, appropriate systems and consistent and fair application of rules.
We debate this budget after Parliament adopted the NDP and, of course, the adoption of the NDP at Mangaung. As I am on this point, I just want to pause and say it seems like we are not quite sure whether the NDP is going to see the light of day as we see a party to the alliance beginning to contract out of the NDP itself.
The NDP 2030 suggests that it is a priority to build a capable state and seriously address poverty and inequality. It is correct to assert Public Service and Administration as the pillar upholding effective government institutions with the requisite skills to achieve the developmental objectives.
Cope's concern, when we look at the programme allocation, is whether the department is ready to lead the implementation of the NDP, and whether the skilled personnel exist in the Public Service in general.
We have listened to the Minister outlining the priorities as directives for departmental implementation. For the department to implement whilst the NDP is characterised as a development state, the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, must be geared for this challenge. As we speak, Palama is not ready for this task. Palama, with its current budget and focus, will not meet the objective NDP requirements by 2030. So the Minister's perspective of a government school is the correct one to take. The correct path in itself is not the sum total of requirements to meet objectives as required by the NDP; much more must be done, and something drastic must be done.
The department must move faster to inculcate in the personnel of the Public Service the culture of being servants of our people. It must teach officials to love our people, to provide a quality service and, of course, to provide the service fairly, with respect.
We need Public Service personnel who are accountable to our people. To date, the Public Service believes that it is not accountable to the masses of our people, hence they could not care less about the services they provide to communities. If people have no water in the Free State or Limpopo over the weekend, to them it's okay. This is the culture that our Public Service personnel demonstrate towards our people today. The hundreds of daily protests demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the department has not managed to educate all the officials about the principles of Batho Pele. As Cope, we agree that as a country we must move fast, with speed, to professionalise the Public Service as a priority towards realising the objectives of the NDP and meeting the principles of Batho Pele. Today the state is confronted by the challenge of officials that pay more attention to tenders for themselves and their families. These officials forget that they all have to serve, not to enrich themselves.
To date, the Auditor-General has reported that state officials continue to do business with the state and their own departments without consequences. Minister, you need to take action on this matter. Today, the connected officials' families benefit from unfair business practices. Gupta instructs officials to secure tenders and the department just obliges because they fear name-dropping. This cannot continue.
As we speak, corruption committed by Public Service officials continues to be a problem. Despite having a Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, there are officials who steal, or who plunge our public purse into corrupt practices and still get off scot-free when they face disciplinary action.
As we speak, the employed officials run amok, showing our people disrespect. How could it be possible for the Guptas to get permission from officials to land at Waterkloof Airbase? [Interjections.] This demonstrates an unbecoming attitude. You can't condone that, of course. It's a clear demonstration of the degree of corruption our Public Service displays today. We need to state that there are many public servants and officials who go beyond the call of duty, who do good and what is right, and to them we must say: Well done, keep up the good work.
We want to see the department leading this programme in addressing the lack of accountability in the Public Service. Accountability by a Director- General who eradicates corruption in a department is a priority. We should enforce in the state officials a work ethos through education and training. We must depoliticise and professionalise the Public Service machinery so as to be beyond reproach, with Palama leading the programme of education.
The 2013 budget programme makes provision for the department to improve disciplinary processes. We are worried that as we speak today there's a lack of capacity in handling, disciplining and concluding this within the prescribed period of 60 days. Disciplinary action continues to run for months and years, with billions of rands being spent. We are concerned about the suspension of officials in the department, where 64% of them remain suspended on full pay running into years.
It troubles us that only 4% of the departments meet 80% of their performance targets. It troubles us when 70% of the departments only meet an average of 50% of their performance targets. We wonder how this is going to be turned around.
We cannot wonder when our people continue to protest. As we debate this budget, some departments take more than nine months to appoint senior management services. One of the worst-performing departments, which takes 30,9 months to perform, is Public Works; Basic Education takes 20,1 months; Human Settlements takes 24 months; Transport takes 33 months and Water Affairs takes 12,2 months.
This picture shows complete defiance to the President's call to implement the appointment of officials to do the work within three months. It goes without saying that serious intervention is required, and required without delay. We are concerned about the continuing employment of consultants that costs billions of rands. This money should be directed to the service delivery, not to the connected consultants. I thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, hon Chairperson. My presentation in this Budget Vote will focus on some entities that fall under the Department of Public Service and Administration, DPSA, such as the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, and the State Information Technology Agency, Sita. This flows from the fact that both are charged with the supply of skills and tools of trade and IT, to enhance efficiency and professionalism in the delivery of services. Although Palama was doing fairly well in delivering on its mandate, it soon dawned that, as evidenced by the results, it was not winning the war. Consequently, steps have been taken to convert it into a school of government.
Credit must go to the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, the hon Lindiwe Sisulu, who in her first year of office pulled out all the stops to establish a school which will open its doors to admit its first students in October this year. In launching this ambitious project, which takes the form of a corporate university, the Minister stated that:
The school envisages the building of human capacity of the state by establishing uniform and high entrance standards and requirements, emphasising professionalism, discipline and commitment to serve, and ensuring adequate numbers of personnel to ensure service delivery.
The emphasis on discipline and professionalism is an answer to failed delivery of services. We in the portfolio committee feel that she is steering the department in the right direction. Accordingly, the IFP will support this Budget Vote.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with Sita. To a large extent, in many government offices, information technology is conspicuous by its absence. No wonder that in many police stations and courts manually written court documents simply disappear without a trace on the eve of a court trial. In fact, Sita not only failed to deliver, but it was also poorly managed, with taxpayer money often fraudulently disappearing.
In 2010, a decision was made to appoint a new board to run this entity and effect a turnaround strategy. A number of officials were suspended and investigated, but without much outcome. In fact, as late as September last year, the Auditor-General issued a qualified audit report on Sita. The said report is teeming with damning findings such as the following:
Lack of proper planning for procurement, which resulted in the absence of provision for deviations, largely due to the instability in the leadership structures, which also resulted in the lack of accountability by leaders and government structures.
Heads of department, in particular, are mandated to deal with corrupt officials, but they have let down the country. They treat their fellow corrupt colleagues with kid gloves. Those that are found guilty are given a letter of warning as a sanction, which is a mere slap on the wrist. Otherwise, they allow cases to drag on, with the excuse that there is a lack of evidence, while in the meantime accused are earning full salaries whilst doing nothing.
This finally compels the law-abiding citizens of this country to take the law into their own hands. Can anyone actually blame the masses that eventually take to the streets and toyi-toyi? Can anyone blame those who barricade streets, throw stones and burn cars? The question is where all this will end. We learnt from the media today that:
South Africa's wave of service delivery protests is far greater than previously imagined, with official police data revealing more than 3 000 service delivery protests in the past four years.
The question is how long South Africa will survive this. I thank you. [Applause.]
Order! I am happy to announce that the hon Ximbi will be making his maiden speech. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, especially our Minister, Ms Sisulu, Deputy Minister, Mrs Dlodlo, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, South Africa is hailed by the world at large as a shining example of a functioning constitutional democracy. At the centre of our constitutional democracy are the values and principles enshrined in section 195 of the Constitution, which seeks to achieve a professional, effective and efficient Public Service.
The Public Service Commission has been established primarily to ensure that the Public Service upholds these values and principles. I can mention some. A high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained; efficient, economic and effective use of resources must be promoted; public administration must be development-orientated; service must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias; people's needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy- making.
Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timeous, acceptable and accurate information; good human resource management and career development practice to achieve the maximum human potential must be calculated; public administration must be broadly representative of the South African people, with employment and personnel management practices based on ability, objectivity, fairness and the need to redress the imbalances of the past to achieve broad representivity.
Section 195 of the Constitution provides a very sophisticated and demanding framework with which the public administration must comply. Recently, the Public Service Commission published its report on the evaluation of the state of the Public Service against the values in section 195 of the Constitution. The commission found that the Department of Public Service and Administration has improved in many respects, but in crucial areas continues to struggle to meet the necessary standards required to be considered well governed and managed.
On the issue of compliance with the disclosure framework by senior managers, the commission found that, as at 31 May 2012, a total of 77 out of 159 departments had a 100% compliance rate on the submission of disclosure forms, of which 13 were at national level and 64 at provincial level.
Given the high rate of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, the number of cases of financial misconduct reported to the Public Service Commission by national and provincial departments seems low. Cases of misconduct have increased from 1 042 in 2006-07 to 1 243 in the 2011-12 financial year.
We are worried, though, that analysis of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 annual reports of 77 national and provincial departments shows that the number of departments that suspended employees for periods exceeding 60 days is increasing. The percentage of national and provincial departments that managed to achieve more than 80% of their planned targets declined from 9% to 4% between the 2010-11 and 2011-12 financial years. We are pleased that departments have worked hard to ensure that our people gain access to basic service delivery.
A comparative analysis of statistics between 2007 and 2012 indicates that the percentage of people accessing housing subsidies, sanitation and social grants has increased. There is also a comparative improvement by departments in paying invoices within 30 days, although there is still much work to be done.
Asifuni ukumane sikhathazwa ngabantu abathi abahlawulwanga ngurhulumente. Sifuna niyilungise ke loo nto. [We don't want people to keep on saying government didn't pay them. We want you to rectify that.]
It is also encouraging that the compliance rate in respect of the submission of performance agreements of the heads of departments by the due date of 30 June each year has improved by 65% in 2012. There has also been an improvement in the percentage of financial unqualified audit opinions issued by the Auditor-General. As at 30 June 2012 almost 80% of all national and provincial departments have a vacancy rate of about 10 in respect of professionals and senior managers. Although the vacancy rate is high, organograms are not always fully funded.
We are encouraged that the Department of Public Service and Administration is assisting departments to clean up their Persal systems and remove unfunded vacant posts to ensure that we have reliable information about how many public servants are employed in the Public Service. The recommendations by the National Development Plan that the Public Service Act be amended in order to locate the responsibility for human resource management with heads of departments needs to be explored so that we will be able to fill posts quickly.
The President has made a call that departments should shorten the period within which they fill vacant posts. The compliance rate with this call is slow. The Department of Public Service and Administration should do more to get compliance from departments, as required by the President's directive. Our view is that the long time taken to fill vacant posts has a negative impact on service delivery and the drive by government to create jobs in the public sector. This matter should be attended to without delay.
The other matter that needs attention relates to meeting disability targets in the Public Service. As at 31 July 2012 only 15 national and provincial departments exceeded the target of 2% for people with disabilities. The rest are still battling to achieve this target.
Processing of cases referred from the national anticorruption hotline to departments is still at a low level and this needs improvement. We are, however, happy that the following achievements have been made in the fight against corruption in the Public Service. Let me mention a few: 1 004 officials have been dismissed from the Public Service, 16 officials were demoted, 341 officials were given final written warnings, 202 officials were prosecuted and R300 million was recovered from those involved in corruption by the various departments. [Applause.]
We appreciate the initiative being taken by the Minister to combat corruption head on, to improve compliance by the department with laws and regulations, to strengthen the skilling of public servants through the school of government and to introduce common norms and standards. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
We thank the hon Ximbi and hope that he thoroughly enjoyed making his maiden speech.
Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and hon members, the UDM supports Budget Vote No 12. We have noted the concerns of the public about the low levels of competence in our Public Service. I am encouraged by the Minister's attempts to address this problem and thus professionalise the Public Service.
For some time now, senior public servants have been appointed to positions without regard for their competence and suitability for the job. These people then often use government departments as employment agencies for their families and friends and even ethnic groups. For example, it is not uncommon to find that when Ministers are Xhosas, they turn their departments into Xhosaland, and when they are Indian Ministers, they turn their departments into an Indian Ocean and so on and so forth. [Laughter.]
It is also common in the current government to appoint people who have not made it onto the National Assembly list as advisers to state departments even though they might be clueless about their work. To address this problem, the Office of the President, together with the Public Service Commission, should ensure that Ministers do not have the final say on who will become their directors-general. This is important if we are to win the fight against nepotism and corruption.
In addition, the appointment of inappropriately qualified people discourages many who regard working in the Public Service as their career. I have come across many senior officials who lack the requisite knowledge, training and experience to run departments. Often these officials have not even undergone basic training in induction courses, supervision and management, accounting as well as human resource management.
To address this problem, the Minister has to, amongst other things, invest in the development of suitably qualified work-study officers for all departments. Such a step would boost employees' morale, as work-study officers would have pertinent insight into employee performance and departmental structure issues and would also play an important role during salary negotiations.
Finally, the Minister would have failed in her duties if she did not restore the powers of directors-general as accounting officers. We have seen how political directives create mayhem in the entire system in areas like the allocation of tenders, from councillors up to ministerial level. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Igama lamakhosikazi! [Praise the name of women!]
HON MEMBERS: Malibongwe! [Praise!]
Hon House Chairperson, hon chairperson and hon members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Members of Parliament, Cabinet colleagues here present, ladies and gentlemen, I want to say to the hon Du Toit that my sister, the Minister, has been trying to marry me off for as long as she has known me. She is intelligent; she is very creative ...
And very beautiful as well.
... but in this particular case she is very, very incompetent. [Laughter.] So, she is not going to help me or you. [Laughter.]
She is very beautiful as well.
Yes, she is. Thank you, hon Chairperson, for affording us yet another opportunity to present to this honourable House the 2013-14 budget for the Ministry for the Public Service and Administration.
In just less than a year our people will once again have the opportunity to cast their vote in the national general elections. This vote lies at the centre of our participatory democracy, which was won through the blood, sweat and tears of millions of our people, with the people's liberation movement, the ANC, being at the forefront of this struggle, but of course assisted by fraternal forces from across the African continent and beyond. The fact that we will be holding the fifth national election since the advent of democracy is consistent with, and conforms to, the ANC's commitment to universal suffrage as part of entrenching democracy and a culture of human rights in the land of Makana, Zondo, Tambo, Sisulu, Mbeki, Slovo, Ngoyi and many other stalwarts of our revolution.
It is my hope that South Africans do notice the progress that the ANC-led government has made in consolidating democracy and giving a voice to those who did not have it 19 years ago. As duly elected representatives of our people, we, together with them, are setting the tone for progressive change and sustainable freedom in our land, and we believe that the spirit of co- operation is vital as we seek to accomplish the noble objective of a better life for all. Through this budget we once again pledge to honour our promise to our people, the promise for the progressive realisation of a better life for all, and we ask them to join us in this effort.
As the Ministry for the Public Service and Administration, we are starting this year on a sound footing, guided by the tone and resolutions of the 53rd National Conference of the ANC that was held in Mangaung in December 2012. The conference adopted the National Development Plan, NDP, the formulation of which was characterised by consultation and inclusivity. The NDP, and the National Planning Commission that developed it, is an outcome of extensive deliberations within the ANC-led alliance over many years, the intention being to build broader consensus on policy direction and set the pace of our country's political economy. This is an absolutely important point to make in view of the ideological theses developed in part by the Opposition, which seeks to separate its development from the broader alliance and the ANC. In fact, judging by the mood and tone of the 53rd national conference, as well as the adoption of the conference declaration, this reflects the level of enthusiasm among the general membership of the