[pic]
DEPARTMENT: JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Â
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLYÂ
QUESTION NO.:Â 1602
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 9 NOVEMBER 2009
Mr N W A Michael (DA) to ask the Minister of Justice and
Constitutional Development:
(1)Â Â Â Â Â Â Whether his department developed and adopted a policy
providing guidelines for the appointment of persons with a
criminal record; if so, (a) when was the policy (i) developed
and (ii) adopted and (b) where can a copy of the policy be
obtained; if not,
(2)Â Â Â Â Â Â whether his department has any plans in place to develop and
adopt such a policy; if not, why not; if so, what are the
relevant details;
(3)Â Â Â Â Â Â whether his department does any pre-employment screening of
potential employees for criminal records; if not, why not; if
so, what are the relevant details;
(4)Â Â Â Â Â Â whether any employees with criminal records are currently
employed by his department; if so, (a) how many and (b) what is
their (i) job level and (ii) occupational
category?                                              Â
NW2008E
                    REPLY:-
(1)(2)Â Â Yes, I would like to inform the Honourable Member that the
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (the
Department) has developed a policy providing guidelines for the
appointment of persons with a criminal record.
The Recruitment and Selection Policy of the Department was
issued in November 2008 (copy attached) and makes provision for
reference checks, including checking the criminal record of the
candidate at the time of the interview. The relevant set of
questions are put to the candidate by the chairperson of the
selection panel or the human resources practitioner attending
the interview to ensure compliance with all prescripts relating
to the appointment of officials to the public service. Putting
the questions to the candidate affords him or her the
opportunity to make a statement on the matter. Should the
candidate indicate that she or he has a criminal record, the
panel is then able to consider appointability in terms of the
prescripts at this stage. It is then also afforded the
opportunity to advise the candidate that when the reference
checks are done, discovery of a criminal record may result in an
adverse decision on appointment. In taking the decision, the
Department is guided by Section 10 (1) (b) of the Public Service
Act, Act 30 of 2007 which provides that the candidate must be a
fit and proper person.
Furthermore, the Department is guided by its new Personnel
Suitability Check policy in deciding on the appointment of new
candidates (copy attached). The Department therefore would not
appoint a candidate with a conviction for a serious crime such
as theft, fraud and other acts that are dismissible offences in
terms of the disciplinary code.
My Department reviews its Human Resources policies regularly and
plans to elaborate the guidelines on the possible employment of
candidates with a criminal record, for example, to clarify what
kind of crimes disqualify a candidate for employment in the
public service and how to deal with cases where the records have
been expunged in terms of the law. These guidelines will be
elaborated in consultation with the Department of Public Service
and Administration (DPSA).
(3)Â Â Â Â Â Â As indicate in the reply to (1) and (2) above, the
Department does pre-employment screening and reference checks of
potential employees for criminal records. This is done through
service providers that check the record independently and would
give the Department information on the types of crime, when it
was reported, the conviction date if any, and where the crime
was committed. However, the full implementation of the
Personnel Suitability Check policy will result in the Department
taking full responsibility on the checks and screenings on its
new or potential employees.
(4)Â Â Â Â Â Â The Department does not employ candidates with convictions
for serious crimes such as theft, fraud and other acts that are
dismissible offences in terms of the disciplinary code.
It should be evident from the above statements that the criminal
record does not automatically exclude candidates from employment
in the public service. The merits of each case, in particular
the type of crime for which the candidate was convicted is taken
into account. Furthermore, the Integrity Management Directorate
in the Department liaises with the Criminal Record Centre to
this end in its continuous vetting process on all potential
employees, employees and contractors.