The Remuneration Commission is the President's answer to a long-standing salary structure problem. More than that, it has shown good faith in that the government has taken the first step in recognising the role of teachers in our development. Now, it is for me and the Minister of Basic Education to ensure that we can crack the whip.
We have reviewed the current capacity of the state to deal with corruption in the Public Service. Our assessment is that the current capacity is unable to deal effectively with the scope and scale of the challenge we face. That is why we are planning to create an Anti-Corruption Bureau, a body that will have the necessary powers and authority to deal with all major cases of misconduct in the Public Service.
Together with all the other law enforcement agencies, the bureau will have powers and authority to investigate, document and maintain databases that come out of our disciplinary cases. What we want to ensure is that all major disciplinary cases of a particular nature will be centrally managed and administered.
We have been dismayed by the number of public servants who are further doing business with the state. The NDP and the Public Service Commission have recommended that we prohibit public servants from doing business with the state. We have accepted this recommendation and are working on legislation to give effect to this. Henceforth, no public servant will be allowed to do business with the state. [Applause.]
We have taken note of the contents of the recent report of the Auditor- General on the use of consultants. Together with the Minister of the Department of Public Works, we are working towards ensuring that we can deal with these matters. Our recruitment system has to be revamped to create an internal capacity that will significantly reduce the overreliance of our public administration on consultants to deliver public services.
Consultants cannot be used as an alternative to employment of core skills that the Public Administration requires to deal with the delivery of service. While agreeing that tendering and the use of consultants are normal government practices all over the world, the ANC is of the view that the bill that we put aside for the use of consultants, has to be minimised. We agree with the recommendation by the Auditor-General that we should tighten the already developed guidelines on the use of consultants, including rates paid to consultants, which are issued annually.
Here, yesterday, we heard a great deal of scepticism about government's ability to deal with corruption. I want to give the following details, as stated by the President. To those people who listen with their mouths open, I want to repeat what the President stated. I quote:
The capacity of the Special investigating Unit, SIU, has grown from an initial 70 staff members to more than 600 at present...
... precisely because we are concerned about the issue of corruption.
I have, since 2009, signed 34 proclamations directing the SIU to investigate allegations of corruption, fraud or maladministration in various government departments and state entities. Criminal investigations were initiated against 203 accused...
What we have recovered is in the region of R5 million or more.
We have established a school of government to ensure that we can produce a public servant who is committed and dedicated. We in the Public Service have established a school of government, and quite clearly the school of government will need to get its first recruits from Members of Parliament. They would all learn how to sit here and listen with their mouths closed. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Poor service delivery has indeed been a very problematic one. It has been the biggest obstacle, being at the lowest level - one that directly interacts with our citizens. We, as the ruling party, have taken a decision that we will have to ensure that we create a single administration - thank you very much, hon Godi, for driving straight to the point - differentiated, amongst others, by the powers vested in national, provincial and local government.
The streamlining of the norms, standards and values would ensure that there is a uniform delivery machine with uniform standards for a uniform, efficient state. Chapter 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa prescribes the nature and character of our public administration, and calls for national legislation to promote the principles underpinning public administration.
A capable and developmental state is not possible in an environment where we are faced with prolonged wage negotiations every year, coupled with industrial action. We have made significant strides in government in that we now have a multiyear agreement with the Department of Labour. This has allowed us to ensure that both we and the Department of Labour can create an environment where the Public Service can enjoy their environment and deliver maximally to the people that we are committed to. Out of this has come an agreement to professionalise the Public Service, and imbue it with a new culture.
We will concentrate on building the kind of professional Public Service that we require - one that is served by a new cadre of government that will serve with commitment; a motivated public servant who knows that his or her remuneration will be determined by their productivity; a public servant who knows that we care about their conditions of service, as much as we care that they will deliver quality service. This is our commitment. This is what we have been given the responsibility for by the President, and is what we are going to deliver on.
Finally, to the Leader of the Opposition, the only thing that sells about you is that you have a beautiful name. That's about all. [Laughter.] [Interjections.] Why would you want to take it away from her? She does, and that's the only thing that sells about her. A few years or a few months ago, the former member of Terror Lekota's party was sitting there, and I said to that hon member to leave while he could because Cope was using him for the credibility that he added to them. Those vestiges of white privilege are using you for your pretty plum face. Leave while you can. I thank you. [Applause.] [Interjections.]