Muchaviseki Mutshamaxitulu, Holobye wa Vukorhokeri bya Vaaki na Mafambiselo, Xandla xa Holobye na vatirhikulobye, nhloko ya ndzawulo na vatirhikulobye, ndzi ri i nhlikanhi.
Mutshamaxitulu, na mina ndzi teka nkarhi lowu ndzi sungula hi ku encenyeta Man Mohale ndzi amukela ni ku seketela mpimanyeto lowu. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Mrs J M MALULEKE: Hon Chairperson, Acting Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Deputy Minister and colleagues, the head of the department and his colleagues, I say: "Good afternoon".
Chairperson, I also take this opportunity to start by imitating Mrs Mohale by acknowledging and declaring my support for this Budget Vote.]
The ANC government has committed itself to building a developmental state. This noble idea can only be realised if the state is made capable and its capacities are fully developed in a sustainable manner. One of the most critical and important capacities of the state is its human resources. In other words, the people who work for the state must be capable and have the right skills, qualifications and competencies to do their work. It is universally accepted that the most critical asset and resource for any organisation is its people.
The Public Service is no exception to this observation. It is through this Ministry of Public Service and Administration and its department that government's human capacity is developed and harnessed to meet the challenges of service delivery. The department's aim of leading modernisation of the Public Service through a generally applicable framework of norms and standards to improve service delivery assumes that within itself it possesses superior skills, knowledge and competencies to provide advice and leadership on human resources management to government as a whole. The debate on this budget today is to ensure that this assumption is a reality and complemented by equally appropriate financial resources that will allow for the achievement of its noble aim.
Given its broad mandate, this department can generally be said to be responsible for human resource management and the development arm of government if not its internal consultancy. From a government institutional perspective, it is the responsibility of this department to ensure that the principles governing the Public Service and Administration as stipulated in the Constitution of the country are translated into reality and implemented. Two of these principles stipulate that good human resource management and career development practices to maximise human potential must be cultivated; and 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 representation.
Additional to this constitutional obligation is the mandate it derives from the Public Service Act of 1994, as amended, which calls for the development of norms and standards relating to organisational structures; establishment of departments and other organisational and governance arrangements in the public service; the conditions of service and other employment practices for employees; labour relations in the Public Service; transformation, reform, innovation; and any other matter to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Public Service and its service delivery to the public.
Un'wana wa vatsari u tsarile leswaku: [One of the authors wrote:] "Never live in the past, but always learn from it."
When assessed historically against the broad constitutional mandate and the Public Service Act, the department has performed relatively well in building a system of human resource management in the Public Service that is comparable with international best practice. Compared to the period before 1994, change has overwhelmingly taken place in the arena of the Public Service and Administration. Some examples of best practices in the management of human resources as evidenced by provisions of the Public Service Act and its regulations have been adopted and institutionalised. The necessary legislative, legal and regulative frameworks have been established and continue to be reviewed on a regular basis to keep up with the changing environment and new challenges.
Notwithstanding the achievements of transforming the Public Service since 1994, a lot of challenges still remain that show that it is the weakest link for government to achieve its developmental goals. The most pressing challenges which will require urgent human resource management interventions include, among others, failure to inculcate and entrench the culture of service and performance based on the values and principles of Batho Pele which have been adopted by government; limited success in effectively institutionalising the performance management and development system; weaknesses in the management and implementation of disciplinary processes; problems with the persal system and the challenges associated with migration to the new system; failure to achieve the agreed target of representivity of women in senior management positions and people with disabilities in the Public Service in general.
Loko ndzo ka ndzi nga vuli leswi landzelaka, Manana Mohale a nga ndzi dlaya. [If I don't disclose the following, Mrs Mohale can kill me.]
There is a slow turnaround time in the filling of vacancies.
Recently, the National Planning Commission has also identified human resource as one of the main problems that has the potential to impede the realisation of the developmental state. In its diagnosis it noted that the uneven performance of the Public Service results from the interplay between a complex set of factors, including tensions in the political administrative interface, instability of the administrative leadership and skills deficits, the erosion of accountability and authority, poor organisational design, inappropriate staffing and low staff morale.
The recommendation of the planning commission to stabilise the political administrative interface as a precondition for focusing on skills and professionalism in the Public Service, making the Public Service a career of choice by focusing on building a skilled and professional Public Service, resonates well with the values and principles of public administration as defined in the Constitution and the White Paper on transformation of the Public Service.
The recommendation will therefore be crucial in determining the extent to which the department is responsive in dealing with the current human resource challenges in the Public Service.
For the department to succeed in addressing these pressing human resource challenges it will have to focus its attention on the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama. The Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy is showing the capability to deliver on its mandate, but what is required is for the department to be able to provide the necessary leadership in terms of the training needs of the Public Service. It is also about identifying the critical skills that Palama can focus on which may not be outsourced. Eka mulawurinkulu, loko hina hi khongela hi xilungu hi vula leswaku: "Through Jesus Christ". [Ha Yesu Kriste.] Kutani na wena laha u tshameka kona vula leswaku hi vito ra murhangeri wa varhangeri, Tat Diphofa. Hi yena a kotaka ku vitana valawurinkulu va hlangana hinkwavo leswaku mi tshama ehansi mi vulavula hi xiyimo xa ... Ndza khensa. [Nkarhi wu herile.] (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[To the director-general, when we pray in English we say: "Through Jesus Christ". So you, where you are seated, also say, in the name of the leader of the leaders, Mr Diphofa. He is the one who is able to invite all directors-general to gather so that you sit down and discuss the condition of ... Thank you. [Time expired.]]