Chairperson, the Minister and the Deputy Minister, members of this august House, officials, ladies and gentlemen, I am not going to waste time by responding to some of the issues that were raised by members on my left-hand side; some of them are not worth responding to.
Firstly, at a political level there is the question of the increase in your numbers, and I am referring to members in the blue T-shirts. The reason why your numbers have increased is because of the demise of the orange shirts with whom you forged an alliance. [Applause.] It is not because of ours decreasing.
Secondly, human resource development is very dynamic; it is not static. So you have to keep up with the changes that are taking place in government and you certainly have to adjust your plans from time to time. Unfortunately, some members just criticised without having any plans, without saying that these were the plans that they were putting on the table. I must equally commend those opposition parties that brought some sanity or direction to assist our department. It is of no use listening to crybabies who do not bring the real issues. [Applause.]
The growth and maturity of our democracy over the past 17 years could not have survived without independent institutions such as the Public Service Commission, PSC, and the Auditor-General. These institutions have been central in the transformation, strengthening and continuing development of the Public Service and Administration. It is to their credit that Parliament is able to debate this budget today with a sense of comfort that evidence and objectively verifiable information can be obtained to support and substantiate whatever arguments we might be advancing to assess the Vote before us.
Current international experience and research on statecraft show us that in the long term the survival and maintenance of any democracy does not depend on individual leaders, no matter how good they might be, but rather on the strength and calibre of its institutions. Our long struggle against colonial and apartheid oppression has always been based on the strength of the collective and recognition of the importance of democratic institutions as a way of building a democratic society.
As the ANC, we recognise the strategic importance of the Public Service Commission and the Auditor-General in the struggle to transform the Public Service so that it can serve the developmental needs of our people with speed and respect.
Our priority, this year, is to monitor whether the culture of the Public Service is changing, and whether the services are delivered faster, more efficiently and in a caring manner. We will be monitoring whether the people are informed about the services that are delivered by the Public Service and how they can access them. These are the changes that the ANC wants to see happening to improve service delivery to our people. As parliamentarians we cannot play our oversight role and monitor that these changes are indeed happening, and that the Public Service is operating differently according to the culture that I have just outlined, without our collaboration with both the Public Service Commission and the Auditor-General, within their constitutional mandate. The Constitution of our Republic has enshrined the establishment of both the PSC and the Auditor-General to assist us as public representatives to play our role of oversight, seeking public accountability from the executive in a more qualitative manner through research-based information and objective evidence.
In terms of the Constitution of the Republic of 1996 the Auditor-General was established to strengthen our constitutional democracy by auditing and reporting on the accounts, financial statements and financial management of, among others, all national and provincial state departments and administrations. It must submit audit reports to any legislature that has a direct interest in the audit, and to any authority prescribed by national legislation. All its reports must be made public so that there is nothing that is swept under the carpet.
The PSC was established to work in the interest of the maintenance of effective and efficient public administration and high standards of professional ethics in the Public Service. Its function is to promote the democratic values and principles enshrined in the Constitution, and particularly those articulated in section 195 of that Act.
The common features of the two institutions are that they are required by the Constitution to be independent, impartial and exercise their powers and perform their functions without fear, favour or prejudice. They are accountable to the National Assembly, where they must report on their activities and the performance of their functions.
In fulfilment of our mandate, we have interacted with them in recent times and have received their reports and plans within the context of this budget debate. In assessing this budget for the Department of Public Service and Administration, we have extensively used the often valuable reports they produce in their examination of the health of our administrative arm of the state and its capacity to deliver.
From the Auditor-General we have benefited by and made use of the audits they have conducted on the departments and the institutions that report to it for the annual reports of 2009-10, which form the basis upon which we are debating this budget. In addition, we have also made extensive use of their other numerous reports, such as the General Report on the National Audit Outcomes, and the Consolidated General Report on the Provincial Audit Outcomes for the 2009-10 financial years. These reports gave us an indication of where progress is being made and the areas of continued weaknesses in our system of Public Service and Administration, and where we as Parliament need to focus our oversight attention. It was encouraging to get from these reports that progress was being made in reducing the number of departments with audit qualifications, both nationally and provincially. Notwithstanding this, the trend showed continuous challenges with regard to finance, human resources, supply chain management and accountability.
The PSC also provided us with valuable information through their reports which assess the state of the Public Service on an annual basis. Of critical importance, for the purpose of oversight and accountability, was their profiling and analysis of the most common manifestations of corruption and its related risks in the Public Service - you can see that in March 2011. In assessing the Public Service and Administration as a whole for the purpose of this budget we have taken into account the findings and recommendations emanating from this report.
As members of the ANC, we remain resolute in our determination to fight corruption in our society. I will not amplify what has been said, but just say that the ANC supports this Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]